Zàng-Fǔ Organ Networks (五臟六腑)
Zàng-Fǔ Organ Networks (五臟六腑) is a Chinese / TCM & Daoist — Classical acupuncture body system as transmitted through the lineage Five zàng (Heart, Liver, Spleen, Lung, Kidney — plus the Pericardium envelope) and six fu (SI, BL, LI, ST, GB, Triple Burner) as taught in the Lingshu organ discourses: solid storehouses of spirits versus hollow transformers. First system shipped as structured zones[] over the body cavity; each zàng names its housed spirit per Wiseman's standard terminology.. This page lists every point in the system with sourced placements and links to cross-tradition correspondences curated for The Body Spiritual.
Open in interactive explorerPrimary sources
- Huangdi Neijing · Lingshu (transl. Unschuld, California UP 2016) — Zang-fu organ discourse (chs. 4, 8, 14): the five zang store the shen-spirits; the six fu transform without storing.
- N. Wiseman & A. Ellis, Practical Dictionary of Chinese Medicine (Paradigm 1996) — Standard terminology for organ-network (zàng fǔ) scope, including the housed spirits and triple-burner divisions.
Known lineage variants
- Organ positions are functional projections onto the front silhouette, not dissection maps; TCM organ-networks (zàng fǔ) deliberately exceed their anatomical referents. Uncertainty carried by the projection convention itself.
- Kidneys are retroperitoneal and sit deeper than any other zone here; front-view placement widens error accordingly.
- The Triple Burner has no anatomical referent by doctrine; the three-band rendering follows the canonical upper/middle/lower division rather than any claimed organ.
- Some lineages count Pericardium among the six fu instead of a sixth zàng; we follow the channel-doctrine reading (six zàng with Pericardium, six fu).
Related systems
- Eight Extraordinary Vessels (qí jīng bā mài) — core four (27 points)
- Twelve Primary Meridians (shí'èr jīng 十二經) (202 points)