I Can Hear the Heart's Voice of Traditional Chinese Medicine-Chapter 324 - 143: Fire in the Upper Burner, Cold in the Lower Burner (Part 3)

What does it mean?

This passage undoubtedly indicates that the Sanjiao is the pathway for the rising and falling of Primordial Qi in the human body. The Primordial Qi reaches the five viscera and the six bowels and every part of the body through the Sanjiao.

In the concept of Chinese medicine, Primordial Qi is the most fundamental Qi of the human body, and it is the driving force of life activities. The Primordial Qi roots in the kidneys, enters the twelve meridians through the Sanjiao, and reaches the five viscera and the six bowels, hence the Sanjiao is called the envoy of Primordial Qi.

Since the Sanjiao facilitates the circulation of Primordial Qi throughout the body, it serves as the pathway for the rising and falling of Qi, as well as the site of Qi transformation. Therefore, the Sanjiao is said to govern all Qi, overseeing the Qi mechanism and Qi transformation throughout the body. If the Primordial Qi is weak, obstructed, or the Sanjiao channels degrade, it will lead to Qi deficiency symptoms throughout the body or in certain parts.

Upon hearing this, Ji Xiuwen’s eyes brightened, and he promptly said, "Speaking of this, I just thought of something. Besides facilitating Primordial Qi, the Sanjiao seems to have the ability to conduct water and grains and to circulate body fluids."

"Yes, indeed," nodded Lu Xuan.

"Do you remember any relevant statements from the ’Suwen’?"

"’Suwen’?"

Ji Xiuwen pondered but couldn’t recall anything, so he shook his head and gave a wry smile.

Lu Xuan also knew that not everyone has the ability to remember everything at a glance, and it was indeed challenging for Ji Xiuwen to remember the contents of so many medical texts. So he smiled and explained, "’The Suwen·True Words of the Golden Chamber’ refers to the Sanjiao as one of the six bowels, while ’The Suwen·Divergent Discussion of the Five Organs’ describes the Sanjiao as the residence of transformation and transformation of water and grains.

’The Suwen·Discussion of the Six Sections and Hidden Signs’ states: ’The Sanjiao... is the foundation of storage, where nutrition resides, named the vessel, capable of transforming refuse, and transmitting flavors in and out.’"

This statement undoubtedly points out that the Sanjiao has the function of transforming the essence of water and grains into nutrient Qi and conveying refuse.

The entire process of water and grains in the body, including the digestion of food, the absorption of essence, and the excretion of refuse, can be summarized as "the Sanjiao is the pathway for water and grains."

Moreover, according to the different locations of the upper, middle, and lower Sanjiao, the roles they play in the process of water and grain transformation also differ. The upper Jiao primarily governs reception, the middle Jiao primarily dominates fermentation, and the lower Jiao separates the pure from the turbid and governs excretion.

This conceptualizes the functions of digestion, absorption, and excretion of food through the Sanjiao’s role in the transformation of water and grains. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

As for the circulation of body fluids, there are many discourses in the ’Inner Canon,’ such as ’The Suwen·Secret Treatise on the Spiritual Orchid’ which says: ’The Sanjiao is the official in charge of the waterways, wherein the water paths originate.’

’The Spiritual Pivot·Original Transport’ states: ’The Sanjiao is the organ of the central conduits, wherein the water paths originate, belonging to the bladder, it is the solitary organ.’ This precisely illustrates that the Sanjiao is the organ managing the body’s fluids, having the role of clearing the water paths and circulating body fluids.

Body fluid metabolism is a complex physiological process, and it is also the comprehensive function of a series of physiological functions of multiple organs.

This point is mentioned in ’The Suwen·Divergent Discussion of Meridians’: ’Drinks enter the stomach, overflow with the essence Qi, rise up to the spleen, the Qi of the spleen spreads the essence, rises to the lung, which regulates the water pathways, descending to the bladder, where the essence of water is distributed, and the five meridians go in all directions.’

Therefore, whether the waterways of the Sanjiao are unobstructed or not not only affects fluid circulation but also inevitably influences the distribution and excretion of fluids by related organs.

If the waterways of the Sanjiao are obstructed, then the functions of the spleen, lungs, kidneys, and other organs in regulating body fluids will be difficult to achieve, leading to disruption in fluid metabolism, obstruction in fluid distribution and excretion, resulting in phlegm, edema, and other pathological changes.

Just as the ’Inner Canon·Signs and Visions of Organs’ says: ’If the upper Jiao is not regulated, water spills over the highlands; if the middle Jiao is not regulated, water stays in the central cavity; if the lower Jiao is not regulated, water disrupts the two excretions.’