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Module 1   Lesson 5   Zang-Fu

The Zang-Fu

If the Liver is not the liver, then what is it?

After this lesson you can name, for each organ, its functions, sense organ, tissue, emotion, spiritual aspect and Fu partner; explain the San Jiao in three images; and recognise the five axes along which organs pull each other along. That is the grammar beneath the nineteen patterns of the coming lessons.

Heart 心 xin fu Small Intestine sense tongue tissue vessels, face, sweat emotion joy; Shen 神 Liver 肝 gan fu Gall-Bladder sense eyes tissue sinews, nails emotion anger; Hun 魂 Spleen 脾 pi fu Stomach sense mouth tissue muscles, lips emotion pensiveness; Yi 意 Lungs 肺 fei fu Large Intestine sense nose tissue skin, body hair emotion sadness; Po 魄 Kidneys 腎 shen fu Bladder sense ears tissue bones, head hair emotion fear; Zhi 志 Pericardium 心包 fu San Jiao protects the Heart
Fu partner, sense organ, tissue, emotion and spiritual aspect for each Zang; the core functions are in step 3. In the textbooks the Pericardium, with the San Jiao, also belongs to Fire; here it stands apart in the centre.

Know by heart

  • Five pairs, plus one. Liver and Gall-Bladder, Heart and Small Intestine, Spleen and Stomach, Lungs and Large Intestine, Kidneys and Bladder; Pericardium and San Jiao. mnemonic: the two organs in the chest get the two intestines, the Heart the small one, the Lungs the large one.
  • Sense organs and tissues. Liver eyes and sinews; Heart tongue and vessels; Spleen mouth and muscles; Lungs nose and skin; Kidneys ears and bones. mnemonic: the Liver looks, the Heart speaks, the Spleen eats, the Lungs breathe, the Kidneys listen.
  • Emotion and spiritual aspect. Anger and Hun (Liver), joy and Shen (Heart), pensiveness and Yi (Spleen), sadness and Po (Lungs), fear and Zhi (Kidneys). mnemonic: Hun and Po are the two souls, Ethereal for the Liver and Corporeal for the Lungs; Yi, the Intellect, digests ideas as the Spleen digests food; Zhi is the Will-Power, deep as the root.
  • Core functions per Zang. The six cards in step 3. mnemonic: director, emperor, kitchen and lift, lid, root, bodyguard.
  • Zang versus Fu. Zang store and do not release (Yin, full); Fu receive, pass on and empty themselves (Yang, hollow). mnemonic: a jar and a pipe.
  • San Jiao. Not an organ but a function: passage for Yuan Qi, coordination of fluid metabolism. Upper a mist (Heart, Lungs), middle a bubbling cauldron (Spleen, Stomach), lower a drainage ditch (Kidneys, Bladder, intestines). mnemonic: the steam, the pan, the sink.
  • Five axes. Liver and Spleen (free flow versus transformation); Heart and Kidneys (Fire and Water, Shen and Jing); Lungs and Kidneys (the Kidneys receive Qi); Spleen and Kidneys (Yang; Post-Heaven and Pre-Heaven); Heart and Spleen (Blood). mnemonic: the Kidneys sit in three of the five, as the root of Water, Qi and Yang.

The rest of this lesson is reference.

The Zang-Fu: If the Liver is not the liver, then what is it?
The chart as an image, to save or share

Three practice questions from this lesson

A practitioner says: 'your Liver is not storing the Blood properly'. Which complaints go with that?
  1. Nocturia, cold lower back and knees, swollen ankles
  2. Cough, breathlessness, spontaneous sweating, frequent colds
  3. Blurred vision, dry eyes, cramps, scanty periods

Answer: Blurred vision, dry eyes, cramps, scanty periods. Storing Blood, with the eyes as sense organ and the sinews and nails as tissue: Liver-Blood deficiency (pattern 4). The other two are the Lungs (16) and the Kidneys (12).

Which organ receives Qi?
  1. Spleen
  2. Lungs
  3. Kidneys

Answer: Kidneys. The Kidneys receive the Qi that the Lungs send down: the Lungs and Kidneys axis.

Which organ makes Qi rise and keeps the Blood in the vessels?
  1. Liver
  2. Spleen
  3. Heart

Answer: Spleen. Both are the Spleen. If raising fails: Spleen-Qi sinking; if holding fails: Spleen not controlling Blood.

The rest of this lesson

In the course you get the step-by-step explanation, 17 case-based practice questions, 35 spaced-repetition flashcards, the pitfalls and the bridge to physiology with evidence grades. This lesson belongs to module 1: Foundations.

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