I Can Hear the Heart's Voice of Traditional Chinese Medicine-Chapter 323 - 143: Fire in the Upper Burner, Cold in the Lower Burner (Part 2)

Yang Deficiency Type: Main Symptoms: Pale white tongue with moist and abundant saliva, or tongue surface is slippery, tongue body is round, large, plump, and tender, with teeth marks on the edges. Facial complexion appears pale or bluish-black, feeling exhausted and weak, tired and likes to lie down, bland taste in mouth, not thirsty, poor appetite, abdominal cold pain relieved by warmth, stomach cold limbs cold, clear urine and loose stools, or edema may be present, pulse is deep and faint. Treatment principle: Warm and invigorate Yang.

No coating, in Chinese medicine, is sometimes referred to as mirror tongue, an indication of yin deficiency. It may be due to stomach yin deficiency, depletion of stomach yin, weakness of qi and blood, spleen yin deficiency, or kidney yin deficiency.

The primary issue is damage to the yin fluids, leading to symptoms of no coating. A normal tongue coating should be a pale red tongue with a thin white coating.

The tongue should normally have a light, thin coating; if it’s thick, it is a sign of disease.

If there is no coating at all, it’s an indication of extreme damage to the stomach yin. However, one must also look for other syndromes besides observing the tongue coating.

As for a thin pulse, it is also indicative of deficiency.

This primarily refers to yin deficiency and blood deficiency. Insufficient yin and blood mean the blood vessels are not full, resulting in a thin pulse.

In cases of prolonged illness with deficiency of yin, yang, qi, and blood, the pulse also appears thin and small.

In simple yang deficiency and qi deficiency, the pulse is deep and faint; when yang deficiency and qi deficiency are severe, reaching the stage of potential Yang Collapse or Qi Collapse, the pulse instead becomes floating and weak.

In patients with heavy moisture, because moisture fills the skin and compresses the blood vessels, the pulse appears thin but soft.

The opposite of a thin pulse is a full, large pulse, felt as wide and strong, like turbulent waves, with the pulse beating strongly under the finger. When it falls, it is deeper with larger undulations. This pulse is often seen in patients with high fever, and is frequently accompanied by a rapid pulse.

Based on the results of the four examinations and Aunt Song’s self-reported conditions, the treatment principle is to strengthen the spleen and benefit qi. However, Aunt Song’s stomach pain was due to exposure to cold, needing warming and harmonizing of the stomach; overall, Aunt Song’s condition can be summarized as Zhong Jiao Deficiency Cold."

"Zhong Jiao Deficiency Cold?" Ji Xiuwen showed an expression as if hearing this term for the first time.

Although Su Kenan seemed to have heard of it somewhere, they couldn’t remember clearly and said nothing, instead watching Lu Xuan silently.

"Never heard of it?" Lu Xuan looked at Ji Xiuwen in surprise.

It was normal for Su Kenan not to have heard of it, as she was still an undergraduate and hadn’t been exposed to much. However, it was indeed a little unexpected for Ji Xiuwen not to have heard of it.

He had heard of it during his undergraduate years. The situation was similar to Ji Xiuwen’s now; glimpsed it, knew a bit about it, but only to a limited extent.

Ji Xiuwen shook his head: "No, this should be my first time hearing it. The most I’ve heard about the three burners is the saying that the upper burner has fire and the lower burner has cold."

"Since you’ve mentioned the upper and lower burners, this is a good opportunity for me to talk about the three burners of the human body." 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Lu Xuan recollected for a moment, then continued: "The three burners are among the visceral manifestations, first seen in the ’Inner Scripture of the Yellow Emperor’. They are the largest among the six organs, connected to the pericardium meridian, and include the upper burner, middle burner, and lower burner.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), based on the general patterns and symptom changes of febrile diseases, uses the three burners as a framework to comprehensively analyze and summarize various clinical manifestations during the course of a disease, distinguishing between stages, identifying disease transmission and transformation, clarifying the location of lesions, summarizing syndrome types, analyzing the characteristics of disease mechanisms, establishing treatment principles, and predicting prognosis and outcome.

Regarding the saying that the upper burner has fire and the lower burner has cold, it’s precisely because the middle burner is blocked, resulting in the upper burner having fire and the lower burner having cold. In TCM, when referring to the upper and lower burners, they are derived from the ’Three Burners’.

During this period, you’ve been familiarizing yourself with acupuncture, so you should know about the hand Shaoyang Sanjiao meridian, right?"

Ji Xiuwen nodded. He naturally knew about it, otherwise the recent days of study would be in vain. If he didn’t, he would have to endure Lu Xuan’s criticism again.

Now when he sees Lu Xuan, he feels the same apprehension as when a student sees a teacher.

Seeing that Ji Xiuwen knew, Lu Xuan continued: "Among the heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney five viscera, and the small intestine, gallbladder, stomach, large intestine, bladder, three burners, and six organs, the three burners are also mentioned, so how are the three burners divided?

The three burners are one of the six organs, collectively known as the upper, middle, and lower burners.

Above the diaphragm is the upper burner, namely the heart and lungs; the spleen and stomach are the middle burner, and the liver, kidney, small and large intestines, and bladder are the lower burner.

The three burners in the human body have the function of conducting primordial qi, grains and water, and fluid, and their function is based on certain forms and structures.

However, these forms and structures are not specific, definite organ tissues, but a generalization of some organ tissues and their functions.

Therefore, the three burners are said to be formless. Figuratively speaking, the "three burners" are actually like a large conduit in the trunk of the human body.

The meridians mainly circulate in the limbs and operate on a bi-directional two-lane road; in comparison, the three burners operate on a bi-directional eight-lane road within the trunk.

Regarding the three burners, one cannot fail to mention the concept of the three burners’ conduction of primordial qi."

At this point, Lu Xuan paused, then continued: "

The concept of the three burners conducting primordial qi first appeared in the ’Difficult Classic’. As stated in ’Difficult Classic Thirty-First Difficulty’: ’The three burners are the passageways for water and grains, and the beginning and end of qi.’

’Difficult Classic Thirty-Eighth Difficulty’ also stated: ’The reason there are six organs is because of the three burners, which have a separate function of primordial qi, governing various qi.’ ’Difficult Classic Sixty-Sixth Difficulty’ says: ’The three burners are the delegates of primordial qi, responsible for conducting three types of qi, passing through the five viscera and six organs.’