THE FIVE ZANG-ORGANTS-THE ORGANS OF PRODUCING AND STORING ESSENCE-QI
五臟－生化和儲存元?dú)獾钠鞴?/FONT>
The heart, Lungs, spleen, liver and kidneys are together known as the five zang-organs, whose common physiological function is preducing and storing essence-qi. They store but not eliminate essence-qi.	心、肺、脾、肝、腎合稱為五臟，其共同生理作用是化生和貯藏精氣，藏而不泄。
1. Heart	1.心
The heart is situated in the chest, above the Diaphragm, and is enveloped by pericardium externally. TCM believes（holds, think, find, consider, deem, judge, feel, take, make） that the heart governs all the other zang-fu organs and, therefore, is a "monarch organ". The heart, pertaining to fire in the five elements, consists of heart-yin, the material structures containing the heart-blood, and heart-yang, the functional activities.As for physiological functions, the heart is thought to, first, dominate blood and vessels since it is the motive force for blood circulation. The blood vessels are the physical structures containing the blood. The blood vessels are linked with the heart to form a closed system, and blood circulation is performed by the cooperation of the heart and the blood vessels. Under the impulse of heart-qi, blood is transported to all parts of the body for nutritive prupose. Thereby the condition of heart-qi and the blood volume may be shown in both the pulse condition and the complexion. That's why Basis Questions (Su Wen ) says, "The heart has its outward manifestation in the face or complexion". As a result, whether heart-qi and heart-blood are sufficient or not can affect the strength, rate and rhythm of the heart.	心位于胸中，膈之上方，外為心包所包繞。中醫(yī)認(rèn)為心統(tǒng)治所有的臟腑組織，是“君主之官”。心在五行中屬火，由心陰和心陽組成。心陰為包括心血的物質(zhì)結(jié)構(gòu)，心陽為功能活動。就生理功能而言，因?yàn)槠涫茄�液循環(huán)的動力，因此認(rèn)為心主血和血管。血管是承載血液的物理結(jié)構(gòu)。血管和心相連形成一個密閉系統(tǒng)，血液循環(huán)在心和血管的配合下完成。在心氣的推動下，血液被運(yùn)送到人體各部分起營養(yǎng)作用。因此，心氣的狀況和血液量可以從脈象和面色中體現(xiàn)。這就是《素問》為什么說“心其華在面”。所以，無論是心氣還是心血的充足與否都會影響心的搏動力、速度、和節(jié)律。
The heart houses the mind, also known as the heart dominating the mental activities. The mind, in its broad meaning, refers to the outward manifestations of the life activities of the whole body, and, in its narrow sense, to mental activities controlled by the heart, including consciousness, spirit, thinking, etc. The zang-fu theory holds that mental activities and thinking are to take the heart's functions as their basis. Spirit, consciousness, thinking, memory and sleep are all related to the function of the heart in housing the mind. Therefore, Miraculous Pivot (Ling Shu ) says, "The heart is the residence of the mind" and also, "The heart takes on the performance of activities." The heart opens into（have one's specific body opening；...be reflected on ...） the tongue. "Resuscitation", in TCM, means the close relationship between a particular zang-organ and one of the sense organs in the structure, physiology and pathology. So the heart, though being in the body, is connected with the tongue by the heart-meridians. Through such a connection, whether the heart functions normally or not can be clearly learnt from the tongue condition. In other words, the tongue condition may show the physiological and pathological changes of the heart. So TCM holds: "The tongue serves as the mirror( or body opening ) of the heart". In addition, the heart has its outward manifestations in the face. The heart corresponds to joy in the emotions. （open into；have one's specific body opening；...be reflected on...）And its meridians connect with associate with, be related to）the small intestine with which they are internally-externally related.	