Introduction
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Tongue diagnosis is a technique that allows us to glimpse the secrets of the body. Is it blood deficiency, qi deficiency, phlegm dampness, or blood stasis? All can be inferred at the moment you stick out your tongue. Tongue diagnosis, also known as “observing the tongue,” is one of the important methods used to understand physiological functions and pathological changes of the body by observing changes in the tongue’s appearance.
During tongue diagnosis, observations are made in the order of tip – middle – root – sides. First, observe the tongue body, then the coating, for about 30 seconds. If the initial observation is unclear, allow the patient to rest for 3-5 minutes before re-examining.
1
Color of the Tongue
① Pale Tongue: The tongue color is lighter than normal, indicating deficiency syndromes or cold syndromes, often seen in blood deficiency, representing weak yang energy and insufficient qi and blood. A pale and plump tongue indicates deficiency cold; a plump tongue with teeth marks on the edges indicates qi deficiency or yang deficiency.
② Red Tongue: The tongue color is deeper than normal, appearing bright red, indicating heat syndromes, often due to internal heat. A red tip indicates heart fire; red edges indicate liver and gallbladder heat; a dry red tongue indicates heat injuring body fluids or yin deficiency with excess fire.
③ Crimson Tongue: The tongue color is deep red, indicating excessive heat, often due to evil heat penetrating the nutrient level, blood level, or yin deficiency with excess fire.
As the color of the red and crimson tongue deepens, it indicates that the heat evil is more severe.
④ Stasis Spots on the Tongue: The tongue has bluish-purple spots or patches, often indicating internal blood stasis accumulation.
⑤ Cyanotic Tongue: The entire tongue appears bluish-purple, which may indicate extreme heat or cold syndromes. A deep, dry crimson tongue indicates extreme heat, while a pale yellowish-purple or bluish-purple tongue that is moist indicates yin cold syndromes.
(2) Tongue Shape: Observe the age and condition of the tongue, whether it is plump or thin, has prickles, or cracks.
① Age: “Old” refers to a rough tongue texture, firm color, often associated with excess syndromes or heat syndromes; “young” refers to a delicate tongue texture, soft color, often associated with deficiency syndromes or cold deficiency syndromes.
② Plumpness: “Plump” refers to a swollen tongue, often related to water dampness retention. A pale and plump tongue with teeth marks on the edges often indicates spleen deficiency or kidney yang deficiency with water dampness retention; a red and swollen tongue often indicates internal damp-heat or excessive heat toxicity. “Thin” refers to a small and thin tongue, often associated with deficiency syndromes. A pale and thin tongue often indicates insufficient qi and blood; a red and thin tongue often indicates internal heat due to yin deficiency.
③ Prickles: Tongue papillae are enlarged and protruding like thorns, often associated with excessive heat evil. The more severe the heat evil, the larger and more numerous the prickles. Clinically, prickles are often seen on the tip and sides of the tongue, with prickles on the tip often indicating excessive liver and gallbladder heat.
④ Cracks: The tongue has various longitudinal or transverse cracks or wrinkles, often due to mucosal atrophy. Cracked tongues can be seen in a few normal individuals. A red and cracked tongue often indicates excessive heat; a pale and cracked tongue often indicates insufficient qi and yin.
(3) Tongue State: Observe whether the tongue body has tremors, is deviated, weak, or stiff.
① Tremors: The tongue trembles involuntarily, often indicating both qi and blood deficiency or internal liver wind.
② Deviation: The tongue deviates to one side, often indicating a stroke or a precursor to a stroke.
③ Weakness: The tongue extends and curls weakly, often due to both qi and blood deficiency leading to insufficient nourishment of the muscles and tendons.
④ Stiffness: The tongue is not flexible, has difficulty bending and extending, and may even be unable to turn, often indicating high fever injuring body fluids, excessive heat evil, or a sign of stroke.
2
Tongue Coating
The tongue coating is the manifestation of the stomach’s vital energy. Zhang Xugu said: “The tongue coating arises from the vital energy of the stomach, and the stomach’s energy arises from the heart and spleen. Therefore, in healthy individuals, there is often a thin coating, which is the vital energy of the stomach, like the fine grass on the ground. If there is no grass, then the soil has no vitality.”
