This Shop Talk is a discussion of the differences between the Zangfu organ system and that of the Jingluo.
A brief history is given, as are mentions of the differing relationships between the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches with regard to the Zangfu organs and Jingluo channels.
An example of this is that the internal Zangfu organ Lung is attributed to Metal; whereas the Hand Taiyin Lung channel is attributed to Yang Wood. The differing Five Phase natures of the internal Zangfu organs and the more external Jingluo system, is actually a clear reflection of their different anatomical functions in regard to the overall Chinese Medicine anatomy of the human body. That is to say, the internal organs are the body's way of assimilating and storing, whereas the Jingluo system is one that enables a discrete individual to maintain a dynamically homeostatic state in the context of a greater external environment, an environment which varies along the number of different parameters.
Brenda Hood, P.hD, L.Ac
I was born and raised in Peace River, Canada. Then wound up going to China to study Chinese medicine after becoming disillusioned with a degree in psychology. I spent over twenty years there being completely enamored with the medicine and acquiring a few degrees. After returning to North America spent some years teaching Foundations of CM and other basic courses at NUNM. I’m back up in Canada now working on a foundations book to explain the energetic and philosophical bases of the medicine with an eye to using the classics and historical texts as my sources.
Clinically, I started out using the TCM system, but I couldn’t really get it to work like I thought it should. I stepped out of CM academia and spent a lot of time with “folk practitioners” and cultivators. There are a lot of hidden gems in China though living there and speaking/reading the language was definitely required.
The study of CM is endless. This is the medicine of the Heart whose medium is joy. When there is a quiet joy to what you are doing, it reveals a truth and integrity of being.