The heart (xin), liver (gan), spleen (pi), lungs (fei), and kidneys (shen) are the five Zang organs, which are classified as Yin. The gallbladder (dan), stomach (wei), bladder (pangguang), large intestine (dachang), small intestine (xiaochang), and triple warmer (sanjiao) are the six Fu organs, which are classified as Yang.
The function of the five Zang organs is to store nutrients and maintain the body’s vital activities. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), it is said that the five Zang organs are “藏而不泻” (cáng ér bù xiè), meaning they store the body’s essence and cannot leak out; otherwise, the person becomes deficient.
The function of the six Fu organs is digestion and transportation, responsible for breaking down food, allowing the body to absorb nutrients, and expelling waste. They serve as channels for nutrients, so TCM states that the six Fu organs are “泻而不藏” (xiè ér bù cáng), meaning their role is to transport rather than store, and they must remain unobstructed.
Understanding the Yin and Yang of the five Zang and six Fu organs provides a shortcut to dietary therapy. The five Zang organs are primarily associated with “补” (bǔ, tonification), so we should focus on nourishing them; the six Fu organs are primarily associated with “泻” (xiè, purging), so we should focus on ensuring their smooth function.
Additionally, when you want to use food to regulate symptoms of a specific Zang organ, if direct purging does not yield results, you can work on the corresponding Fu organ that forms a Yin-Yang pair with it. Similarly, when you want to regulate a specific Fu organ’s issues, you can tonify the corresponding Zang organ.
For example, the kidneys (shen) and bladder (pangguang) form a Yin-Yang pair. If there is a problem with the kidneys, such as excess condition, purging is necessary to clear damp-heat. However, the kidneys should not be purged directly, as that would lead to kidney deficiency. Instead, you should purge the bladder to expel the damp-heat. Conversely, if there is frequent urination at night due to a deficiency in the bladder, tonification is needed, but since the bladder is responsible for excretion, it cannot be tonified directly. You would need to tonify the kidneys to address the root cause.
The Yin and Yang of the five Zang and six Fu organs can be paired as follows: the lungs (fei) are Yin, while the large intestine (dachang) is Yang; the spleen (pi) is Yin, while the stomach (wei) is Yang; the heart (xin) is Yin, while the small intestine (xiaochang) is Yang; the kidneys (shen) are Yin, while the bladder (pangguang) is Yang; the liver (gan) is Yin, while the gallbladder (dan) is Yang; the pericardium (xinbao) is Yin, while the triple warmer (sanjiao) is Yang. This pairing relationship is also referred to in meridian theory as the interconnection of Zang and Fu organs. By remembering the Yin-Yang relationships between the Zang and Fu organs, we can avoid treating symptoms in isolation.
Why is the spleen and kidneys the first choice for tonification?
The human body can be infinitely subdivided, and among the five Zang organs, they are classified as Yin relative to the six Fu organs, and there are also distinctions of Yin and Yang among themselves.
If we categorize the five Zang organs into Yin and Yang, they can be divided into two groups: the heart (xin) and lungs (fei) form one group, which are Yang, while the liver (gan), kidneys (shen), and spleen (pi) form another group, which are Yin.
The heart is the utmost Yang, while the lungs are the Yin within Yang. The liver is the Yang within Yin, the kidneys are the utmost Yin, and the spleen is the utmost Yin among the Yin organs.
If we rank the five Zang organs from the most Yang to the most Yin, the order is heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, with the spleen being the most Yin. The spleen, being the utmost Yin, is less prone to Yin deficiency but more susceptible to Yang deficiency. Therefore, tonifying the spleen should primarily focus on warming and tonifying the spleen Yang.
The five Zang organs are classified as Yin in the body, with the kidneys being the utmost Yin and the spleen being the utmost Yin among the Yin organs. Yin is responsible for storage, and all Yin organs are responsible for storing essence. Among the five Zang and six Fu organs, the spleen and kidneys have the most prominent function of storing essence. The spleen governs digestion, so it stores the essence derived from postnatal sources, which is nutrition. The kidneys govern reproduction, so they store the essence derived from prenatal sources, which is Yuan Qi (元气, original Qi).
The more Yin an organ is, the more it is suitable for tonification. Therefore, if we want to tonify, we should focus on the spleen and kidneys. If these two organs are well-tonified, the other organs will be less likely to become ill.
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