Wu Kunan said: “The tongue coating is like the moss on the ground. The moss on the ground arises from the upward diffusion of moisture; the tongue coating arises from the stomach’s steam and spleen dampness rising, hence it is called coating.” Modern medical practitioners believe that the formation of tongue coating is mainly due to the differentiation of filiform papillae. The tips of filiform papillae differentiate into keratinized trees, and the gaps between the branches of the keratinized trees are often filled with shed keratinized epithelium, saliva, bacteria, food debris, and exuded white blood cells, forming the normal tongue coating.
Normal tongue coating is a thin white layer, tender and not thick, with moderate dryness and moisture, neither slippery nor dry. Observing the contents of the tongue coating includes the color, thickness, and moisture of the coating.
(1) Coating Color: There are white, yellow, gray, and black coatings.
① White Coating: White coating is the most common in clinical practice, and other colors of coating can be considered as transformations from white coating. White coating generally belongs to the lungs, indicating exterior syndromes or cold syndromes, but in clinical practice, white coating can also be seen in interior syndromes or heat syndromes. For example, thin white and moist indicates wind-cold; thin white and dry indicates wind-heat; interior cold dampness can show thick and greasy white coating.
② Yellow Coating: There are light yellow, tender yellow, deep yellow, and scorched yellow. Generally, the deeper the yellow coating, the heavier the heat evil. Light yellow indicates mild heat; tender yellow indicates heavier heat; deep yellow indicates even heavier heat; scorched yellow indicates heat accumulation; dry yellow indicates heat injuring body fluids; greasy yellow indicates damp-heat.
③ Gray-Black Coating: Generally indicates heat syndromes, but can also indicate cold dampness or deficiency cold syndromes. Gray-black and dry tongue coating indicates excessive heat injuring body fluids; gray-black and moist tongue coating often indicates yang deficiency with excessive cold. Gray-black coating is often seen in more severe stages of illness.
(2) Thickness: There are thin coating, thick coating, little coating, and no coating.
Thin coating often indicates the initial stage of illness, with the evil in the exterior, and the condition is relatively mild; thick coating often indicates that the evil is more severe and has penetrated inward; or there may be gastrointestinal accumulation; or phlegm dampness. The thicker the coating, the more severe the evil, and the more serious the condition. However, the formation of tongue coating reflects the presence of stomach qi; even if the coating is thick, it indicates that stomach qi is still present, while little coating often indicates insufficient righteous qi, and no coating indicates severe deficiency of stomach qi, lacking the ability to generate. Irregular areas of tongue coating shedding, with smooth areas without coating, are called “flowered coating,” often indicating insufficient qi and yin of the stomach; if accompanied by greasy coating, it indicates that phlegm dampness has not transformed and righteous qi has been injured.
(3) Moisture and Dryness: Reflects the condition of body fluids. Normal tongue coating is neither dry nor wet; dry tongue without coating indicates that body fluids have been exhausted; external pathogens often cause dry heat injuring body fluids, while internal injuries often indicate yin deficiency and insufficient body fluids; moist tongue coating indicates that body fluids have not been injured, while excessive moisture on the tongue coating that drips when the tongue is extended is called slippery coating, indicating that there is dampness retained in the body.
Greasy Coating: The coating is dense and fine, like a layer of turbid, smooth mucus covering the tongue surface, which is not easily wiped off, often indicating excessive phlegm dampness.
Putrid Coating: The coating is loose like tofu dregs, piled on the tongue surface, easily wiped off, often indicating that excessive heat has vaporized the food stagnation in the stomach, representing the putrefaction of food in the stomach.
