21. Water – The Organs
Chapter contents
Introduction162
The Kidneys – the Controller of Water162
The spirit of the Kidneys – the zhi164
The Bladder – the Controller of the Storage of Water165
The time of day for the Organs166
How the Kidney and Bladder relate167
Introduction
The Bladder and Kidney are paired Organs associated with the Water Element. Like the Organs in other Elements their functions overlap and yet are different. The similarity between their functions is illustrated in their ‘nicknames’ – ‘Controller of Water’ for the Kidneys and ‘Controller of the Storage of Water’ for the Bladder. (J. R. Worsley (1998, pp. 15.1–15.12) calls the Kidneys, ‘The Official who Controls the Waterways’, whereas Felt and Zmiewski (1993, p. 19) call the Kidneys the ‘Controller of Water’.) (Table 21.1)
| Organ/Official | Colloquial name | Description from Su WenCh 8 |
|---|---|---|
| Kidney | Controller of Water | The Kidneys are responsible for the creation of power. Skill and ability stem from them |
| Bladder | Controller of Water Storage | The Bladder is responsible for regions and cities. It stores the body fluids. The transformations of qi then give out their power |
The Kidneys – the Controller of Water
The character for the Kidneys
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The character for the Kidneys is shen (Weiger, 1965, lesson 82E). The lower part of the character indicates that this is an organ of the body. The upper part indicates both a minister who is prostrate before his master and someone taking a firm hand.
The significance is that the Kidneys are the servant of life and that they both have control and the strength to keep life on a firm footing. The firmness can also denote the firmness and hardness of the innermost structures of the body, such as the bones, teeth and marrow, which are controlled by the Kidneys. In addition, the Kidneys are the lowest yin organs in the body and lie at the back of the body. These lowly organs lie waiting to be of service to all of the other Organs and provide the qi for people to go about their daily activities.
Su WenChapter 8
The Kidneys are responsible for the creation of power. Skill and ability stem from them.
(Larre and Rochat de la Vallée, 1992b, p. 119)
This quotation stresses the power the Kidneys create. When people are young and well, they have strength. Their muscles are strong, their hair is shiny and they can work and play hard. As life progresses, the strength of the Kidneys declines and overall vigour and stamina diminish.
We now consider what is the connection between the ‘creation of power’ and the Kidneys.
The Kidneys store the jing
An essential part of the association of strength and the Kidneys is through the Kidneys’ function of storing the jing. 1
1J. R. Worsley did not use the language of Substances or specifically ‘jing’. On the other hand, in his book on the Officials (Worsley, 1998, p. 15.7) he refers to the Kidney being the storehouse of ancestral energy which is passed to each person by their parents (see also Maciocia, 2005, pp. 51–52).
The character for jing
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The left-hand side of the character is four grains or seeds bursting forth with life. The right-hand side is the colour qing, which is the colour of sprouting plants. The character presents an image of transformation and life bursting forth. It signifies that the essence that is stored in the Kidneys is the foundation of our qi and is the seed of life itself (Weiger, 1965, lesson 122A). Sperm is also the seed of life itself and for this reason sperm and jing have the same Chinese character.
The role of jing
Jing has various characteristics that say much about the nature of the Kidneys.
• Jing is people’s constitutional bequest from their parents and ancestors: it is one of the ‘three treasures’ (see Chapter 1, this volume). In so far as it is possible to refer to someone’s inherited constitution in Chinese medicine this is the jing. Because the Kidney stores it, the welfare of a person’s constitution partly comes about through the welfare of their Kidneys.
• Acupuncture is extremely effective at enabling a person’s body, mind and spirit to operate to its greatest potential. Some people, however, are born stronger than others. There are limits to how much improvement can be made to significant jing deficiency. Sometimes a person needs to adapt to their situation rather than alter it through treatment. As the old saying goes, ‘What can’t be cured must be endured.’ A person’s aim should be to preserve and nurture jing. Lifestyle advice needs to take jing into consideration with respect to diet, exercise, work and rest (tai ji, qi gong and breathing exercises are said to nourish jing; see Hicks, 2009, Chapter 4, p. 88).
• Jing operates a bit like a credit card. People can borrow on it, but in the end they need to make repayments. Excess expenditure does not go away when they return to normal expenditure; instead it accumulates and interest is charged. People deplete their jing by working too hard, ejaculating too frequently (for men) or having too many childbirths (for women), taking drugs, eating a poor diet and not getting enough rest or appropriate exercise. Luckily it takes time for people to deplete their jing and a healthy lifestyle will prevent this from happening. Jing, however, is hard to replace. When the credit card total has mounted up, the interest charges then become an additional burden. Worse still, if people have depleted their reserves, they become less able to cope when a crisis arises. There will be no reserves to draw on and they perform without ‘cleverness’, thus increasing their likelihood of becoming ill.
• Qi moves quickly, but jing
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