Translation of Spleen in TCM : Pi = Pancreas/ Spleen !

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

Here is an online article which gives a very very convincing argument for

translating " Pi " into " Pancreas-Spleen " in English.

Chinese doctors throughout history actually used the same term " Pi " for both

the Pancreas (whose " shape is like a sickle " )

and the Spleen (whose " shape is like a horse's hoof " ) :

 

" The shape of the spleen is flat, like a horse's hoof. Also like a sickle. "

(Yixue rumen átŒWÈëéT " Introduction to Medicine " 1624, also seen in Zangfu

zhizhang tu ÅK¸­Ö¸ÕƈD) " (This description goes back at least to the

Northern Song Dynasty times)

 

" The salient question is, since ancient Chinese physicians recognized both

pancreas and spleen, why, for thousands of years, did they not describe them

as two separate organs, instead using just the one ambiguous term, " spleen "

pi2, to describe them? It's very likely that the reason for the appearance

of this " two joined into one " phenomenon in Chinese anatomy was not because

the standard of ancient anatomy knowledge was defective. Rather, the crucial

factor was the influence of the early philosophy of " number arts " (Ðg”µ shu4

shu4). For instance, chapter 1 of Suwen says: " The ancient people who knew

the way followed yin and yang and accorded with the art of numbers. " The

concept of yin and yang and the number arts at the time was that heaven is

yang, earth is yin; heaven's number is six and earth's number five. If the

organs of the human body were to follow yin and yang and accord with the

number arts then they must agree with these principles - so the yin zang

were five, the yang fu were six. Consequently, if there were more than five

zang organs then some had to be removed or combined, hence spleen and

pancreas were joined into one. If there were less than six fu organs then

they had to be supplemented, hence the " three burners " was added to the five

fu.[19] <http://www.hanacumoxa.com/spleen_pancreas.htm#_ftn19> "

 

Pig pancreas:

This confusion even influenced the illustrations and descriptions of the

organs in animals. For instance, prior to the Song dynasty (10th century),

dictionaries defined the character yi2 ¡¸¼§Å®ÌæÔ¡¹, an ancient form of ÒÈ yi2,

as

an independent organ of the pig. But the Song dynasty works Jiyun ¼¯í and

Leipian îƪ say that it is " a polyp of the spleen (pi2) " , thereby taking what

had been an independent organ and attaching it to the spleen.

 

More historical evidence:

In the Qing dynasty, Wang Qingren departed from the practice followed for

some thousands of years of using " spleen " -pi2 to refer to two different

organs in the human body, and used pi2 to refer specifically to the pancreas

and yi2 to refer specifically to the spleen. But Wang's revolutionary book

didn't receive serious attention from his contemporaries. Consequently,

Japanese physicians translating Western anatomical works mistakenly

translated pi2 as " spleen " , and devised the new character Ä‹ cui4 for

" pancreas " . This new character was not adopted in China. "

There are a lot of eye-opening findings in this article:

Soulie de Morant's detection of the two separate organs through the pulse,

as well as the observation that the Left branch of the Spleen channel

corresponds to the Pancreas,

while the Right branch corresponds to the Spleen. (derived from R. Voll?)

 

Of course, the Chinese had excellent skills in carving out cadavers; witness

the story of the " ox-cutter " in Chuang Tzu over 2000 yrs ago.

From the evidence, it seems that the issue is more of a lack of contextual

understanding on our parts, not a lack of intellectual understanding from

the Ancients. Isn't that always the issue?!

 

Source:

*Adapted from: Zhongguo zhenjiu shi tujian *ÖЇøᘾÄÊ·ˆDèb*

" Illustrated Mirror of the History of Chinese Acumoxa "

Editor Huang Longxiang *üSýˆÏé*

Qingdao press 2003

http://www.hanacumoxa.com/spleen_pancreas.htm

*

*

*

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

John,

Fascinating link and translated article! However, there is

nothing else on the website, no description of the author or other

materials. You have any leads?

 

Thanks,

 

 

 

On Aug 11, 2008, at 8:24 AM, wrote:

 

> Hi all,

> Here is an online article which gives a very very convincing

> argument for

> translating " Pi " into " Pancreas-Spleen " in English.

> Chinese doctors throughout history actually used the same term " Pi "

> for both

> the Pancreas (whose " shape is like a sickle " )

> and the Spleen (whose " shape is like a horse's hoof " ) :

>

> " The shape of the spleen is flat, like a horse's hoof. Also like a

> sickle. "

> (Yixue rumen átŒWÈëéT " Introduction

> to Medicine " 1624, also seen in Zangfu

> zhizhang tu ÅK¸­Ö¸ÕƈD) " (This description goes back at least to the

> Northern Song Dynasty times)

>

>

>

 

 

Chair, Department of Herbal Medicine

Pacific College of Oriental Medicine

San Diego, Ca. 92122

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Z'ev,

 

Here is the catalog info:

438 Huang Longxiang: ZHONGGUO ZHENJIU SHI TUJIAN. (An Illustrated History of

ChineseAcupuncture and

Moxibustion). Qingdao, 2003. xxxv, 1-433; 434-745 pp. Colour and b/w plates

and figures throughout. Indexes of diagrams, medical experts and keywords.

Select bibliography. 2 vols. 27x20 cm. Cloth. £75.00

Extensive visual and textual resources on the history of Chinese medicine,

this work contains colour reproductions from a large number

of crucial texts, rare books, manuscripts and charts, covering anatomy (both

visceral and conceptual/philosophical), acupuncture

and moxibustion diagrams (of meridians etc.), techniques, instruments,

physio-breathing exercises, historical sources, and so on. The

visual material is accompanied by significant explanatory Chinese text,

with, importantly, contents and useful summaries of each section in English.

 

http://www.hanshan.com/pdf/l39.pdf

I'd like to read all of the books in this catalog... This book is # 438.

 

Other books edited by Huang Longxiang:

http://www.chinabooks.com.au/ChinaBooks/search.cfm?records_to_display=50 & search_\

field=author & search_stage=results & search_string=HUANG%20Longxiang

 

K.

 

 

On Tue, Aug 12, 2008 at 12:09 AM, <zrosenbewrote:

 

> John,

> Fascinating link and translated article! However, there is

> nothing else on the website, no description of the author or other

> materials. You have any leads?

>

> Thanks,

>

>

>

> On Aug 11, 2008, at 8:24 AM, wrote:

>

> > Hi all,

> > Here is an online article which gives a very very convincing

> > argument for

> > translating " Pi " into " Pancreas-Spleen " in English.

> > Chinese doctors throughout history actually used the same term " Pi "

> > for both

> > the Pancreas (whose " shape is like a sickle " )

> > and the Spleen (whose " shape is like a horse's hoof " ) :

> >

> > " The shape of the spleen is flat, like a horse's hoof. Also like a

> > sickle. "

> > (Yixue rumen átŒWÈëéT " Introduction

> > to Medicine " 1624, also seen in Zangfu

> > zhizhang tu ÅK¸­Ö¸ÕƈD) " (This description goes back at least to the

> > Northern Song Dynasty times)

> >

> >

> >

>

>

> Chair, Department of Herbal Medicine

> Pacific College of Oriental Medicine

> San Diego, Ca. 92122