3
Tongue Diagnosis
1. Normal Tongue Tongue appearance: tongue quality is pale red, moderate in size, tongue coating is thin white and moist at a suitable level.2. Pale White Tongue Tongue appearance: tongue quality is pale white, tongue body is plump, tongue coating is thin white. Meaning: often indicates weak stomach qi or insufficient qi and blood.3. Old Tongue with Rough Coating Tongue appearance: tongue quality is pale red, old, with white coating all over, slightly yellow, rough like sand. Meaning: dampness obstructing the meridians, fluids not ascending, or excessive heat injuring fluids.4. Pale White Tongue with White Coating Tongue appearance: tongue quality is pale white, with white coating all over, thick in the middle like accumulated powder. Meaning: yang deficiency with floating heat, can be seen in yang deficiency with external damp-heat.5. Pale White Tongue with Black Dry Coating Tongue appearance: tongue quality is pale white, tongue body is plump, tongue coating is gray-black, dry and cracked. Meaning: spleen loses healthy movement, damp turbidity not transformed, phlegm dampness obscuring the clear orifices.6. Pale Red Mirror Tongue Tongue appearance: tongue quality is pale red and tender, with cracks on the edges, tongue surface is smooth and without coating, like a mirror. Meaning: insufficient stomach yin or both qi and yin deficiency.7. Stasis Spots on the Tongue Tongue appearance: tongue quality is pale red, slightly dark, with stasis spots and stasis patches, tongue coating is thin white. Meaning: blood stasis obstructing the meridians, qi and blood stagnation.8. Pale Red Flowered Coating (Map Tongue) Tongue appearance: tongue quality is pale red, tongue body is deviated, tongue coating is white greasy with shedding, presenting a map-like appearance. Meaning: deficiency of stomach qi and yin, phlegm dampness obstructing the meridians.9. Red Tongue with Flowered Coating Tongue appearance: tongue quality is red and tender, tongue coating is white greasy with flowered shedding, shedding areas are smooth without coating, or covered with white transparent coating. Meaning: damp-heat injuring yin, damp turbidity not transformed, has injured yin fluids.10. Red Swollen Tongue Tongue appearance: tongue quality is red, tongue body is swollen, plump, cannot retract into the mouth, tongue tip and middle have yellow coating, tongue edges and root have white coating. Meaning: damp-heat steaming, blood heat obstructing.11. Pale Red Purple Stasis Tongue Tongue appearance: tongue quality is pale red, tongue tip and edges have multiple blue-purple patches, tongue coating is uneven white greasy, with less coating in the middle. Meaning: qi stagnation and blood stasis or prolonged illness with qi and blood not replenished.12. Pale Red Tongue with Thick Greasy Coating Tongue appearance: tongue quality is pale red, tongue coating is thick and greasy. Meaning: qi deficiency with blood stasis, phlegm and fluid accumulation.13. Pale Red Tongue with Thick Putrid Coating Tongue appearance: tongue quality is pale red, tongue body is slightly plump, with thick putrid coating covering the tongue surface like accumulated powder, with a slight yellowish surface. Meaning: damp-heat obstructing the three burners.14. Pale Red Tongue with Yellow Rough Coating Tongue appearance: tongue quality is pale red, tongue coating is yellow and dry, rough like sand. Meaning: gastrointestinal heat accumulation with dampness, damp-heat transforming into dryness.15. Red Tongue with Black Greasy Coating Tongue appearance: tongue quality is red, coating is thick and greasy, with white and yellow edges and black in the middle. Meaning: floating deficiency of yang, internal damp-heat.16. Red Tongue without Coating Tongue appearance: tongue quality is red and tender, with cracks in the middle, except for a small amount of residual coating on the edges, the rest is smooth without coating. Meaning: injury to both stomach and kidney qi and yin.17. Tongue with Teeth Marks Tongue appearance: tongue quality is slightly red, tongue body is plump with teeth marks, with longitudinal cracks in the middle, coating is thin white and coarse. Meaning: spleen deficiency with damp stagnation, with internal heat.18. Cracked Tongue Tongue appearance: tongue quality is slightly thin, with multiple longitudinal cracks like knife cuts, tongue coating is thin white. Meaning: often indicates yin deficiency, true yin is insufficient, with internal heat rising.19. Cracked Tongue Tongue appearance: tongue quality is pale white with bluish-purple, tongue body is plump, with deep cracks in the middle, tongue edges have cracks like knife cuts, tongue coating is white greasy and uneven. Meaning: both qi and blood are weak, kidney yin is insufficient.20. Red Tongue with White Putrid Coating Tongue appearance: tongue quality is red, tongue coating is thick white, coarse and loose, like tofu dregs piled on the tongue surface. Meaning: phlegm and food accumulation in the stomach, with damp-heat steaming.21. Red Tongue with Yellow Putrid Coating Tongue appearance: tongue quality is red, with red spots, tongue body is old, tongue coating changes from white to gray-yellow, thick and putrid, with horizontal and vertical cracks. Meaning: damp-heat and turbid accumulation in the interior.22. Dark Red Tongue with Scorched Yellow Coating Tongue appearance: