Post Date December, 02 2023
In "Records of the Historian", Sima Qian recorded the story of a famous doctor, Bian Que, who knew his illness by looking at his qi and complexion. It has been passed down from generation to generation for many years and is widely known. It also well interprets the highest realm of observation and diagnosis in the four diagnostic methods of traditional Chinese medicine, namely, "seeing and knowing is called the spirit". It is indeed possible to judge a person's physical condition through some facial features. Otherwise, how can traditional Chinese medicine have the method of "observation and diagnosis"? Today, let's analyze a section of the "Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic" about observing the five senses and breaking down diseases!
[Original text]
The Yellow Emperor said, "What is the official status?"?
Qi Bo said, "Wait for the five internal organs.". Therefore, in patients with lung disease, wheezing and nasal distension occur; Liver disease, canthus cyanosis; Patients with spleen disease have yellow lips; People with heart disease have short curled tongues and red cheekbones; People with kidney disease have dark cheekbones and facial features.
"Lingshu Five Reading Five Emissaries"
[Vernacular Translation]
The Yellow Emperor asked Qibo, "How can we infer diseases from changes in the five senses?"?
Qibo replied, "Through the changes in the five senses, we can speculate on the pathological changes in the five viscera.". Pathological changes in the lungs can lead to shortness of breath and flaring of the lateral wings of the nose; Liver lesions can result in cyanosis of the canthus angles of the eyes; Pathological changes in the spleen can cause yellowing of the lips and lips; Heart disease can cause the tongue to curl and shorten, with redness in both cheekbones. Renal lesions can result in blackness of both cheekbones and forehead.
[External manifestations of five visceral diseases]
This paragraph describes the content of facial examination for diagnosing diseases of the five internal organs by observing the changes in the facial features. The lungs open up in the nose, so lung diseases can be seen as "wheezing and rhinorrhea"; "The liver opens the orifices in the eyes, so" those with liver diseases have cyanosis of the canthus. "; "The spleen opens its orifices in the mouth, and its bloom lies in the lips. Therefore, in cases of spleen disease, the lips are yellow."; "The heart opens on the tongue, and its beauty lies on the face. Therefore, if you have a heart attack, your tongue will curl short.".
"Lingshu Five Changes": "The zygomatic bone is the foundation of the bone. If the zygomatic bone is large, the bone is large, and if the zygomatic bone is small, the bone is small." The kidney dominates the bone, and the zygomatic bone in kidney disease changes color first. Blackening is the main feature of kidney yang deficiency. If the kidney yin deficiency and fire up inflammation occur, the zygomatic bone turns red. "The color of the face due to kidney yang deficiency is all black, and the face is located in the forehead and belongs to the heavenly part. Due to being located in the open and high place of the face, it is the main innate gift and also the part dominated by the heart. The kidney belongs to water and can control the heart, kidney, and heart, so the face of the part dominated by the heart also changes color.". The heart meridian and the kidney meridian are external and internal meridians, and the yang of the heart and kidney coexist with each other, often affecting each other. Therefore, the syndrome of deficiency of heart yang also meets with blackness of the cheekbones. In clinical practice, in patients with severe edema due to yang deficiency of the spleen and kidney, the zygomatic region is significantly dark. If the forehead appears black again, it indicates that the disease has entered a critical stage.
During the face examination, lesions of the five zang organs, such as cyan, red, yellow, white, and black, can occur. This paragraph is only a partial demonstration of the face examination. The main location of the lesions is the location of the five zang organs. If one can cite one and three counter examples, it will have a stronger guiding significance.
