Tongue morphology, Chinese woodcut

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Tongue morphology, Chinese woodcut. Wellcome Collection. Public Domain Mark. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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Description

Woodblock illustration from an edition of 1738 (3rd year of the Qianlong reign period of the Qing dynasty). It shows the characteristics of two tongue morphologies: tongue with black body and white edges as far as the tip; tongue with a black film surrounding a red centre. In the former, there is a dry, black coating on the central part of the body of the tongue, with a white coating to either side. If this type of tongue coating is seen 2-3 days after the onset of disease, the condition is generally incurable. In the latter, a black, filmy coating is found all around the edges of the tongue while the central area is reddish. This type of tongue coating is generally attributed to heat affecting the Heart Envelope.

Lettering

PICTURE TITLE: Tongue with black body and white edges as far as the tip; tongue with a black film surrounding a red centre. OTHER LETTERING: White; black; white; black film (heiyun); black film; reddish; black film; black film

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