Zang Fu organs: The five solid organs

Heart: governs blood and houses the mind

It moves blood through the vessels and, above all, it is where lucid awareness lives. That is why Heart pictures show at once in the pulse and in how someone talks and sleeps.

Opens into

the tongue: which is why speech is affected

Shows in

the face and its colour

If it flags

palpitations, insomnia, startling

If it burns

mouth ulcers, agitation, hot urine

Common mistake: Looking only for palpitations. Waking in the night and rushed speech betray the Heart before the pulse does.

Spleen: transforms, transports and holds up

It turns food into qi and blood, and it also keeps things in place: blood inside the vessels and organs in position. It is the organ most damaged by cold food, excess sweetness and ruminating thought.

Opens into

the mouth; shows in the lips

Its tissue

the muscles and the four limbs

If it fails to transform

bloating, loose stools, fatigue after eating

If it fails to hold

easy bruising, prolapse, periods that will not stop

Common mistake: Ignoring the holding function. It explains pictures that otherwise seem to have nothing to do with digestion.

Lung: governs qi and the surface

It takes in air, spreads defensive qi under the skin and makes fluids descend. It is the most exposed organ because it communicates with the outside, and so it is the first to fall ill when something gets in.

Opens into

the nose

Its tissue

skin and body hair

If it fails to spread

repeated colds, spontaneous sweating

If it fails to descend

cough, breathlessness, facial oedema

Common mistake: Thinking only about breathing. A good part of skin and sweating pathology reads through the Lung.

Kidney: stores essence and is the root

It stores the essence you are born with and age through, governs bones and marrow, and is the root of yin and yang for the whole body. It is spent slowly and replenished slowly: there is no shortcut.

Opens into

the ears and the two lower orifices

Its tissue

the bones; shows in the hair

If yang is short

cold, dull low back pain, clear night urine

If yin is short

afternoon heat, ringing ears, dryness

Common mistake: Treating it in a hurry. Kidney pictures need the most time, and promising weeks is promising badly.

Liver: keeps things moving and stores blood

Its job is that nothing gets stuck: not qi, not emotions, not digestion, not the menstrual cycle. It also stores blood at rest and releases it on movement. It is the organ that suffers most from held-in emotion.

Opens into

the eyes

Its tissue

tendons; shows in the nails

If it stagnates

tightness, sighing, irritability, painful periods

If it rises

temporal headache, red eyes, dizziness

Common mistake: Calling every irritation «Liver». Stagnation has its own signs and rising has quite different ones.

Which solid organ best explains each finding?

• Wakes at two and cannot stop thinkingHeartSpleenLungLiverKidney
• Bruises with no knock and bleeding gumsHeartSpleenLungLiverKidney
• One cold after another every winterHeartSpleenLungLiverKidney
• Sighs constantly and the chest feels tightHeartSpleenLungLiverKidney
• Weak knees and ringing ears by the end of the dayHeartSpleenLungLiverKidney
• Fatigue that arrives right after eatingHeartSpleenLungLiverKidney
• Painful periods with clots and very irritable beforehandHeartSpleenLungLiverKidney
• Talks a lot and fast, with a red tongue tipHeartSpleenLungLiverKidney