The Triple Burner: Organic Reality or Chinese Fantasy? (Part 1)
Part 1 - Understanding the Triple Burner
The Triple Burner (or Triple Warmer or Triple Heater) is known in Chinese as San Jiao. It is a mysterious organ, described in Chinese Medicine as having a function but no shape and doesn't seem to correspond to any organ in the body as described by western Medicine. Or does it?
What do we know about the San Jiao?
First of all, here is a list of reference:
Su Wen Chapters 5, 8, 18, 19, 20, 60, 62, 81
Lingshu Chapters 1, 2,10, 11, 16, 22, 31, 32, 35, 36, 47, 62, 63, 65, 71
Nan Jing: The Classic of Difficult Issues Chapters 8, 11, 31, 35, 38, 39, 45, 66
Mai Jing Book 3, Chapter 25
What we learn from these:
1) The TB is an « immaterial entrails » which is linked to no organ
2) The TB is the Tao in Man
According to our mentor Thierry Bollet, the same attributes and functions are given to the TB as to the Tao. These are :
« Regulator »
The TB organises and distributes the functional activities in each burner as well as amongst the individual burners and all of them as a unit
« Measurer »
The TB confers and controls the amplitude of functions by activating or slowing down the activities of the organs and burners in relation to each other and depending of the time of day
« Organiser »
The TB maintains discipline among the burners and their specific activities (heart-lung, digestive, urogenital) by forcing each to work or cease work, accelerate or decelerate, heat up or cool down, whenever appropriate
- Everything that is manifested in Man depends on the TB
- Because the TB is the Great Measurer and the Great Organiser in Man, it secures organised movement with measure
- Everything emanates from the TB. It balances Yin and Yang whilst maintaining movement between the two aspects
- Because the TB is the Great Measurer, it also fixes the limits. Its function is to organise order in life but it does not forbid change
- However the change is a measured change thanks to the TB : it's a wise change. Order is defined as the action of respecting order
The TB acts as a regulator inasmuch as it is the interface between the environmental variations (cold, damp, heat, etc.) and the organic activities that are necessary to adapt to these environmental changes and maintain balance within (e.g. thermoregulation).
Under the powerful protection of the kidney, the lower burner is the repository of the ancestral energy, which nurtures the fire of life as well as the required heat which all the other burners need to function.
All life needs two fundamental elements: heat + humidity (Kidney + Spleen)
In Man :
- Heat arises from the initial fire, or the ancestral energy that is stored in the Kidney
- Humidity depends on the activity of the Spleen
This dual action is completed by a careful overseeing of each organ's inter-activity, which is performed by the Gall Bladder.
This explains the link between TB-GB which constitutes the Shao Yang.
The Fire element
The TB belongs to the Fire element. As such, it represents the knowledge of the Law, of the Rule and of the Norms that direct the burners' work in accordance with the subject's material obligations (personal, family, work responsibilities) as well as their physical and functional circumstances.
The TB also direct the Zang-Fu organs –except the heart. It also gives orders to the GB, which holds a specific place as the TB's agent (upstream part of the Shao Yang)
The heart is the intelligence of that function and is therefore not subjected to the influence of the TB.
3) The human body is divided into 3 energetic zones called the San Jiao (= three burners)
- Upper Burner
- Middle Burner
- Lower Burner
Charles Laville-Mery and Dr Duron, in their Bioenergetique volume, tell us:
The Triple Burner theory pre-existed the codification of the science of needles and fire (acupuncture and moxibustion). It was present as early as Classical Antiquity. It was inherited from the Taoist tradition, itself arising from Tao Universalism. We can only define this early philosophy by referring to one of its aspects: the imbrication of the celestial and terrestrial aspects. This was summarised by the ancient Hermetic adage: “As above, so below”.
The human body manifests the resemblance between heaven and earth, in which Man is created by the union of what creates and what grows. Man is part of a triune system which divides itself in three sections.
The first section belongs to the heaven. It is situated in the chest area, with its two principal organs: heart and lung, which form the Upper Burner.
The second section belongs to the earth. It is situated in the epigastrium, where the stomach (energy producing workshop), the liver and the spleen form the Middle Burner.
The third is in the hypogastric region where the intestines, the kidneys and sexual glands form the Lower Burner.
Li Shizhen, in his Binhu Maixue (A Study of the Pulse) compares the three sections of the radial artery to the anatomical situation of each Burner. This would seem to confirm the traditional reality of the Burners and that each of them would be in charge of the energy distribution to the organs manifesting their seasonal pulsatile rhythm in their respective arterial section.
The stomach delimits the position or the level of each of the Burners:
- The Upper Burner above the anatomical superior orifice of this organ
- The Lower Burner underneath its inferior orifice
- The Middle burner in between the two
The Upper Burner takes its source at the superior orifice of the stomach, underneath the diaphragm. It is the pathway of liquids and cereals, the beginning and the end of energies. It governs the interior but does not exit. It spread into the chest and goes to the axila, passes through Lu 2 (Yun Men – Cloud Gate), Lu 1 (Zhong Fu – Middle palace) then enters the Hand (Shu) Yang Ming (Large Intestine meridian) going through LI 17 (Tian Ding – Heaven Tripod) and LI 18 (Fu Tu - Support the Prominence), from which it travels to the tongue and then goes back down with the Foot (Zu) Yang Ming (Stomach meridian).
The Upper Burner brings heat to the meridians. This energy reaches the flesh to which it confers its tonicity and its heat which will feed the bones and joints.
The Middle Burner takes its source in the stomach region, proximally to the Upper Burner. It governs nutrients fermentation.
The Lower Burner takes its source at the inferior orifice of the stomach and goes towards the large intestine. It is the path of the primary energy.
