15. Earth – The Organs
Chapter contents
Introduction115
The Spleen – the controller of transforming and transporting115
The spirit of the Spleen – the yi117
The Stomach – the controller of rotting and ripening118
The time of day for the Organs119
How the Stomach and Spleen relate119
Introduction
The two Organs or Officials resonating with Earth are the Spleen, the yin Organ, and the Stomach, the yang Organ. Although their functions are different, there are also similarities.
The Spleen – the controller of transforming and transporting (Table 15.1)
The Chinese understanding of the functions of the Spleen differs a great deal from the Western view. The Spleen functions according to Chinese medicine are greater and more fundamental to the healthy functioning of the body, mind and spirit. They tend to include some of the functions of the pancreas, which will be obvious as we proceed. Thus we continue to capitalise the first letter of ‘spleen’ to remind readers of the difference.
| Organ/Official | Colloquial name | Description from Su WenCh 8 |
|---|---|---|
| Spleen | The Controller of Transforming and Transporting | The Stomach and Spleen are responsible for the storehouses and granaries. The five tastes stem from them |
| Stomach | The Controller of Rotting and Ripening |
The character for the Spleen
 |
The Chinese character for the Spleen is pi (Weiger, 1965, lessons 152C and 46E).
The character has the flesh radical on the left, indicating that is it an Organ, and a character on the right that means ‘ordinary’ or ‘vulgar’. The character was originally a picture of a water vessel. This could be contrasted with a sacrificial vessel used only on special occasions. The ordinariness or vulgarity comes from the vessel’s everyday use, which is like the work of the Spleen. The Spleen functions to control the digestive system and as such is as ordinary or common as a cook who is on duty 24 hours a day. Its work is basic. It does not have the glamour of the Liver, which is a general, or the Lung, which is a chancellor. We can compare this job to that of a mother who is always available to care for and support her family. A mother’s job is an important one, often unacknowledged until she is ill or away.
Su WenChapter 8
Su WenChapter 8 says:
The Stomach and Spleen are responsible for the storehouses and granaries. The five tastes stem from them.
(Larre and Rochat de la Vallée, 1992b, p. 97)
This passage indicates how closely the Stomach and Spleen work together. All the other Officials in Su WenChapter 8 are listed separately.
The Spleen as transformer and transporter
The Spleen is primarily involved with transformation and transportation.
Its functions [the Spleen’s] are to master transportation and transformation, yun hua, to transmit and diffuse the jing wei (food essences) which supply nutrition, to raise the clear and lower the unclear. It is the source of transformations that produce the Blood.
(Larre and Rochat de la Vallée, 2004, p. 152)
Thus the Spleen is described as the Official of transformation and transportation (see Felt and Zmiewski, 1993, p. 19; Maciocia, 2005, pp. 144–145). Transformation is mainly thought of as the conversion of food and fluids into qi. Hence the notion that the Earth Element is the main source of basic qi. Although the process goes through various stages, the Spleen is the Official overseeing this function. The mechanical breakdown of food in the mouth with the addition of saliva, the more extensive breakdown of food and fluids in the stomach, the movement of digesting material through the small intestine and into the large intestine and finally the movement of material to be excreted through the large intestine and out of the anus are all broadly under the control of the Spleen.
Although Five Element Constitutional Acupuncture does not use the understanding of the Substances (the ‘Vital Substances’, which are qi Blood, body fluids, jing and shen) and speaks only of qi, the Spleen is responsible for the transformation of food and fluids into Blood as well as qi (Maciocia, 2005, pp. 60–64).
The notion of transportation reflects the movement that accompanies the transformation process. It refers specifically to the movement of food essences, the various stages in the breakdown of food, and the capacity of the body to move fluids and prevent various imbalances of the fluids of the body, for example, oedema, fluid on the lungs, and joints that are ‘damp’ and prone to stiffness.
A breakdown in the transport system can also reflect mentally and spiritually. Thoughts also have to be processed and distributed throughout the body, mind and spirit. When the Spleen is weak, the moving and transforming power of the mind and spirit can deteriorate. Thinking may be poor and not convert into action. Concentration and memory are affected. People may also have obsessive thoughts or they may start worrying or become preoccupied. They can become obsessive or feel muzzy in the head.
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