Global InformationThe body in traditional Chinese medicine information
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The model of the body in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has the following elements:
- the Fundamental Substances;
- Qi, Blood, Jing (Essence), Shen (Mind) that nourish and protect the Zang-Fu organs;
- and the meridians (jing-luo) which connect and unify the body.
Every diagnosis is a "Pattern of disharmony" that affects one or more organs, such as "Spleen Qi Deficiency" or "Liver Fire Blazing" or "Invasion of the Stomach by Cold", and every treatment is centered on correcting the disharmony.
The traditional Chinese model is concerned with function. Thus, the TCM Spleen is not a specific piece of flesh, but an aspect of function related to transformation and transportation within the body, and of the mental functions of thinking and studying. Indeed, the San Jiao or Triple Burner has no anatomical correspondent at all, and is said to be completely a functional entity.
Chinese medicine and the model of the body is founded on the balance of the five elements: Earth, Metal, Water, Wood, and Fire. The elements are infinitely linked, consuming and influencing each other. Each element corresponds to different organs in the body. The organs act as representatives of the qualities of different elements, which impact the physical and mental body in respective ways. Each organ is categorized as either Yin or Yang. The energies of Yin and Yang are conflicting yet inter-reliant. When the two (Yin+Yang) forces are united they create a divine energy, which supports the flow of all life.
Yin organs represent: femininity, coldness, compression, darkness, and submission. Yang organs represent: masculinity, expansion, heat, motion, and action.
This duality (yin+yang) must be in balance or else disease of the mind and body will occur.
Each organ governs energy channels, which distribute qi and connect all parts of the body to one another. These channels are called meridians.[1]
- ^ Dale, Cyndi, and Richard Wehrman. The Subtle Body: an Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy. Boulder, CO: Sounds True, 2009. Print