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The zàng-fǔ (simplified Chinese: 脏腑; traditional Chinese: 臟腑) organs are functional entities stipulated by Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). They constitute the centre piece of TCM's general concept of how the human body works. The term zàng (脏) refers to the organs considered to be yin in nature - Heart, Liver, Spleen, Lung, Kidney -, while fǔ (腑) refers to the yang organs - Small Intestine, Large Intestine, Gall Bladder, Urinary Bladder, Stomach and Sānjiaō.

Each zàng is paired with a fǔ, and each pair is assigned to one of the Wǔ Xíng. The zàng-fǔ are also connected to the twelve standard meridians - each yang meridian is attached to a fǔ organ and each yin meridian is attached to a zàng.They are five system of Heart, Liver, Spleen, Lung, Kidney [1][2][3]

To highlight the fact that the zàng-fǔ are not equivalent to the anatomical organs, their names are often capitalized.

Anatomical organs[edit]

To understand the zàng-fǔ it is important to realize that their concept did not primarily develop out of anatomical considerations. The need to describe and systematize the bodily functions was more significant to ancient Chinese physicians than opening up a dead body and seeing what morphological structures there actually were. Thus, the zàng-fǔ are functional entities first and foremost, and only loosely tied to (rudimentary) anatomical assumptions.

Yin/yang and the Five Elements[edit]

Each zàng-fǔ organ has a yin and a yang aspect, but overall, the zàng organs are considered to be yin, and the fǔ organs yang.[4]

Since the concept of the zàng-fǔ was developed on the basis of Wǔ Xíng philosophy, they're incorporated into a system of allocation to one of five elemental qualities (i.e., the Five Elements or Five Phases). The zàng-fǔ share their respective element's allocations (e.g., regarding colour, taste, season, emotion etc.) and interact with each other cyclically in the same way the Five Elements do: each zàng organ has one corresponding zàng organ that it enfeebles, and one that it reinforces.

The correspondence between zàng-fǔ and Five Elements are stipulated as:

  • Wood (木) = Liver (肝) and Gall Bladder (胆)


The zàng organs' essential functions consist in manufacturing and storing qì and blood (and, in the case of the Kidney, essence). The fǔ organs' main purpose is to transmit and digest (传化, pinyin: chuán-huà)[5] substances (like waste, food, etc.).


Each zàng has a corresponding ‘‘orifice’’ it ‘‘opens’’ into. This means the functional entity of a given zàng includes the corresponding orifice's functions (e.g. blurry vision is primarily seen as a dysfunction of the Liver zàng as the Liver ‘‘opens’’ into the eyes).

In listing the functions of the zàng organs, TCM regularly uses the term ‘‘governing’’ (主, pinyin: zhǔ) - indicating that the main responsibility of regulating something (e.g. blood, qì, water metabolism etc.) lies with a certain zàng.

Although the zàng are functional entities in the first place, TCM gives vague locations for them - namely, the general area where the anatomical organ of the same name would be found. One could argue that this (or any) positioning of the zàng is irrelevant for the TCM system; there is some relevance, however, in whether a certain zàng would be attributed to the upper, middle or lower jiaō.


The Heart

  • ‘‘stores’’ (藏, pinyin: cáng)[6] the shén (神, ‘‘Aggregate Soul’’, usually translated as mind)
  • governs xuě (blood) and vessels/meridians
  • opens into the tongue
  • reflects in facial complexion

Since there are only five zàng organs but six yin channels, the remaining meridian is assigned to the Pericardium. Its concept is closely related to the Heart, and its stipulated main function is to protect the Heart from attacks by Exterior Pathogenic Factors. Like the Heart, the Pericardium governs blood and stores the mind. The Pericardium's corresponding yang channel is assigned to the Sānjiaō (‘‘Triple Burner’’).


