9. Wood – The Organs
Chapter Contents
Introduction62
The Liver – the planner62
The spirit of the Liver – the hun63
The Gall Bladder – the decision-maker64
The time of day for the Organs65
How the Liver and Gall Bladder relate66
Introduction
The two Organs resonating with Wood are the Liver, the yin Organ, and the Gall Bladder, the yang Organ. Although their functions are different, the two Organs exist close together and have some overlapping functions (Table 9.1).
| Organ/Official | Colloquial name | Description from Su Wen Ch 8 |
|---|---|---|
| Liver | The Planner | The Liver holds the office of general of the armed forces. Assessment of circumstances and conception of plans stem from it |
| Gall Bladder | The Decision-Maker | The Gall Bladder is responsible for what is just and exact. Determination and decision stem from it |
The Liver – the planner
The character for the Liver
 |
The character for the Liver is gan. This has the flesh radical on the left-hand side and a mortar and pestle on the right. The flesh radical means that the overall character refers to an organ or part of the body. The pestle indicates the power of a blunt instrument to grind and make changes to what lies in the bowl. The character is also interpreted as the stem of a plant and the manifest power of the plant to thrust upward (see Weiger, 1965, lessons 65A and 102A). We are reminded of the acorn’s power to grow and develop into an oak.
Su WenChapter 8
Su WenChapter 8 says:
The Liver holds the office of general of the armed forces. Assessment of circumstances and conception of plans stem from it.
(Larre and Rochat de la Vallée, 1992b, p. 53)
As the commander of the armed forces, the general must be:
• aware of the ultimate goals, along with the outcomes relevant to any situation;
• strong and able to be forceful when necessary, like the emerging plant obstructed by a rock or at any time when new events are begun (birth);
• able to plan and devise strategies and to then create alternatives in the case of difficulties or an emergency.
A general has awareness of the ultimate goals
The awareness of ultimate goals is an important part of the planning process. All plans have intended outcomes, but ideally these outcomes themselves have higher goals. For example, children like to play and enjoy themselves. Doing this develops motor and social skills. Developing these motor and social skills enables them to grow and develop into productive adults, and so on.
It is essential that people have these higher goals. A goal that cannot be negotiated becomes a burden and any frustration with respect to it is a dead end. In day-to-day life, people do not consider their higher goals very often. But the Liver holds in place a sense of these ultimate goals.
A general has strength and forcefulness when necessary
It is easy to make a connection between strength and the general. The archetype of a military commander is not a frail, spineless individual. This strength is the strength the seedling has when it is impeded by a stone or a competing tree. The seedling pushes through or, if that is impossible, it finds a way around the obstruction. In people this energy is focused and tied into the achievement of important goals.
A general is able to plan and establish strategies
People tend to think of planning as a mental and conscious process but it also exists as an unconscious process. For example, when menstrual blood is stored in the body and finally, on cue, begins to flow and be expelled, this is the end result of a highly organised plan. Planning which occurs in the mind is a more typical notion of planning. This may include, for example, thinking about what to do and how to do it and maybe also writing things down or even, like an architect, making drawings.
Planning is occurring all the time and on all levels of the body, mind and spirit. Indeed, we tend to notice the Liver’s planning function more when it fails. For example, when the menstrual cycle becomes irregular, the mind becomes disorganised and unable to consider what needs to be done or the patient is waking at 2 a.m. and making plans that come to nothing during the day.
The Liver, therefore, allows us to meet the challenges of life with both vigour and flexibility.
The spirit of the Liver – the hun
All the yin Organs store a ‘spirit’. The Liver houses the hun, which is usually translated as the ‘Ethereal Soul’.
The character for the hun
 |
The character for the hun has two parts (see Weiger, 1965, lessons 93A and 40C). One denotes clouds and the other shows a spirit or ghost. The character indicates the insubstantial nature of the hun and its ability to separate from the body. The spirit or ghost character is further broken down into a swirling movement and a head without a body (Maciocia, 2008, pp. 248–264, provides an excellent account of the spirit of both the Liver and the Lung).
The ‘Ethereal Soul’ is somewhat close to what people in the West call the soul. It is thought to enter the body shortly after birth and to survive death, leaving the body to return to wherever subtle qi or beings congregate.
The functions of the hun
The functions of the hun overlap with those of the Liver. As spirit, however, we are talking about a more refined level. Just as qi is more refined and subtler than jing, shen is more refined and subtler than qi. The mental functions affected by the hun are thinking, sleeping, consciousness and mental focus on the one hand and thinking and strategising with insight and wisdom on the other.
