Broken metal failing to sound

1. Damage to lung qì causing a hoarse voice. The lung governs the voice; in the doctrine of the five phases, it belongs to metal, a substance frequently utilized, as in bells and gongs, for its sonorous qualities. When lung qì is damaged, the voice loses its normal sonorous quality just as a broken bell fails to ring. The lung governs the movement of qì, whereas the kidney governs qì absorption. The voice is therefore dependent not only on the lung but also the kidney.

2. Enduring loss of voice.