五脏 (wǔ zàng) — the five internal organs (heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys) in traditional Chinese medicine

Definition

In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), 五脏 names the five core internal organs — heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys — treated as a functional system rather than Western anatomical organs.

noun
the five internal organs (heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys) in traditional Chinese medicine

Examples

  • 五脏。
    Zhōng yī rèn wéi wǔ zàng yǔ wǔ xíng xiāng duì yìng.
    Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the five viscera correspond to the five elements.
  • 五脏。
    Tā de wǔ zàng gōng néng dōu hěn hǎo.
    The functions of his five viscera are all very good.
  • 五脏、、、、。
    wǔ zàng Bāo kuò xīn, gān, pí, fèi, shèn.
    The five viscera include the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

五wǔfive
脏zāngviscera

五 specifies the number of organs denoted by 脏.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

An older form had a crossed mark between a top bar and a bottom bar. The modern 五 keeps those bars, while the original idea is uncertain.

Open 五 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 髒; 脏 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 脏 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (心脏) it is 臟; in others (脏) it is 髒.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
骨骨gǔbone
Sound part声符shēngfú
葬
葬zàng髒zàng
Same sound today

The traditional form 髒 combines 骨 (bone) with 葬 (zàng) for the sound.

Open 脏 →

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