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The model of the body in traditional Chinese medicine has the following elements:

• the Fundamental Substances;
• Qi, Blood, Jing (Essence), Shen (Mind) that nourish and protect the Zang-Fu organs;
• and the meridians (jing-luo) which connect and unify the body.

Every diagnosis is a "Pattern of disharmony" that affects one or more organs, such as "Spleen Qi Deficiency" or "Liver Fire Blazing" or "Invasion of the Stomach by Cold", and every treatment is centered on correcting the disharmony.

The traditional Chinese model is concerned with function. Thus, the TCM Spleen is not a specific piece of flesh, but an aspect of function related to transformation and transportation within the body, and of the mental functions of thinking and studying. Indeed, the San Jiao or Triple Burner has no anatomical correspondent at all, and is said to be completely a functional entity.

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