心主神志，也叫做心主精神活動。神，廣義上指的是整個人體活動的外在表現(xiàn)；狹義上指的是心所控制的精神活動包括意識、精神、思想等。臟腑理論認(rèn)為精神活動和思考都以心的功能為基礎(chǔ)。精神、意識、思考、記憶和睡眠都以心主神志的功能有關(guān)。因此，《靈樞》曰：“心為神之宅”且“所以任物者謂之心”。心開竅于舌�！伴_竅”在中醫(yī)指的是臟和器官在結(jié)構(gòu)、生理和病理上的緊密聯(lián)系。所以心雖然在體內(nèi)，但通過心經(jīng)與舌聯(lián)系。通過這種聯(lián)系，無論心的功能正常與否都可以有舌象表現(xiàn)出來。換言之，舌象可以體現(xiàn)心的生理和病理改變。所以，中醫(yī)認(rèn)為：舌為心之鏡。此外，心其華在面，在志為喜，且通過經(jīng)脈與小腸相表里。
Appendix: Pericardium	附注：心包
The pericardium, serving as the peripheral tissue surrounding the heart, plays a part in protecting the heart When exogenous pathogenic factors attack the heart, the pericardium is always the first to be attacked. The heart, if invaded by the pathogens, will be impaired and diseases will ensue. For example, high fever, coma and red tongue are described as "heat-pathogen attacking the pericardium," and, in fact, the clinical manifestations of the pericardium invaded by exogenous pathogens are the same as those of the heart. For this reason, the pericardium is usually regarded as an attachment to the heart.	心包是包繞心臟的外周組織，外邪犯心時首先侵襲心包，起到保護(hù)心臟的作用。心如被邪氣所傷將會使功能受損，疾病也就隨之發(fā)生了。例如，高熱、昏迷、舌紅被描述為“熱入心包”的表現(xiàn)，事實(shí)上，外邪侵犯心包的臨床表現(xiàn)與外邪犯心是一樣的。因此，心包通常被認(rèn)為是心的附屬。
2. Lungs	2.肺
The lungs, including the two lobes, one on the left and right separately, are situate in the thorax. They are compared to the "canopy" becausea of its uppermost position among all the zang-fu organs. They are also termed "delicate zang organs".	肺有兩個位于胸腔，左右各一，彼此分離。因?yàn)槠湮恢迷谒�有臟腑器官之上，所以被喻為“華蓋”，也被稱為“嬌臟”。
The lungs dominate qi and respiration. They are the place of exchange between the gases inside and outside the body. Basic Question ( Su Wen ) says, "atmosphere communicating to the lungs". The lungs also govern dispersing and descending, and regulates water passage, and communicate with numerous vessels to coordinate functional activities of the whole body, assisting the heart to adjust normal circulation of qi and blood. The lungs corresponds to melancholy in the emotions and are related to the skin and hair externally. They open into the nose and their conditions are reflected on vellum（牛皮紙） hairs. In the meridian-collnteral relation,the lungs and the large intestine are exteriorly-interiorly related because of interconnecting-interpertaining of the Lung Meridianof Hand-Taiyin and the Large Intestine Meridian of Hand-Yangming.	肺主氣司呼吸。它是氣體體內(nèi)外交換的場所�！端貑枴吩唬捍髿馔ㄅc肺.同時，肺還主升降、通調(diào)水道，朝百脈助心調(diào)節(jié)血及氣的正常循環(huán)功能。肺在志為憂,主皮毛。肺開竅于鼻，他們都是肺的外在表現(xiàn)。在經(jīng)絡(luò)關(guān)系上，因?yàn)槭痔�陰肺�?jīng)與手陽明大腸經(jīng)相聯(lián)系、相附屬，故肺與大腸相表里。
3. Spleen	3.脾