Thinking, sleeping and consciousness
The hun is said to be rooted within the Liver Blood. When the Liver Blood is not healthy, people can have a feeling of floating off when dropping off to sleep. They can also sleepwalk, have out-of-body experiences, experience ‘astral travel’ involuntarily and dream so that it is difficult to make a distinction between dreams and reality. The hun is easily upset by alcohol and drugs. When the Liver is relatively balanced, the hun remains rooted and people can distinguish reality from dreams. When the Liver is imbalanced, the symptoms arising can range from mild absent-mindedness to gross distortion of perceptions.
A Wood CF aged 32 mentioned in passing that he would wake up at night and find other people sitting in his bedroom. The first few times he was confused but he ended up getting to know them and having long conversations. He said he more or less knew that they were not ‘real’ people, but in their presence they responded as if they were visitors. For example, they had their own views, would express them and could argue their case. Over time, he had simply accepted that he could wake up and they would be there. His Liver Blood was deficient, allowing his hun to separate from his body.
Thinking, strategising with insight and wisdom
This function overlaps with what was said earlier about the Liver Official and planning. The ‘general’ not only functions on an everyday level by developing plans and working out how to achieve them, but also on a more spirit or psychic level. ‘Insight’ suggests that people’s thinking is quick and the steps in their reasoning processes are enacted quickly. ‘Wisdom’ suggests that people’s experience helps them to understand and have the ability to access and make sense of the patterns of events that occur in their lives. Like a football coach who has studied his players, the opposing teams and the wide variety of patterns that football presents, the hun can respond effectively to the key issues of life.
These issues are of varying degrees of importance and arise with varying degrees of frequency. They might be issues to do with whom a person should be friends, whether to choose a mate and which mate to choose, whether to follow a teacher, what subjects to study, whether to take a job, where to live and so on. People with a well-rooted hun can make good decisions and plans, using their insight and wisdom. They can also accurately evaluate what the world might provide for them. Even more important, they match the choices they make to their long-term needs and capabilities. The challenge is for people to find paths that are appropriate to themselves and that allow them to fulfil their potential. If people fail to formulate such plans, frustration and disappointment are the likely consequences.
In a book edited by Thomas Cleary, subtitled ‘A Course in Resourceful Thinking’, there are many quotes from Chinese classics that are then commented upon by the editor. One of these says: ‘Impulsive actions resulting in failure are faulty’. The commentary reminds us of the function of the hun.
Successful endeavours are the result of strategic planning, adequate planning and appropriate timing. An arrow that is loosed before the bow is fully drawn will not likely reach the target; an arrow that is loosed before the aim is made certain will surely fly wide of the mark. When things go wrong, it is easy to blame other people or external conditions; but when failure is due to one’s own impulsiveness, the responsibility belongs to oneself alone.
(Cleary, 1996, p. 86)
We can assess the patient’s hun with a simple question: ‘To what degree is a person growing and developing towards his or her ultimate purpose or destiny?’ This is often a difficult question to answer but it brings together many aspects or levels of the Liver. As the old joke goes ‘Is life worth living?’ ‘It all depends on the Liver’. 1
The Gall Bladder – the decision-maker
The character for the Gall Bladder
 |
The character for the Gall Bladder is dan (see Weiger, 1965, lessons 1, 143B and 65A).
Su WenChapter 8
The Official of the Gall Bladder has been described in various ways.
The Gallbladder [sic] is responsible for what is just and exact. Determination and decision stem from it.
(Larre and Rochat de la Vallée, 1999, p. 8)
or
Official of wise judgement and decision making.
(Felt and Zmiewski, 1993, p. 19)
The essential abilities of the Gall Bladder are discernment, judgement and decision making. As with the Liver, these functions are present in body, mind and spirit. These functions need to be understood on all levels of human functioning.
There are choices in everything we do and it is through this Official that we are able to choose…Someone has to decide when to activate the blood clotting process, to release hormones, and to secrete bile…Every physical movement of our body is a collection of split-second decisions which keep us in balance and put our arms, legs and bodyweight in the right place.
(Worsley, 1998, pp. 10–11)
The decision-maker works on behalf of the other Organs. In Su Wen Chapter 9 (Ni, 1995), it is said that the other Officials come to the Gall Bladder so that it can make decisions. The Chinese focus on how things interact, but this statement is remarkable. The other Officials cannot decide. Hence, the spontaneous choice when meeting someone on a narrow path to move to one side or the other, the decision to cross a busy street without a green light, deciding when to leave a party or when to write a letter of resignation are all in the domain of the Gall Bladder.
