Chinese Medical Body

The Chinese Medical Body

With Dr. Qi!

Let’s learn about
Traditional Chinese
Medicine!

By:
Naomi Wolfe
Bryce DeVaughn
Victoria Galeana
Victoria McCartney
Fiona Barker

Table of Contents

Quick Introduction … 1
The Roots of Chinese Medicine … 2
The Five Phases … 3-5
The Law of Inter-Restraint … 6-7
The Law of Inter-Promotion … 8-9
Qi In The Body … 10
Disorder of Qi … 11
Organs Intro Page … 12
- Heart … 13
- Lungs … 14
- Liver … 15
- Kidneys … 16
- Spleen … 17
- Fu Organs ... 18-19
Channels and Meridians Intro Page … 20
- Overview Page … 21
- Foot Meridians … 22
- Hand Meridians … 23
- Head Meridians (Front) … 24
- Head Meridians (Side) … 25
References Page … 26

Quick Introduction

Over its 2,500 year existence Traditional
Chinese Medicine (TCM) has sought to
understand and facilitate harmony in human
life. It is a holistic belief system where
everything is interdependent and
interconnected, the smallest disturbance able
to cause a ripple that throws the rest of the
body off balance. Treatments must address
the health of the whole body, not just the
individual ailment.

In this booklet I will take you through the
main concepts of TCM, all of which must be
in balance to create good health. Harmony
leads to health, wellbeing and sustainability
while disharmony leads to illness, suffering,
disease and collapse.

The Roots of Chinese Medicine

The concepts of Qi and yin and yang are critical
to understanding TCM, considered the roots of
TCM because they form the basis all other TCM
concepts relate back to.

Qi is all manifestations of energy in every
material and immaterial aspect of the universe,
from the earth beneath your feet to your
emotions. It is constantly transforming from
one aspect of Qi to another, and is most clearly
understood in the context of yin and yang.

Yin and Yang describe opposite qualities in the
manifestations of Qi. Everything that contains
an element of yin contains an element of yang
and vice versa, constantly transforming and
adjusting to one another to create the balance
TCM strives to achieve.

The Five Phases

The Five Phases of Chinese
Medicine are aspects of Qi.
They have historically been
used to explain cosmic cycles
and the interaction between
internal organs, where health
is achieved based on a
balance of all the elements.

Image from: http://www.rancholapuerta.com/

The Five Phases

The Five Phases

The Law Of Inter-Restraint

Liver Strong organs emit too much excess and need to
be inhibited, which also treats over restraint and
reverse restraint caused by over restricting.

Kidney Heart Insufficient organs are weak and need extra
support, which also treats over restraint and
reverse restraint caused by a lack of restricting.

Lung Spleen Treatments are based on the law of inter-restraint
of the Five Phases.

● i.e. stagnation of water-dampness caused by
deficiency syndrome in the spleen can be
treated by strengthening the spleen to
excrete water, such as how piling up earth
helps control the water flow.

The Law Of Inter-Restraint

The Law Of Inter-Promotion

Liver To treat deficiency syndrome in zang
organs, tonify the mother organ of the
affected organ.

Kidney Child Heart To treat excess syndrome in zang organs,
Lung Mother reduce the excess in the child organ of the
affected organ.

Spleen Treatments are based on the law of inter-
generation of the Five Phases.

● i.e. deficiency syndrome in the liver
is treated by nourishing the kidney
the same way water is used to
nourish wood.

The Law Of Inter-Promotion

Qi In The Body

Yin includes: liver, spleen, kidney, all
internal organs the lower body, the
abdomen and the medial aspect of the
body.

Yang includes: heart, lungs, upper body,
back of body, body surface and lateral
aspect of body.

Disorder of Qi

Zang and Fu Organs

In Chinese medicine there are five yin or
“zang” organs (lung, heart, spleen, liver,
kidney) and five yang or “fu” organs
(large intestine, small intestine, stomach,
gall bladder, bladder). Unlike western
medicine, an organ’s physiological
function is not as important as its
relationship with other organs, where
disorders can be explained by broken
relationships.

