TCM Wellness · Unit 4: The Organs · 中醫養生四

The Five Zang Organs

Liver, heart, spleen, lung, kidney — five functional systems, read as five case studies of the five elements.
肝心脾肺腎——五個功能系統，是五行框架的五個延伸案例。

Unit 17: The Five Zang Organs

The five zang organs — liver, heart, spleen, lung, and kidney — are the five functional systems introduced briefly in the last unit's discussion of the five elements, now explained on their own terms. The liver (wood) is in charge of keeping qi moving smoothly throughout the body; when it's working well, mood stays even and digestion runs without friction. The heart (fire) is said to govern blood circulation and to "house the mind," meaning it's linked to clarity of thought and quality of sleep, not just the physical pumping of blood.

五臟——肝、心、脾、肺、腎——是上一個單元討論五行時簡短提過的五個功能系統，現在用它們自己的方式來解釋。肝（木）負責讓氣在全身順暢地運行；當它運作良好時，情緒會保持平穩，消化也不會有阻滯。心（火）被認為主導血液循環，也「藏神」，意思是它跟思緒的清晰度、睡眠品質有關，不只是物理上推動血液流動。

The spleen (earth) governs digestion and transformation, turning food and drink into usable qi and blood, and also keeps blood contained within its vessels. The lung (metal) governs breathing, but also a wider function called "dispersing and descending" — spreading fluids and qi through the body and pushing them downward, which is why it is closely tied to skin health and the body's outer defenses. The kidney (water) stores a person's inherited constitutional strength, governs reproduction and growth, and also handles water metabolism throughout the body.

脾（土）主導消化與轉化，把飲食轉變成能用的氣與血，也負責把血液固攝在血管裡。肺（金）主導呼吸，但也有一個更廣的功能叫做「宣發肅降」——把津液和氣散布到全身，並把它們往下推動，這也是為什麼肺跟皮膚健康、身體的外部防禦密切相關。腎（水）儲存一個人先天的體質根本，主導生殖與生長，也處理全身的水液代謝。

These five descriptions are meant to be read together, not memorized in isolation. Each zang organ was assigned to an element in the last unit precisely because its function matches that element's pattern — the liver's smooth, upward-moving qi matches wood's pattern of growth; the kidney's storage function matches water's pattern of stillness and depth. Learning the five zang organs is really learning five expanded case studies of the five-element framework already introduced.

這五個描述應該合在一起讀，而不是分開背誦。上一個單元裡，每個臟腑之所以被對應到一個元素，正是因為它的功能符合那個元素的模式——肝那種順暢、向上運行的氣，符合木生長的模式；腎的儲藏功能，符合水靜止、深沉的模式。學五臟，其實就是在學已經介紹過的五行框架的五個延伸案例。

Read aloud · 課文朗讀

Questions · 閱讀理解

According to the passage, what does the liver govern, and what happens when it's working well?

The liver governs keeping qi moving smoothly throughout the body; when it works well, mood stays even and digestion runs without friction.

According to the passage, what does the heart "house," and what does that mean in practice?

The heart is said to "house the mind," meaning it's linked to clarity of thought and quality of sleep, not just the physical pumping of blood.

According to the last paragraph, why was each zang organ originally assigned to a particular element?

Because each organ's function matches that element's pattern — for example, the liver's smooth, upward-moving qi matches wood's pattern of growth, and the kidney's storage function matches water's pattern of stillness and depth.

Words & Phrases · 生字及片語

friction(n.)摩擦；阻滯There was some friction between the two coworkers over the schedule.兩位同事在排班上有一些摩擦。circulation(n.)循環Exercise improves blood circulation.運動可以改善血液循環。disperse(v.)分散；散布The crowd began to disperse after the event ended.活動結束後，人群開始散去。metabolism(n.)代謝A slower metabolism can make weight loss harder.代謝變慢會讓減重變得更困難。depth(n.)深度；深沉The lake's depth made it dangerous for beginner swimmers.這座湖的深度讓初學游泳的人覺得危險。case study(ph.)案例研究The lecture used a case study to explain the theory in practice.這堂課用一個案例研究來說明理論如何應用在實際上。reproduction(n.)生殖The course covered plant reproduction in detail.這門課詳細介紹了植物的生殖。

Quick Check · 小測驗

1. According to the passage, which organ governs keeping qi moving smoothly, and is linked to even mood and smooth digestion?

2. According to the passage, what does the spleen govern?

3. According to the last paragraph, what is "learning the five zang organs" really learning?

This lesson is an overview of function, not a diagnostic checklist. Assessing how well an organ system is working is a judgment for a licensed doctor of Chinese medicine.
這是功能概覽，不是診斷清單；評估一個臟腑系統運作得好不好，是合格中醫師的判斷。