A patient once described throughout the case history a series of accidents for which he would give the exact location, time of day and date. After six such accounts, the practitioner wondered whether these were not ‘accidents’, but rather evidence for a lack of discernment and poor decision making. There is some dividing line between bad luck on one hand and bad judgement on the other. The patient was a teacher and his complaint, pain from a deep vein thrombosis, was brought on under conditions of both extreme anger and external wind. He taught history and would plan his lessons in great detail and then, at the last moment, teach from a different plan. He was a Wood CF.
Many of the functions of Gall Bladder points refer to regulation. When people are regulated they tend to take action that prevents them from going to extremes. The Gall Bladder regulates in a way similar to how the captain of a long ocean liner makes adjustments to his course well in advance. Gall Bladder points also have a similar effect and they often enable people to reach a more direct middle path leading them to a healthy balance. For example, the name of a Gall Bladder point, ‘Sun and Moon’, suggests by its name both extremes and the possibility of balance (see Chapter 43, this volume).
A common Gall Bladder pathology is extreme timidity, a definite lack of self-assertion and a lack of balance, regulation, and good decision making. As it says in Su WenChapter 8, ‘determination’ stems from the Gall Bladder and it is the absence of this forcefulness that is the same as the ‘lack of anger’ that is a crucial indication for some Wood CFs. In China the phrase ta ganzi da (meaning he has a big Gall Bladder) is used to describe someone who is courageous or successful.
The time of day for the Organs
Each of the Organs in Chinese medicine has a time when it is said to be at peak capacity. The time of day for the Gall Bladder is 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. and the time for the Liver is 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. It is very common for people whose Liver and/or Gall Bladder is under strain to wake in the early hours of the morning. They often report that they are quite wide awake and that their mind is very active at that time. This situation is often exacerbated by eating a heavy meal late in the evening or by drinking alcohol, as both of these activities strain the Liver. People who take recreational drugs often stay awake until the peak time for the Liver has passed. If people suffer from insomnia at this time of night they can often get back to sleep again much more quickly if they do something, like counting sheep or following their breathing. This stops their mind from planning and organising, an activity that often stimulates the Liver activity even further.
At the other end of the day, the Liver is at its weakest in the early afternoon. Some people feel especially tired at this time if their Liver is weak. Many feel a dip in spirits. This is often exacerbated by eating a big lunch, especially if the food is heavy or greasy. The difference in people’s reaction to alcohol consumption at lunchtime compared to the evening is often very marked. Drinking alcohol when the Liver is at its weakest usually affects the person far more than if they drink later in the day.
How the Liver and Gall Bladder relate
The Liver plans and the Gall Bladder decides. It is said:
The Liver analyses or assesses circumstances and decides the plan of action. The Gall Bladder being a Yang aspect of the Liver will have the firmness to make a clean decision and force through the situation so that the decision can be carried out, spreading the orders of the general far and wide.
(Larre and Rochat de la Vallée, 1992b, pp. 71–72)
These functions are similar but different. The general has vision and can make appropriate plans, but plans without enactment are useless. Plans can include ‘what ifs’. For example in a war, a general may look at many strategies. He may think about the opposing general’s plans. He will consider the difference between sending his troops directly through a pass or making them wait on the sides of the hills. In the moment of battle, the general must decide the actual tactics to be used. His previously thought-through plans are the basis of what he does, but his judgements are made in the here and now. Other decisions, like how many soldiers he should send, the effect of the weather and how much food to carry are also crucial. Hence there is a strong connection between these two Officials.
In practice, working with Wood CFs refines the Five Element practitioner’s awareness of how plans and decisions interact. Because the Organs are paired and often treated together, it is rare for the practitioner to get a clear demonstration of the function of either Official on its own.
Summary
1. Su WenChapter 8 describes the Liver as ‘The Liver holds the office of general of the armed forces. Assessment of circumstances and conception of plans stem from it’.
2. The hun is the spirit of the Liver and is responsible for aspects of:
• thinking
• sleeping
• consciousness
• planning with insight and wisdom
3. Su WenChapter 8 describes the Gall Bladder as ‘responsible for what is just and exact. Determination and decision stem from it.’
4. The time of day associated with the Gall Bladder is 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. and the time for the Liver is 1 a.m. to 3 a.m.
