A Comparative Study on the Tongue Diagnosis between Korean medicine and Ayurveda

A Ram Jung; Hye-Yoon Lee; Man-Suk Hwang; Jung, A Ram; Lee, Hye-Yoon; Hwang, Man-Suk

doi:10.13048/jkm.19017

JKM > Volume 40(2); 2019 > Article

Jung, Lee, and Hwang: A Comparative Study on the Tongue Diagnosis between Korean medicine and Ayurveda

Original Article

The Journal of Korean Medicine 2019; 40(2): 63-71.

Published online: June 30, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.13048/jkm.19017

A Comparative Study on the Tongue Diagnosis between Korean medicine and Ayurveda

A Ram Jung¹

, Hye-Yoon Lee²

, Man-Suk Hwang²^{, *}

¹Department of Pediatrics, School of Korean Medicine, Pusan National University

²School of Korean Medicine, Pusan National University

Correspondence to: 황만석, 경상남도 양산시 물금읍 부산대학로 49, 부산대학교 한의과대학, Tel: +82-55-360-5970, Fax: +82-55-360-5559, E-mail: hwangmansuk@pusan.ac.kr

Received May 10, 2019 Revised May 25, 2019 Accepted May 28, 2019

Abstract

Objectives

The purpose of this study is to compare and analyze Tongue Diagnosis of Korean medicine with that of Ayurveda.

Methods

In this article, first we introduced concept of Tongue Diagnosis based on physiological view. Further, we also reviewed published works including books and articles. Then, we reviewed Ayurveda to find similar concepts to Vicera Assignment on Tongue, and analyzed the comparison between the relevant contents of Korean medicine and Ayurveda.

Results

In Ayurveda, they divided vicera into two part (right and left) and some elements of vicera were assigned to either side of divided tongue. In Korean medicine, a tongue is divide into three parts of Sangcho(上焦, Shang Jiao), Jungcho(中焦, Zhong Jiao) and Hacho(下焦, Xia Jaio) ; similarly, in Ayurveda, they divide a tongue into three regions of VATA, PITTA, KAPHA.

Conclusion

It can be inferred from the relationship between portions of a tongue and vicera of a body that Korean medicine and Ayurveda have a close relationship.

Keywords: Tongue Diagnosis, Korean Medicine (KM), Ayurveda

Acknowledgement

A Ram Jung and Hye-Yoon Lee contributed equally to this study.

This work was supported by a 2-year Research Grant of Pusan National University.

Fig. 1

A correlation of tongue with viscera and bowels.

Fig. 2

A correlation oftongue with three parts of body.

Table 1

Comparative Clinical Significance in Korean medicine and Ayurveda

Tongue Feature	Korean medicine21,22)	Ayurveda23)
Color
Pale	Dual deficiency of qi & blood, cold pattern	Low prana
Red	heat pattern	High pitta
Purple	cold-heat complex pattern, blood stasis	High pitta
Blue	cold pattern, blood stasis	Agni & Pitta out of balance, kapha is high
Form of Tongue Body
Contracted	Heart-blood deficiency, internal heat affecting the tissues and muscles	Pitta & Agni disturbance
Crooked	Liver wind	Vata high
Flaccid	Yin damage, blood deficiency	Vata is high
Swollen	Cold & heat dampness, phlegm over flowing	Kapha is out of balance
Protruding	Phlegm, toxins & Heat in the heart	Kapha is imbalance, Pitta is in excess
Thin	Exterior symptom complex in warm disease	Pitta is slightly high, kapha is affected
Thick	Interior-symptom complex; excess heat, cold & phlegm	Pitta is high, kapha is high
Tongue Fur
Moist	Mild disorders that have not affected body fluids	Kapha is slightly high
Dry	High heat consuming body fluids	Pitta & Agni are high
Greasy/Splippery	Dampness and disturbed qi in stomach, spleen or lungs	Kapha is high
White	cold pattern, exterior pattern	Kapha is high
Yellowish	Excess heat affecting the whole digestive system, interior pattern	Pitta is high and out of balance
Grayish Dark	Warm diseases, interior symptoms affecting internal organs	Kapha is high with Agni imbalance
Black	Interior-symptom complex; heat invading blood level	Vata, Pitta & Kapha disturbed and out of balance

Table 2

The attributes and properties of VATA, PITTA, KAPHA12,23)

	VATA	PITTA	KAPHA
Basic elements	air, ether	fire, water	water, earth
Biological humors	cold, light, mobile, dry, hard, rough	hot, slightly wet, light, sharp, flowing	cold, wet, heavy, dull, gross, static
Attributes	irregular, rarefied	intense, fluid, liquid	viscos, dense, smooth
Climatic factor	Wind & cold-dryness	Heat & humidity	Cold-dampness
Effects of unbalance or excess	deficiency or irregularity of the digestive juices	diarrhea, hemorrhoids, peptic ulcer, irritable bowels	digestions are sluggish and unregulated
	Anxiety, fatigue, worry	spiritually lost, constantly seeking	dry in all tissue and organs
	dry cough, shortness of breath	dry skin, graying or balding hair	respiratory system excess amounts of mucous
	loss of enthusiasm, loss of energy	character is anxious, angry, irritable	character is jealous, intolerant

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