The spleen is located in the middle energizer, below the diaphragm. The spleen's meridians connect with the stomach, with which it is exteriorly-interiorly related. TCM is widely divergent from Western medicine in the understanding of the spleen. TCM holds it true that the spleen is divided into spleen-yin, its material structures; spleen-yang, its functions; and spleen-qi which merely refers to its functions, and that the spleen may be the main organ of the digestive system. The spleen is of great importance because, for one thing, it controls transporting and transforming food and water and, for another, it controls the blood of the whole body. Thereby, keeping the blood circulating normally within the vessels to prevent it from extravasating. The spleen is also viewed as the source for the production and transformation of qi and blood, as is said in TCM, " The spleen is the foundation of postnatal life".	脾位于中焦，膈之下，通過經(jīng)絡(luò)與胃相連，與胃相表里。在對脾的認(rèn)識上，中醫(yī)與西醫(yī)有很大的不同。中醫(yī)認(rèn)為脾分為脾陰和脾陽，脾陰為物質(zhì)結(jié)構(gòu)，脾陽為功能，脾為消化系統(tǒng)的主要器官。脾非常重要，一方面運(yùn)化水谷；另一方面還統(tǒng)血，因此能維持血液在脈管中運(yùn)行，防止其從脈管中溢出。脾還是氣血生化之源，正如中醫(yī)所說的“脾為后天之本”。
4. Liver	4.肝
The liver is at the right hypochondriac region below the diaphragm in the upper abdomen. The liver and gallbladder make a pair of zang-fu. The liver meridian connects with the gallbladder to form an exteriorinterior relationship.	肝位于腹上膈下，右脅之中。肝膽構(gòu)成臟腑關(guān)系。肝經(jīng)與膽經(jīng)相連形成表里關(guān)系。
People are apt to associate the livcr with its functions of storing blood and governing normal flow of qi. The former is concerned with the liver's capability in storing blood and regulating the blood volume. A certain amount of blood stored in the liver can restrict liver-yang hyperactivity so as to maintain the normal flow of qi. If the liver fails to function normally in storing blood. Such pathological changes as liver-blood deficiency or bleeding will occur. The liver also play a principal role in regulating the blood volume，especially the volume in the peripheral portion of the body. The latter, governing the normal flow of qi, is an important link in regulating qi movement, promoting the circulation of blood and body, as well as harmonizing emotional activities. The liver's another function is incarnated in its regulating emotional activities, promoting digestion and absorption and keeping qi and blood flowing normally. Besides the above, the liver are also closely related to the tendons, nails and the eyes. It has its specific body opening in  the eyes and its outward manifestation on the nails.	人們易于將肝與藏血和理氣功能聯(lián)系在一起。前者與肝的儲藏血液和調(diào)節(jié)血量有關(guān)。肝內(nèi)儲藏一定的血量可以防止肝陽上亢從而維持氣的正常運(yùn)行。如果肝的藏血功能異常將會引起肝血虛或出血等病理改變。肝同樣對血量的調(diào)節(jié)起作用，特別是外周血量。后者和維持氣的正常運(yùn)行有關(guān)，與氣的運(yùn)動、提高人體血液循環(huán)和調(diào)節(jié)情志有重要關(guān)系。肝的另外一個功能表現(xiàn)在調(diào)節(jié)情志活動、促進(jìn)消化吸收和維持氣的正常運(yùn)行上。除此之外，肝與筋、爪和眼緊密聯(lián)系。肝開竅于眼，其華在爪。
5. kidney	5.腎
The kidneys, situated in the lumbar zone, one on either side of the spinal column, store the congenital essence and are, therefore, considered as the "foundation of prenatal life". Their main physiological functions are: storing essence; dominating growth, development and reproduction; regulating water metabolism and receiving qi. The kidneys also take charge of the bone and manufacturc marrow. Meanwhile, the kidneys have their conditioias revealed on  hairs and open into the ears and, the two"private parts"-urethra and anus. The kidneys' meridians connect with the urinary bladder, with which they are internally-externally related.	腎位于腰部，脊柱兩旁各一，儲藏先天之精，因此被認(rèn)為是“先天之本”。腎的主要生理功能為：藏精、促生長、主水、納氣。腎還司骨、髓。同時，腎其華在發(fā)，開竅與耳及兩個隱秘部位—前后二陰。腎經(jīng)與膀胱經(jīng)相聯(lián)系，構(gòu)成表里關(guān)系。