4) The Water Rill: the system for water circulation in the body
The TB makes energy and blood flow and harmonises water in the tissues. As the Water Rill, it is directly governed by the kidney. Its work then consists in controlling the liquid paths (circulatory and lymphatic systems) in order to reach the kidneys where filtration occurs.
5) Organs and functions linked to the TB
The TB and Pericardium are paired in the Fire element, of which they constitute the Ministerial fire.
The TB and Spleen are linked under the Midday-Midnight Law.
The TB and Bladder are linked under the Husband-Wife Law.
TB and Gall Bladder constitute the Shao Yang axis: the purifying fire which can become destructive fire. The Triple Burner transfers its energy to the Gall Bladder in the Yong (circadian) Cycle but receives its energy from the Gall Bladder in the Sheng (5 elements generating) Cycle.
The TB transfers its energy to the Stomach in the Sheng Cycle.
6) The Anatomy of the Triple Burner
Now that the TB is defined from a Classical Chinese Medicine perspective, we can consider its anatomic reality.
As cited above from Charles Laville-Mery and Dr Duron:
“The stomach delimits the position or the level of each of the Burners:
- The Upper Burner above the anatomical superior orifice of this organ
- The Lower Burner underneath its inferior orifice
- The Middle burner in between the two”
The Middle Burner is also known as the Barrier. It is zone of exchange between Heaven (to which the Upper Burner belongs) and Earth (to which the Lower Burner belongs).
Anatomically, that 'barrier' is not hard to find or understand:
- In this area can be found the Cardiac Sphincter (or Lower Oesophagus Sphincter)
- But this area also contains another very important barrier: the Diaphragm, through which passes the Oesophagus, the Vena Cava and the Aorta. The Diaphragm itself is governed by the Pericardium, of which the PC6/HP6 point which is called Nei Kouan/Nei Guan or Inner Pass/Gate/Barrier. Let's also note that the Pericardium is linked to the Stomach by the Midday-Midnight Law.
But what of the barrier between the Middle and Lower Burner? We know that the separation occurs at the Duodenum level, in particular at the Pylorus (Pyloric Sphincter). But that localisation seems unsatisfactory, since the Middle Burner is constituted by the stomach, pancreatic system (which includes the both spleen and pancreas), liver and gall bladder. Yet the separation line between the Middle and Lower burner is an horizontal line that passes through the umbilicus, along the ConceptionVessel/Chong Mai 8 (Shen Que – Spirit Gateway), K 16 (Huang Shu – Vitals Shu), St 25 (Tianshu – Heaven's Pivot) and Sp 15 (Daheng – Great Horizontal). This is where things become interesting, at navel level (slightly to the right) we find the Sphincter of Oddi, end point of both Pancreas and Common Bile Duct (which links the gall bladder to the duodenum).
For those who are familiar with abdominal palpation, the umbilical zone, when sore, is treated through Sp 5, which is the point that makes Earth energy (symbolising Centre) flow towards Metal (which enables downward movement).
It's also important to note that the transverse colon is situated just above this line. There, St 25 (Heaven's Pivot) also point Mai of the Large Intestine and seat of the Hun and Po, acts as a Yang passage point between Middle Burner and Lower Burner.
As for Sp 15 (Daheng – Great Horizontal), it is the crossing point of the Yin Wei Mai, which actually allows the rising of Yin from the Lower Burner to the Middle Burner.
7) Water Rill and Lymphatic System
Until recently, the closest concept in western medicine to that of the Triple Burner function was the lymphatic system. It is one of the most important features of the immune system, since it protects the body from diseases and infections. It is a system made of vessels, glands and organs which reaches every part of the body where there is lymph, a clear tissue fluid that contains and carries lymphocytes (white blood cells).
It is interesting to note that the Triple Burner and the Spleen (master of fluids and of immunity) are linked through the midday/midnight law and in particular through the Luo points:
- TB5 Wai Guan/Oaé Koann Outer pass/barrier
- Sp4 Gong Sun and key point of the Tchrong Mo/Chong Mai (Penetrating Vessel), at which point you may notice that the lymphatic system trajectory strangely follows that of the Tchrong Mo/Chong Mai's anterior branch.
Le lymphatic glands act as filters for lymph and lymphocytes. They sort out bacteries, viruses and other invaders. Hundreds of these nods are found in almost every part of the body, in particular in the elbows, armpits, neck and groin. There is an interesting parallel to be drawn there between these locations and that of the Jing Bie (Divergent Channels).
The shape and anatomy of the lymphatic glands is also surprising in that in closely ressembles that of the kidneys. This is especially significant when considering the importance of the Kidney to the function of the Triple Burner.
The three principal functions of the lymphatic system are :
- Circulate and regulate fluids in the body. This corresponds directly to the balance between the Spleen and the Triple Burner.
- Absorb fats and fat-soluble vitamins in the digestive system through the specialised lacteal vessels. Here we can note how bile salts (from the Gall Bladder, which is linked to the TB in the Shao Yang axis) and pancreatic lipase (from the Spleen, which is linked to the TB through the midday-midnight law) are the two substances that allow the processing of these fatty substances)
- Defend the body against infections, which has already been covered.
As closely as the lymphatic system seems to resemble the Triple Burner, it still fails to account for some of its very important aspects. Let us not forget that the Triple Burner's principal characteristic is to be «The Tao in Man». We need to keep looking for another organ in the body that is also a «Great Organiser» of the organism. Until recently, it could not be found. However, recent discoveries in Western medicine may have opened the door to a new and fascinating possibility.
In the second part of this article, we will discuss western science's recent discovery of the Interstitium and how it relates to what Chinese medicine tells us of the San Jiao or Triple Burner.
Comments
Post a Comment