Astragalus Root Spleen

Taoist medicine views our bodies as a microsystem of the natural world. It uses a complex series of “correspondences” such as color, element, and odor to name a few, as diagnostic tools and metaphors to describe the body’s processes. This series of paintings represents the “five zang or yin organs” known as the solid organs and the common herbs used in treating each respective organ.

In this series I explore how the Taoist thought process would have helped inform the selection of each herb for conditions of a given organ. For example the color Lung is associated with white and therefore one reason the white lily bulb may be selected. The organs are considered the root while the acupuncture pathways are the stems and the sense organs (eyes, ears, nose…) are the flowers. It is the bulb used to treat the lung – here the lung with the heart is depicted as the bulb. I also try to depict the function of the organ thought the Taoist lens. It is said that the lung disperses the qi – depicted is the spreading bronchi.