Anatomy of the lung in ancient Chinese medicine, woodcut

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Anatomy of the lung in ancient Chinese medicine, woodcut. Wellcome Collection. Public Domain Mark. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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Description

From an edition published in 1537 (16th year of the Jiajing reign period of the Ming dynasty). This is an anatomical diagram of the lungs according to the criteria of ancient Chinese medicine. Collected Gems of Acupuncture and Moxibustion states: 'The lungs weigh 3 jin (Chinese lb, c. 500 gr.) (Chinese lb, c. 500 gr.) 3 liang (Chinese oz., c. 50 gr). They have six lobes and two 'ears', generically termed the eight lobes. Four of them hang down like a cover. They are located adjacent to the third spinal vertebra. Within them there are 24 cavities, set out in rows, which separate the qi of the various zang viscera, and act as the 'canopy' of the zang viscera.'

Lettering

Picture title: The lung (feizang). Other lettering: Yanhou (laryngopharynx); feixi 9 jie (the 9 constituent parts of the respiratory system); 6 ye 2 er (6 lobes and 3 'ears') .

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