tongue quality is red and dark, coating is scorched yellow like a pot bottom, thick and cracked. Meaning: gastrointestinal heat accumulation, with obstruction of the bowel qi.23. Red Tongue with Yellow-White Coating Tongue appearance: tongue quality is red, with red spots, coating is yellow-white, thick and full, like rice flour. Meaning: evil heat and damp toxin accumulation in the interior.24. Dark Red Tongue with Dry Yellow Coating Tongue appearance: tongue quality is dark red and dull, tongue body is thin, tongue coating is thick and scorched yellow and cracked. Meaning: solid heat and dryness in the gastrointestinal tract.25. Red Crimson Tongue with Yellow-Black Coating Tongue appearance: tongue quality is crimson, old, with red spots, coating is thin white turning gray-yellow, with gray-black dirt at the root. Meaning: wind-phlegm disturbing, phlegm-heat obstructing the bowels.26. Red Crimson Tongue with Black Rough Coating Tongue appearance: tongue quality is crimson, with red spots, black rough cracked coating covering the tongue, thick and accumulated. Meaning: internal heat toxin, phlegm-heat obstructing the bowels.27. Red Pointed Tongue Tongue appearance: tongue quality is red, with red pointed protrusions, tongue coating is white greasy, with a slightly yellow surface. Meaning: heat in the nutrient level.28. Cyanotic Thin Tongue Tongue appearance: tongue is thin and small, with a bluish-purple dull appearance, tongue coating is white thick and putrid. Meaning: cold dampness stagnation, qi and blood obstruction.29. Crimson Purple Tongue with Smooth Coating Tongue appearance: tongue quality is crimson and dark, tongue surface is smooth without coating. Meaning: heat affecting the nutrient blood, injuring yin and obstructing the meridians.30. Pale Red Tongue with Slippery Coating Tongue appearance: tongue is pale and plump, with white slippery coating covering the tongue surface, with yellow coating in the middle, thick and greasy. Meaning: kidney yang deficiency; damp turbidity transforming into heat.31. Red Crimson Thin Tongue Tongue appearance: tongue quality is crimson, tongue body is thin and long, with two thick yellow coatings, cracked into pieces, the rest is smooth without coating. Meaning: gastrointestinal heat accumulation injuring yin, with concurrent excess fire.32. Red Plump Stasis Tongue Tongue appearance: tongue quality is crimson with stasis spots, tongue body is swollen, tongue surface has damage, coating is white greasy with a sauce color. Meaning: internal damp toxin.
4
Precautions for Tongue Diagnosis
(1) The patient should naturally extend the tongue outside the mouth, fully exposing it, in a flat shape, allowing the tongue body to relax, without curling or excessive force, to avoid color changes.
During tongue observation, try to quickly and accurately observe the tongue quality, tongue body, tongue coating, avoiding the patient extending the tongue for too long; if necessary, a brief rest can be taken before re-examining.
(2) The patient should face the light, allowing the light to shine directly into the mouth, with sufficient light; otherwise, the colors of the tongue quality and tongue coating may be difficult to distinguish.
(3) Pay attention to the impact of diet on tongue diagnosis: For example, after eating, the friction of food can make the tongue coating thinner; after drinking, the tongue coating can become moist; after consuming warm or spicy foods, the tongue quality can become red. Therefore, it is generally not advisable to perform tongue diagnosis immediately after the patient has eaten or rinsed their mouth.
(4) Be aware of coating staining: For example, drinking milk can make the coating appear white; eating black plums, bayberries, coffee, dried tangerine peel, olives, etc., can stain the tongue coating black or brown; eating fava beans, oranges, persimmons, and rhubarb can turn the tongue coating yellow. These temporary external stains should not be mistaken for pathological tongue coatings.
5
Tongue Diagnosis Mnemonics
(1) The tongue and coating must first be distinguished; the coating is the residue, while the tongue is the essence. Coating reflects qi diseases, while the tongue reflects blood diseases; yin and yang, exterior and interior, cold and heat, deficiency and excess. The depth of evil can be discerned from the coating; the deficiency and excess of the organs can be recognized from the tongue quality.
(2) Changes in tongue coating vary by region: the tip corresponds to the heart and lungs, the center corresponds to the stomach and intestines, the root corresponds to the kidneys, the sides correspond to the spleen and earth, and the two sides of the tongue correspond to the liver and gallbladder. Another method is to observe the three regions: the tip above and the root below, and the center corresponds to the middle jiao.
(3) Distinguish between tongue moisture and dryness. Moisture is normal, while thick indicates dampness. Moist and abundant indicates slippery coating. Dryness indicates depletion of fluids.
(4) The presence or absence of spirit is distinguished by the flourishing or withering. Flourishing indicates moistness, with fluids distributed; red and moist indicates rich qi and blood. Withering indicates lack of blood color. Righteous qi is about to deplete, fluids are deficient and dry, indicating a critical condition.
