Read the tongue
An illustrated tongue, three questions: the colour of the body, the coating, and what else stands out. Then how to read it and what it means. A different tongue every time.
Study course in tongue and pulse
Learn to see what makes the difference
In 36 one-hour lessons you learn to recognise features, tell similar findings apart and bring your findings together into a TCM pattern. With illustrated tongue examples, animated pulse models and a visual trainer that brings back what you still confuse.
Works in your browser on laptop, tablet and phone. No account, no app.
From the visual trainer
Red body, redder tip with red points, thin yellow coating at the back, dry. What does the tip point to?
Choose an answer.
Wiry and rapid: taut like a string, and fast. Light, medium and deep pressure.four seconds
36one-hour lessons
595practice questions with explanations
659spaced-repetition flashcards
60cases in the visual trainer
Learning to read
Knowing what a tongue means is not the same as being able to read it
Lists of tongue colours and pulse qualities are in every textbook. It only gets hard when a real tongue is in front of you: is this Pale or Pale-Red, is this coating thick or thin, is this pulse soggy or weak? That is why in this course you practise with illustrated tongues and animated pulse models from the first lesson, and for every finding you learn four things.
What it looks likeIn words you will recognise on a real tongue or pulse.
What it meansIn the language of TCM: Qi, Blood, Yin, Yang, Heat, Cold, Dampness.
What you confuse it withThe neighbours that look alike, side by side.
What decidesThe one finding that tips the balance.
Schematic illustrations, no photographs. The illustrations are teaching models: each one shows a single feature on its own, so you practise the differences without noise. And a tongue is a sign, not a pattern: its meaning only counts next to the pulse and the history.
The visual trainer
Practise until you no longer confuse them
Read the pulse
All 28 pulse qualities as an animated pulse model on three levels, fast or slow as the quality is described. Recognise them, with the finger report as a hint when you are unsure. What you confuse comes back more often.
Cases
60 cases at three levels: tongue, pulse and a short history, and you choose the pattern. With what tips the balance against the neighbours, and the red flag when there is one.
Atlas
Every colour, shape, sign, coating and pulse quality as a drawing, with an explanation. To look up when you are unsure.
The path
Five modules, from looking to going deeper
First looking and feeling, then describing and interpreting, then bringing tongue, pulse and history together into one pattern, organ by organ, and finally the special situations and case work. Each module ends with a practice exam and a mini-test.
Tongue
What do you see on the tongue, what does it mean, and how sure are you?
- Looking like a practitioner
- The colour of the tongue body
- Shape, size and movement
- Cracks, points, spots and the underside
- The coating
- Moisture, course and the tongue over time
- The tongue map
- Tongue pictures by pattern
Pulse
What do you feel under three fingers, how do you describe it, and what does it mean?
- Feeling the pulse: position, depth and technique
- Describe before you name
- Depth and strength
- Rate and rhythm
- Width, length, flow and tension
- Reading the positions
- Pulse pictures by pattern
- The pulse in context
Reading together
How do you turn tongue, pulse and history into one pattern?
- Tongue and pulse together
- From finding to pattern
- Case work: twelve cases
Organ by organ
Which tongue and pulse belong to the patterns of each organ, and what tells the neighbours apart?
- Heart and Pericardium
- Liver and Gall-Bladder
- Lungs
- Spleen
- Stomach and the Intestines
- Kidneys and Bladder
- Qi, Blood and Body Fluids
- The pathogenic factors
- Combined patterns
Going deeper
How do you read tongue and pulse in special situations, and how do you follow them over time?
- Acute disease: Six Stages and Four Levels
- Women: cycle, pregnancy and menopause
- Children and older people
- What masks tongue and pulse
- The classical pulse texts and prognosis
- Case work: mixed pictures
- Case work: one picture over time
- Follow-up, records and continued practice
Who it is for
For anyone who needs to read tongue and pulse
Students of acupuncture and TCM
Tongue and pulse are a core part of many TCM programmes, in the exams and in clinical classes. Here you practise the reading and the language, so you get more out of the hours with a teacher and real patients.
