VISCERA-STATE DOCTRINE

Zang refers to the interior location of the Zang and Fu organs． Xiang denotes the manifestationsor image of the zang and fu organ reflected on the exterior viscera-state doctrine considers thestudy on the physiological functions, pathological changes， as well as their interrelationship ofeach Zang and Fu organs of the human body by observation of physiological and pathologicalmanifestation on the exterior All the doctors on the base of medical practice, leading by Yin－ Yang and Five Eliements theory, summarize it． It is one of the mostly important parts intraditional Chinese medicine （TCM)theory

The main study in the doctrine is Zang and Fu， meridians， essence， QI， body fluid and vitalityThere are two aspects of the theory：firstly the physiological functions and pathological changesof the Zang and Fu organs,and their interrelationships,secondly the Qi,blood,body fluid,thephysiology and pathology of vitality,as well as the relationship between these on one hand andthe Zang-Fu organs on the other． Zang and Fu is the general terms for the internal organs that is divided five Zang organs， sixFu organs and extraordinary Fu－organs following the physiological functions． The five Zang istaken as its core and each Zang is externally－internally related to one Fu， yin to yang thatconnected by mutual meridians．

（l） Five Zang organs The main function of five Zang organs is to manufacture and store essence， and each of itkeeps particular relationship with orifices of the body respectively．The physiological activitiesmaintain the mutual harmony, action and restriction． it has close relationship with mind andemotion and close combination with natural circumstance, thus to keep the mutual equilibriumand firming of internal and external conditions of the body. For examply, liver is opening into theeyes，controlling the tendons and manifesting in the nails，and emotion change is anger．This isthe reason why people who are easy getting angry are often described as the excessive liver－fire．Five Zang organs mainly include the heart，（appendix： the pericardium）， Iiver, spleen， lung and Kidney

（2）Six Fu organs

the main function of the six－Fu organs is to receive， digest and transmit food and water anddominate excreting the wastes． It mainly includes the large intestine， small intestine, urinarybladder, sanjiao， stomach and gallbladder。

(3）The extraordinary Fu organs

Most of the extraordinary Fu organs are hollow in shape like the Fu organs， but withoutfunctions of digestion and excretion， and having function to store essencelike the Zang organs． It includes the brain, marrow, bones， vessels, gallbladder and uterus．

（4） The relationship of Zang and Fu organs

Although the Zang and Fu organs have different physiological functions， there is a very closerelationship between them that is mutual dependence and restriction． When the diseases occurthe Zang and Fu organs may get mutual influenced， so not one Zang or Fu organ， but each Zang－Fu organ is related with other Zang－Fu organs directly or indirectly

Relationship among the Zang organs

Relationship between the Zang and Fu organs

Relationship among the Fu organs