(5) Red tongue indicates heat, with many distinctions. Heart fire is inflamed, with red at the tip. Red on the sides indicates liver and gallbladder heat. In the early stages of warm diseases, the tip and edges are often red; seen in various diseases, the heart and liver colors; headaches, insomnia, irritability, and constipation. Bright red also has its distinctions; in warm diseases, heat is severe, while in various diseases, yin is deficient. The heart is dry and red, indicating that yin fluids are being robbed. A smooth and moist tongue indicates mirror tongue; this often indicates a serious condition, with fluids depleted. If qi and blood are deficient, the tongue quality is pale red.
(6) Crimson and deep red indicate warm heat penetrating the nutrient level. Pure crimson and bright indicate excessive heat. Dry and withered indicate depletion of kidney yin; often accompanied by dryness of the throat. The great command is about to collapse. There is also a type of crimson tongue with little coating, even cracks, indicating that yin fluids are about to be exhausted. A crimson tongue with a greasy appearance, resembling coating, indicates dampness and turbidity, with fragrant dispersal. Observing it reveals much, while feeling it indicates fluids are already injured, with damp heat steaming, turbid phlegm obscuring the orifices, and clear fluids being depleted.
(7) Blue tongue indicates disease, with both yang and yin; with or without coating, the main distinction is made. Moist and dry, full tongue or spots indicate different diseases, with varying severity. Yellow coating on a purple tongue indicates heat accumulation in the organs; accompanied by dryness, it indicates urgency. A blue-purple tongue with slippery coating indicates damp phlegm tongue.
(8) Black indicates severe illness, with both yin and yang: tender, moist, indicates extreme cold; rough, dry, indicates extreme heat. Blood has already decayed. In ancient times, this was called a death sign. Accurate identification and early rescue may lead to victory.
(9) Old and tender also need analysis: firm and old indicates excess heat obstructing, spirit and energy still exist, often indicating excess; while floating and tender indicates phlegm dampness. Tender tongue with teeth marks indicates weakness.
(10) Cracked and prickly, each has its signs: cracks in the tongue quality resemble shattered porcelain, blood deficiency and excessive heat can also be seen in yin deficiency. Shedding like peeling indicates a smooth area, indicating yin injury, which is difficult to fill. The more severe the condition, the more the entire tongue sheds. The tongue grows prickles, with black and yellow, regardless of front or back, indicating dryness. The tongue body is swollen, indicating phlegm dampness and heat. The tongue body is thin and shriveled, indicating various deficiency conditions.
(11) Soft and gentle indicates normal tongue quality, with flexible movement, qi and blood mutually beneficial. Weak and crimson indicates yin deficiency, with weak movement, color appearing pale red, indicating extreme qi and blood deficiency. A stiff tongue indicates wind, fire, and phlegm: a stiff tongue indicates paralysis, with wind entering the heart and spleen; red and swollen indicates extreme heart fire; phlegm swelling and hard indicates gray coating. The tongue extends smoothly, as normal; if it cannot extend, tremors indicate deficiency. The tongue desires to extend, but the root is like a line pulling, which can be due to three causes: dry cold phlegm, all of which affect the muscles and tendons, with a stiff tongue and speech difficulties. Dryness and cold urgency, wind phlegm adhesion. The tongue extends phlegm heat, paralysis indicates deficiency. The tongue suddenly shortens, dry and red indicates extreme kidney deficiency; white and moist indicates cold condensation; sticky phlegm indicates adhesion.
(12) With root or without root, distinctions must also be made, concerning the existence of qi. Coating from the tongue grows, tightly adhering to the tongue surface, evenly spread. Without root coating, thick coating appears, with clean edges, like a coating on the tongue surface.
(13) Coating thickness indicates internal and external evil accumulation. Exterior cold is generally thin, with various accompanying symptoms; evil accumulation indicates thick coating, with internal evidence often being solid. Putrid coating is loose and thick, easily wiped off, indicating transformation of evil, with excess yang energy. Greasy indicates sticky tongue, scraping does not remove, phlegm dampness resides, with yang being restrained by yin. Putrid coating resembles mold or rotten pus, indicating decay of stomach qi, or internal abscess.
(14) Coating covering the tongue indicates scattered evil energy, with thin white for exterior symptoms; white greasy indicates phlegm, medication should be cautious to prevent many changes. Coating grows unevenly, either in the middle or front, or left or right, requiring careful study. Coating color changes can be traced: from white to yellow, yellow retreats to new, this is a positive sign, indicating the evil is resolved and righteousness prevails. White, yellow, gray, and black gradually increase, indicating that righteous qi is insufficient, and the evil is deepening. If the coating suddenly retreats, without gradual transformation, the evil energy sinks, indicating a critical condition.
