The Heart in Chinese Medicine

“If the Spirit is at peace, the heart is in harmony; when the heart is in harmony, the body is whole”, Liu Zhou, 6th Century A.D.

The major difference between modern and ancient physicians is in how they view the nature of matter and spirit.  This is also the difference between contemporary Chinese medicine, or TCM, and its historical antecedent.  Classical Chinese medicine insists that it is the forces of the spirit (shen) and their manifestation through energy (chi) that shape matter, and not visa-versa.  From the perspective of disease this recognises that while it can come from the exterior (ji), primacy is given to illnesses arising from within (bing).  The term bing here describes these more complex diseases that arise when a person’s spirit and energy are involved.  In this context, bing could be more accurately translated as “an affliction of the heart”.

The heart in Chinese medicine is seen as not only being responsible for moving blood around the body, but also as the seat of consciousness and mental vitality.  The Magic Pivot states that the heart “is the abode of the spirit”.  If the heart is functioning normally, and blood and chi are plentiful, then the mind is lucid, alert and engaged in the moment.  The heart is also said to govern the tongue.  By this, we are directed to the fact that many diseases are reflected in a reddening of the tongue body.  The heart has a further link with the tongue, in that it is said that clear speech is only possible when the heart spirit is unclouded.  Because of its link with blood, the heart is also linked with dreaming, sleep and memory.  A deficiency in one or the other can lead to insomnia, disturbed dreams and forgetfulness.

In Chinese cosmology the heart is classified as belonging to the fire phase of the five elements (water, wood, earth, fire and metal).  These five elements are what Taoists believe comprise the energetic matrix of the universe.  The characteristic of fire is upward, explosive, fickle, oscillating, and this fits well with our modern day understanding of the volatile emotive nature of the heart.  In classical Chinese medical thought the heart was also classified as the earth element.  This image of the heart as an earthen receptacle marries well with the necessity of the heart to contain the spirit of fire, the emotions and their potentially troublesome consequences.  Our emotions, which are central to the human condition, are therefore held within the heart, oscillating in the dynamic struggle between out higher nature and the desires of our animal body.  If this dynamic nature of fire is not held in check by the stability of the earth element, the spirit loses its root.  The door is then opened for the emotions to run unchecked, with the resultant destructive effects on the body.

For today’s world this ancient knowledge has two clear messages; one is a recognition that our emotions are clearly involved in the formation of disease; the other is that for healing to occur, we must look to inappropriate emotions and draw back the veil that they cast over the brighter aspect of our human nature.