Part Two: Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture Series – Diagnosis and the concept of Yin and Yang
Chinese medicine doctors use many different methods to diagnose the patient. Here is a brief description of two ways of determining imbalances in the body.
Tongue Diagnosis: This is a tool utilizing the color, size, coating or moss, dryness or moistness, and landmarks of the tongue to tell the doctor about the state of balance of the patient. This diagnostic tool is very important for the correct diagnosis of the patient’s imbalance.
| Yin | Yang |
| female | male |
| night | day |
| moon | sun |
| low | high |
| heavy | light |
| inward | outward |
| inert | active |
| passive | aggressive |
| darkness | light |
| to accept | to give |
| slow | fast |
| sluggish | energetic |
| damp | dry |
| rainforest | desert |
Yin and Yang are complementary, not contradictory. There is neither a good nor a bad aspect. Both need to co-exist in harmony with each other – in balance with each other. This balance is sought after by an acupuncturist when he or she inserts the needles into the meridians in an attempt to balance the different organ systems and energies in the body, so that the Chi and Blood will flow freely. This is to assist in creating better health in the body.
Yin and Yang are complementary opposites that explain how things function in relationship to each other and in relation to the universe. No entity can exist by itself, and no thing can ever be isolated from its relationship with other entities.
