Principle Of Tongue Diagnosis.

Principle Of Tongue Diagnosis.

 

 

The relationship between tongue and viscera is mainly expressed through the courses of meridians (also known as Channels and Collaterals.)  From the records of <Nei Jin>, the tongue is directly linked to viscera (Zang: ) such as heart, liver, spleen, kidney …, and (Fu: ) bladder, stomach, and triple warmer … via meridians or musculature along the meridians.  As for the lung, small intestine, large intestine and gall bladder, although they are not directly linked to the tongue, the pairing between hand and foot Tai Yin, between hand and foot  Tai Yang, between hand and foot Shao Yang and finally between hand and foot Yang Ming means that the Meridian Qi of the lung, small intestine, and large intestine is also connected to the tongue.  Hence, tongue is not merely the sprouting point for the heart, the reflexion of the spleen, but also the external reflexion of all the 5 Zang and 6 Fu.  (Zang-fu.)

 

In terms of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) physiological understanding, the Jin-Qi of the Zang-fu can reach the tongue via the meridians, supplying the vital nutrients for the maintenance of normal function and activity of the tongue.  Any pathological changes in Zang-fu would also affect Jin-Qi and reflect on the tongue.

 

From the view point of the bio-holography, any part of the body is a close microcosm of the whole body.  Tongue is no exception; and indeed TCM has long observed that tongue reflects visceral positions.  The basic principles are: the top part of the body would reflect at the top portion of tongue, the right will be shown in the middle portion of the tongue, and the bottom will reflect at the root of the tongue.  Essentially, there are 3 ways for such division.

 

1.       Partitioning tongue to reflect visceral position.  The lung and heart are at the upper position of the body (see Figure 1), so they are reflected at the tip of the tongue; the spleen and the stomach are in the middle of the body so they are reflected in the middle section of the tongue; the kidneys are at the bottom section of the body, so they are reflected at the root of the tongue; the liver and gallbladder are at the side-border so they are reflected at the side-border of the tongue, the left side reflects liver and the right side reflects the gallbladder.  This method of partitioning is generally used for miscellaneous internal medicine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.       Partitioning tongue according to triple-jiao (also known as Triple-warmer) division.  Tip portion - upper jiao; middle portion - middle jiao; root portion - lower jiao.

 

3.       Partitioning tongue according to stomach divisions.  Tip portion - upper stomach; middle portion - middle part of stomach; root portion - lower part of stomach.  This type of partitioning is often used for diseases in the stomach and intestine.

 

Inspecting tongue as a diagnostic reflection of the viscera, is a hot topic in the study of bio-holography.  And although the 3 methods mentioned differ from one another, they nevertheless provide invaluable clues in diagnosis.  They can be combined with the inspections of texture and coating of the tongue to strengthen the diagnosis, but this must be further combined together with the Four Diagnostic tools of inspection, auscultation and olfaction, interrogation and pulse-feeling and palpation to arrive at a firm opinion without being mechanical or dogmatic.

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