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Kidney is the gate of the stomach

肾者胃之关 〔腎者胃之關〕 shèn zhě wèi zhī guān

The kidney opens at the two yīn (anus and genitals), and controls the discharge of urine and to some extent the stool through its function of governing water. Hence it is the lower gate through which grain and water entering the stomach must pass to leave the body.

Note: According to one modern interpretation, 胃 is understood to be 谓, making the phrase read as the kidney is the so-called gate.

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