(15) Food staining the coating should be carefully distinguished. Loquats and olives can turn yellow or black. Sweet, sour, and salty foods, colored juices can stain the coating, often making the tongue appear white and moist.
(16) White coating indicates exterior and damp deficiency cold. White and slippery indicates external wind-cold. Red tongue with white coating indicates initial wind warmth. White coating with crimson base indicates dampness obstructing heat. White coating with moisture indicates dampness, with plump tongue and teeth marks, indicating damp phlegm. Deficiency conditions with white coating appear clear, with a tender and smooth tongue, indicating yang deficiency.
(17) Yellow coating indicates disease, belonging to the interior and heat. Light yellow is not dry, indicating initial transmission; yellow and dry indicates extreme internal heat. Yellow coating indicates the spleen and stomach disease, with internal evidence and heat evidence.
(18) Gray coating indicates disease, with cold and heat, yin and yang, distinguished by moisture and dryness, requiring careful observation. Yellow turns gray, coating is dry and thick, indicating cold transmission; internal heat syndrome. Coating appears suddenly, without accumulation, thin and slippery, indicating three yin syndrome. Gray-black coating indicates serious illness.
(19) Black indicates severe illness, with both yin and yang: tender, moist indicates extreme cold; rough, dry indicates extreme heat. Blood has already decayed. In ancient times, this was called a death sign. Accurate identification and early rescue may lead to victory.
(20) Old and tender also need analysis: firm and old indicates excess heat obstructing, spirit and energy still exist, often indicating excess; while floating and tender indicates phlegm dampness. Tender tongue with teeth marks indicates weakness.
(21) Cracked and prickly, each has its signs: cracks in the tongue quality resemble shattered porcelain, blood deficiency and excessive heat can also be seen in yin deficiency. Shedding like peeling indicates a smooth area, indicating yin injury, which is difficult to fill. The more severe the condition, the more the entire tongue sheds. The tongue grows prickles, with black and yellow, regardless of front or back, indicating dryness. The tongue body is swollen, indicating phlegm dampness and heat. The tongue body is thin and shriveled, indicating various deficiency conditions.
(22) The tongue is pale and plump, with stasis spots, indicating blood stasis obstructing the meridians, qi and blood stagnation. The tongue is pale and thin, indicating insufficient qi and blood; the tongue is red and thin, indicating internal heat due to yin deficiency.
(23) The tongue is red and tender, with cracks in the middle, except for a small amount of residual coating on the edges, the rest is smooth without coating. Meaning: injury to both stomach and kidney qi and yin.
(24) The tongue is red and tender, with cracks in the middle, except for a small amount of residual coating on the edges, the rest is smooth without coating. Meaning: injury to both stomach and kidney qi and yin.
(25) The tongue is red and tender, with cracks in the middle, except for a small amount of residual coating on the edges, the rest is smooth without coating. Meaning: injury to both stomach and kidney qi and yin.
(26) The tongue is red and tender, with cracks in the middle, except for a small amount of residual coating on the edges, the rest is smooth without coating. Meaning: injury to both stomach and kidney qi and yin.
(27) The tongue is red and tender, with cracks in the middle, except for a small amount of residual coating on the edges, the rest is smooth without coating. Meaning: injury to both stomach and kidney qi and yin.
(28) The tongue is red and tender, with cracks in the middle, except for a small amount of residual coating on the edges, the rest is smooth without coating. Meaning: injury to both stomach and kidney qi and yin.
(29) The tongue is red and tender, with cracks in the middle, except for a small amount of residual coating on the edges, the rest is smooth without coating. Meaning: injury to both stomach and kidney qi and yin.
(30) The tongue is red and tender, with cracks in the middle, except for a small amount of residual coating on the edges, the rest is smooth without coating. Meaning: injury to both stomach and kidney qi and yin.
(31) The tongue is red and tender, with cracks in the middle, except for a small amount of residual coating on the edges, the rest is smooth without coating. Meaning: injury to both stomach and kidney qi and yin.
(32) The tongue is red and tender, with cracks in the middle, except for a small amount of residual coating on the edges, the rest is smooth without coating. Meaning: injury to both stomach and kidney qi and yin.
In summary, tongue diagnosis is a crucial aspect of Traditional Chinese Medicine, providing insights into the body’s internal conditions through careful observation of the tongue’s appearance, color, and coating.