Chinese Medicine from the Classics: Spleen & Stomach

Spleen & Stomach begins with the Chinese concept of the centre and the ideograms for the organs. It discusses their functions as storehouses and granaries, and explores in depth their five phase resonances as earth, the source of all stability through change. The very close, interdependent relationship between spleen and stomach is examined, as is the preeminence of the stomach amongst the fu. The book contains a detailed study of the spleen and stomach from the Neijing, threading together key passages which present them in different contexts. This covers the spleen’s relationship with the kidneys, and the relationships between yang ming, chong mai, zong jin (ancestral muscle) and xu li (great luo of the stomach). The substantial appendix summarizes the functions of spleen and stomach, and selected quotations from the Neijing are given. The pathology is presented in brief with principle causes of disease.

180pp