Practitioners
Sharpen your own tongue and pulse reports, have the 28 qualities at your fingertips again, and know what to do when tongue and pulse contradict each other.
Other health professionals
Understand what your TCM colleague reads from the tongue and the pulse, and where that stops. Every lesson puts the red flags first and builds the bridge to physiology.
Pricing
The whole course and the visual trainer, one payment
Pay once, everything included, and fourteen days to decide whether it suits you.
Launch price until 28 February
Tongue and Pulse
$79 one payment
Then $99.
- 36 one-hour lessons in five modules: tongue, pulse, reading together, organ by organ and going deeper
- 595 practice questions with explanations and 5 practice exams
- The visual trainer: reading tongues, recognising all 28 pulses, 60 cases and an atlas
- 659 spaced-repetition flashcards, also as an Anki deck
- Exam trainer: remembers what you got wrong and has you practise exactly that
- A mini-test per module and a final test, with a certificate on successful completion
- Continually improved and expanded, at least five years of access
- 14-day money-back guarantee
With the complete TCM Campus
$298 together
The complete course ($249) with Tongue and Pulse for $49 on top. Until 28 February; then $348.
- All 8 modules of TCM Campus, with every bonus
- Plus Tongue and Pulse with the visual trainer
- One link for each, straight after payment
Already have the complete TCM Campus?
$49 one payment
For those who already have the complete course: your discount link is at the top of your course.
- The same Tongue and Pulse course, with everything included
- New practice questions and cases, no repeat of module 4
- Deeper: 36 lessons instead of four
Prices in US dollars. Gumroad, our reseller, handles payment and adds sales tax or VAT where it applies; you get a receipt straight away. Pay by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or PayPal. You receive your personal link by email within a minute.
Questions
What people want to know first
Will I learn to see and feel tongue and pulse here?
Here you learn to read, describe and reason: what you see and feel, what it means, what you confuse it with and what decides. The looking and feeling themselves you practise in real life, with people and with a teacher. Anyone who already knows the language and the logic gets much more out of those hours.
Do I need the complete TCM Campus course?
No. Tongue and Pulse stands on its own: every lesson explains what it needs. If you already have the complete course, you get Tongue and Pulse for $49; your discount link is at the top of your course.
How is it different from module 4 of the complete course?
Module 4 covers tongue and pulse in four lessons, as part of the whole of diagnosis. This course gives them 36 lessons, with illustrated tongues and animated pulse models to read yourself, the tongue and pulse of more than thirty patterns with their neighbours, what to do when tongue and pulse clash, twelve full cases and the visual trainer. All practice questions and cases are new.
Are these photographs of real tongues?
No, everything is illustrated. An illustration is a teaching model: it shows what the lesson means, without the noise of light and camera, and without anyone else's privacy. You see real tongues in practice; there the fixed words from the course help you describe them.
Which devices does it work on?
In any modern browser: laptop, tablet and phone. You get one personal link; bookmark it.
Where is my progress saved?
In the browser you study in, not on a server. There is no account and we do not see what you do. With one button you save your progress as a small file; with it you restore it on another device.
Do I get a certificate?
Yes, on successful completion. Every module ends with a mini-test, and the course with a final test. Pass every test with at least 70 percent and mark every lesson as done, and you create your certificate in the course. You may retake the tests as often as you like, with different questions each time. The certificate shows that you completed the course successfully; it is not a recognised qualification or accreditation.
How long do I have access?
As long as TCM Campus exists, and at least five years. Improvements and additions are free.
What about refunds?
Within 14 days of purchase you get your money back, no questions asked: reply to your receipt or email us. Not sure yet? Start with the free trial: two complete lessons and a trial version of the visual trainer.
Start with the colour of the tongue
Two full lessons and a trial version of the visual trainer, free and without an account.