The Spleen

  • governs ‘‘transportation and absorption’’ (运化, pinyin: yùn-huà), i.e. the extraction of jīng weī (精微, lit. ‘‘essence bits’’, usually translated with food essence, sometimes also called jīng qì [精气, essence qi])[7] - and water - from food and drink, and the successive distribution of it to the other zàng organs.
  • is the source of ‘‘production and mutual transformation’’ (生化, pinyin: shēng-huà)[8] of qì and xuě (blood)
  • ‘‘contains’’ (统, pinyin: tǒng)[9] the blood inside the vessels
  • opens into the lips (and mouth)
  • governs muscles and limbs


The Liver

  • governs "unclogging and deflation" (疏泄, pinyin: shū-xiè)[10] primarily of qì. The free flow of qì in turn will ensure the free flow of emotions, blood, and water.
  • ‘‘stores’’ (藏, pinyin: cáng)[11] blood
  • opens into the eyes
  • governs the tendons
  • reflects in the nails


Metal. home of the Po (魄, Corporeal Soul), paired with the Large intestine

The function of the Lung is to descend and disperse qi throughout the body. It receives qi through the breath, and exhales the waste. The Lung governs the skin and hair and also governs the exterior (one part of immunity). A properly functioning Lung organ will ensure the skin and hair are of good quality and that the immune system is strong and able to fight disease. The normal direction of the Lung is downwards, when Lung qi "rebels" it goes upwards, causing coughing and wheezing. When the Lung is weak, there can be skin conditions such as eczema, thin or brittle hair, and a propensity to catching colds and flu. The Lung is weakened by dryness and the emotion of grief or sadness.


Water. Home of the Zhi (志, Will), paired with the bladder

The Kidneys store Essence, govern birth, growth, reproduction and development. They also produce the Marrow which fills the brain and control the bones. The Kidneys are often referred to as the 'Root of Life' or the 'Root of the Pre-Heaven Qi'. Kidneys house the Will Power (Zhi).


Large intestine[edit]

Gall bladder[edit]

Urinary bladder[edit]


Small intestine[edit]

Triple Burner[edit]

Main article: San Jiao


The concept of the zàng-fǔ is not scientific - the underlying assumptions and theory have not been (and are not expected to be) verified or falsified by experiment. Probably because of this, the concept (and TCM as a whole) has been criticized as pseudoscientific.[12]

See also[edit]


  1. ^ Deng Yu邓宇,等; Fresh Translator of Zang Xiang Fractal five System藏象分形五系统的新英译，Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine中国中西医结合杂志; 1999
  2. ^ Deng Yu, Zhu Shuanli, Xu Peng et al邓宇，朱栓立，徐彭等，Essence and New Translator of Channels经络英文新释译与实质，Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine中国中西医结合杂志，2000，20（8）：615
  3. ^ Deng Yu邓宇等，TCM Fractal Sets中医分形集，Journal of Mathematical Medicine<<数理医药学杂志>> ，1999，12（3），264-265
  4. ^ by citation from the Huangdi Neijing's Suwen: ‘’言人身脏腑中阴阳，则脏者为阴，腑者为阳。‘’[Within the human body's zang-fu, there's yin and yang; the zang are yin, the fu are yang]. As seen at: "略论脏腑表里关系" [outline on the relationships between the zang-fu] (in Chinese). 22 January 2010. Retrieved 13 December 2010. 
  5. ^ "中医基础理论-脏腑学说" [Basics of TCM theory - The zangfu concept] (in Chinese). 11 June 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2010. 
  6. ^ 中医世家 2006, chapter 1.2.2.
  7. ^ 中医世家 2006, chapter
  8. ^ 中医世家 2006, chapter 3, lead
  9. ^ 中医世家 2006, chapter 3, lead
  10. ^ 中医世家 2006, chapter 4.2.1.
  11. ^ 中医世家 2006, chapter 4.2.2.
  12. ^ Stephen Barrett, M.D. "Be Wary of Acupuncture, Qigong, and "Chinese Medicine"". Retrieved 31 December 2013. 


  • 中医世家 (2006-07-18), "第一节 五脏", 中医基础理论, retrieved 2010-12-16
  • Kaptchuk, T (2000). "The Web That Has No Weaver: Understanding Chinese Medicine, 2nd ed." Mcgraw-Hill. [1]
  • Oguamanam C. (2006) "International Law and Indigenous Knowledge: Intellectual Property, Plant Biodiversity, and Traditional Medicine" University of Toronto Press

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