Spleen Controls the Raising of Qi

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From The Foundations of , Giovanni Maciocia, p. 91:

 

" The Spleen produces a 'lifting' effect along the midline of the body. It

is this force that makes sure that the internal organs are in their proper

place.

 

" If Spleen-Qi is deficient and its 'raising Qi' function weak, there may be

prolapse of various organs such as uterus, stomach, kidney, bladder or anus.

 

" The Sleen action of raising of Qi is another expression of its function of

extracting the refined Food-Qi and sending it upwards to the Lungs and

Heart. Ye Tian Shi (1667-1746), the celebrated specialist in Warm Diseases,

said: 'Spleen-Qi goes up, Stomach-Qi goes down'. " (Note to those new to

TCM: Stomach Qi is supposed to descend. When it rises instead of

descending, hiccups, nausea, acid reflux, and vomiting can result.)

 

Li Dong Yuan said: 'Food enters the Stomach and the Spleen directs the clear

essence of food up to the Lungs ... to nourish the whole body'. The upward

movement of Spleen-Qi is coordinated with the downward movement of

Stomach-Qi. The two together are essential for a proper movement of Qi in

the body during digestion, so that the clear Qi is directed upwards by the

Spleen and the dirty Qi downwards by the Stomach. Qi connects upwards with

the Lungs and Heart and downwards with the Liver and Kidneys. Only if these

ascending and descending movements of Qi are coordinated, can the clear Yang

ascend to the upper (sense) orifices and the dirty Yin descend to the two

lower orifices. If the descending and ascending movements are impaired, the

clear Yang does not ascend, refined Qi extracted from food cannot be stored

and dirty Qi cannot be excreted. "

 

For those new to TCM: TCM views Fluid metabolism as well as the extraction

and use of Qi as a series of steps in which the pure is separated and

refined over and over and the impure is excreted. Food and drink enter the

Stomach where the Spleen extracts the Qi from the food and drink (called

Grain Qi) and sends it to the Lungs. The " clear Qi is directed upwards by

the Spleen. " The impure Qi (as well as the partially digested food and

drink) is directed downward by the Stomach. The same thing is being done to

fluids in the Stomach. The Spleen extracts the " clear " Fluid and sends it

upwards while the Stomach sends the impure Fluid downward. Together the

Spleen with its rising action and the Stomach with its descending action

form an axis which causes the pure and impure to go where they're supposed

to go. If something goes wrong with either the rising action of the Spleen

or the descending action of the Stomach or both, health problems can result.

 

There are herbs and acupoints which can influence the movement of Qi,

causing Sinking Qi that should be rising to rise like it should and

Rebellious Qi which is rising instead of descending to descend like it

should.

 

The important things to remember are that Spleen Qi is supposed to rise, and

Stomach Qi is supposed to descend. Together, the Spleen and the Stomach

form an axis which is supposed to get everything going where it should be

going. If the Spleen is weak and Spleen Qi is Deficient, the Spleen cannot

perform its functions which include controlling the raising of the Qi,

transforming and transporting Fluid and Qi, etc.

 

Victoria

 

 

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