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Triple burner

三焦 〔三焦〕sān jiāo

One of the six bowels, which comprises the upper, middle, and lower burners. The hand lesser yáng (shào yáng) triple burner channel passes through all three burners, linking up with many of the organs. The triple burner is an exterior organ, and its corresponding interior organ (for the purposes of acupuncture only) is the pericardium, to which it is connected by the hand reverting yīn (jué yīn) pericardium channel. The nature of the triple burner has always been the subject of disagreement. The following three points, however, seem to be well established:

  1. The triple burner refers to specific body areas: According to this view, the organs of the human body are distributed among three segments, referred to as the upper, middle, and lower burners. The upper burner includes the head and chest, the heart and the lung. The center burner corresponds to the upper abdomen (the area above the umbilicus) and includes the stomach and the spleen. The lower burner corresponds to the lower abdomen (inferior to the umbilicus) but includes the liver and kidney.
  2. The triple burner ensures the movement of original qì. Original qì is the fundamental qì of the body. It is rooted in the kidney, and moves through the triple burner to reach all parts of the body. The triple burner thus influences the qì dynamic and qì transformation of the entire body.
  3. The triple burner represents the waterways: Plain Questions (素问 sù wèn) explains, The triple burner holds the office of the sluices; it manifests as the waterways. This is interpreted to mean that the main functions of the triple burner are the processing of fluids by qì transformation and ensuring free flow through the waterways. As such, qì transformation in the triple burner is a global expression for the roles played by the lung, spleen, kidney, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and bladder in regulating the body’s water metabolism. The Magic Pivot (灵枢 líng shū) states, When the triple burner is open and permits effusion, it causes the five flavors of food to diffuse, nourishes the skin, makes the body firm, and keeps the body hair moistened, like the sprinkling of mist and dew. Such is the action of stomach qì. This fits the imagery of the phrase the upper burner is like mist, which in practice refers to the diffusion of defense qì and distribution of fluids by the lung. The Magic Pivot (灵枢 líng shū) states, The center burner... strains off the waste and distills the fluids out of which the essence of grain and water is formed. This then flows upward into the lung channel where it is transformed into blood. This statement supports the phrase, The center burner is like foam, which refers to the movement and formation of the essence of grain and water by the stomach and spleen, the source of blood formation. In the middle burner, the small intestine connects through to the bladder... It transforms waste that is then sent down to the large intestine... and distills the juices, sending them down to the bladder. The intestines, kidney, and bladder are located in the lower burner. The small intestine governs humor, the large intestine governs liquid, and the kidney governs the opening and closing. Their combined functions explain the phrase the lower burner is like a sluice.
  4. The triple burner is also a concept in pattern identification; see warm disease pattern identification.

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