Image from: http://www.shen-nong.com/eng/exam/diagnosis_organ.html

Heart

Job:
- Controls all aspects of life
Fluid:
- Sweat
5 Minds:
- Happiness
Dysfunction:
- Tongue becomes pale and irregular pulses from the heart

Lungs

Job:
- Controls all the qi of respiration
Fluid:
- Mucus
5 Minds:
- Sorrow
Dysfunction:
- Running nose, bad sense of smell, irregular breathing, difficulty to speak, and fatigue

Liver

Job:
- Controls free coursing of the qi on the body
Fluid:
- Tears
5 Minds:
- Anger and Depression
Dysfunction:
- Bad mental state, bad digestion, poor blood circulation, bad water metabolism, irregular
menstruation, abnormal vision, tough sinew, bad sense of balance and direction, hemorrhagic
diseases (nose bleed)

Kidneys

Fluid: Spit

Spleen

Job:
- Transportation and transformation (digests water and food, absorbs essential substances and
transports to the lung and heart. Essence of food and water becomes qi and blood, circulated through
body to nourish); controls the blood (spleen qi keeps blood circulating inside veins, lifts/consolidates
organs)
Fluid:
- Saliva
5 Minds:
- Thinking and Emotion
Dysfunction:

- Dysfunction in transporting, transforming, and/ or absorbing: poor appetite, flatulence,
loose stool, diarrhea, fatigue, and emaciation. Dysfunction transporting water: fluid retention
like phlegm and edema. Deficient spleen qi: cannot control the blood which leads to
subcutaneous hemorrhaging, bloody stool, bloody urine.

Fu Organs

● Stomach - the main function is digestion, it produces chyme → transported
into small intestine by stomach qi
○ Stomach qi keeps the stomach unobstructed and causes the food
and water to move through
○ Stomach likes moistness and needs fluid
○ If stomach qi is disrupted it can cause retention of food and fluids,
cause problems with the esophagus, and issues with the small
intestine

● Gallbladder - stores and excretes bile
○ The function of the gallbladder is to judge and make decisions of
stimulation of the mind

● Large Intestine - it partially absorbs water and forms and temporarily stores
feces before it is discharged from the body
○ Is located in the abdominal cavity and split into two segments (upper
and lower)

● Small Intestine - Where water and food are digested and absorbed
○ It absorbs the essence of the food and water and sends the rest to
the large intestine

Fu Organs Part 2

● The Brain:

○ Creates the original spirit.
○ Dominates life activities of the body and the flow of Qi
○ Death of the brain means death of the spirit

● The Bladder:

○ A cyst-like hollow organ
○ Connects with the Kidneys
○ Stores and discharges urine
○ Qi needs to transform normally in the kidneys and the bladder needs to be normal for discharge and storage to be normal
○ Disorders can lead to : Dysuria or Anuresis
○ Fails to restrain Bladder Qi lead to: Frequent or urgency of urination, Enuresis, or Incontinence

● The Uterus:

○ The organ used for the gestation of a fetus
○ Tian Gui - The ability to give birth to an offspring through natural means
○ Essence: comes from the Kidneys
○ Ren Channel - Responsible for pregnancy, yin channel
○ Chong Channel - blood and qi regulator

● The San Jiao:

○ Split into three parts located in the the chest and abdominal cavity: upper (region: above the diaphragm), middle (region: between
diaphragm and belly button), and lower (region: below the belly button).

Channels and Meridians

Meridians are the paths in the body through which Qi
flows, divided into the jingmai (meridian channels) and
luomai (associated vessels). The 12 Principal
Meridians are divided by yin and yang, one of the
elements from the Five Phases, an organ, and a time
of day. There are roughly 400 acupuncture points along
these meridians that can block or increase the flow of
qi.

Image from: https://goe.ac/meridian_chart_and_map_of_meridians_meridian_points_acupoints.htm

Channels and Meridians

● There are 12 Meridians and Channels
○ Qi of both Yin and Yang flow through these.
○ Acupuncture points are where they show on the surface near the skin
○ These points are used to treat: Obstructed flow, Deficient flow, Excess flow, and Unbalanced flow.

● The 3 Yin Channels of the hand
○ Lung
○ Precardian
○ Heart

● The 3 Yang Channels of the hand
○ Large Intestine
○ Small Intestine
○ San Jiao

● The 3 Yin Channels of the foot
○ Spleen
○ Liver
○ Kidney

● The 3 Yang Channels of the foot
○ Stomach
○ Gall Bladder
○ Bladder

Foot Meridians

Hand Meridians

Head Meridians (Front)

Head Meridians (Side)

References

Hafner, Christopher L. "What Is Qi? (and Other Concepts) | Taking Charge of Your Health & Wellbeing." Taking Charge of Your
Health & Wellbeing. University of Minnesota, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2016.

John, Meredith St. "The Five Elements." Acupuncture-Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2016. <http://www.acupuncture-online.
com/tradition3.htm>.

"Syndrome Differentiation According to the Organs (zang- Fu)."Http://www.shen-nong.com/eng/exam/diagnosis_organ.html. Shen
Hong, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2016.