All lessons of Tongue and Pulse

Thirty-six lessons in tongue and pulse diagnosis in Traditional Chinese Medicine. A taste of every lesson: the picture, the core and three practice questions.

Module 1: Tongue

What do you see on the tongue, what does it mean, and how sure are you?

1. Looking like a practitioner What does the tongue show, and how do you look so that a colleague sees the same thing?
2. The colour of the tongue body What colour is the tongue body, and what does it say about Qi, Blood, Yin, Yang and Heat?
3. Shape, size and movement What do the thickness, length, edges and movement of the tongue say?
4. Cracks, points, spots and the underside How do you read the signs on the tongue, and which of them are a predisposition?
5. The coating What does the coating tell you about the Stomach and about the pathogen?
6. Moisture, course and the tongue over time What do wet and dry say, and how do you read a tongue that changes?
7. The tongue map Where is it, and how much does the place tell you?
8. Tongue pictures by pattern Which tongue goes with which pattern, and which tongues look alike?

Module 2: Pulse

What do you feel under three fingers, how do you describe it, and what does it mean?

1. Feeling the pulse: position, depth and technique Where do you place your fingers, how deep do you press, and what does a healthy pulse feel like?
2. Describe before you name How do you describe a pulse in eight features, so that someone else recognises it?
3. Depth and strength How do you feel superficial, deep, full and empty, and how do you recognise their special forms?
4. Rate and rhythm How fast, how regular, and when is a rhythm a reason to refer?
5. Width, length, flow and tension How do you feel thin, wide, long, short, smooth, rough, taut and twisted?
6. Reading the positions What does one deviating position tell you, and how do you compare left and right?
7. Pulse pictures by pattern Which pulse belongs to which pattern, and how do you read combinations?
8. The pulse in context What changes a normal pulse, and how do you read a pulse that changes?

Module 3: Reading together

How do you turn tongue, pulse and history into one pattern?

1. Tongue and pulse together What do you do when tongue and pulse confirm each other, and what when they clash?
2. From finding to pattern How do you get from what you see and feel to a pattern and a principle?
3. Case work: twelve cases Can you read twelve real pictures from start to finish?

Module 4: Organ by organ

Which tongue and pulse belong to the patterns of each organ, and what tells the neighbours apart?

1. Heart and Pericardium A redder tip, a crack reaching the tip, a pulse that leaps up or falters at left cun: which Heart pattern are you reading, and which finding separates the neighbours?
2. Liver and Gall-Bladder Red, pale or purple sides, a yellow strip on one side, a pulse like a string: which pattern of the Liver or Gall-Bladder do you read, and what tells the neighbours apart?
3. Lungs A tongue that is still normal, a pulse that floats, a coating that gives away the colour of the phlegm: which pattern of the Lungs do you read, and what tells the neighbours apart?
4. Spleen Teeth marks, a Pale, wet, Swollen tongue, a pulse that falls away when you press: which pattern of the Spleen do you read, and what tells the neighbours apart?
5. Stomach and the Intestines A peeled centre, a thick yellow coating, a sticky root, a full pulse on the right in the middle: which pattern of the Stomach, Small Intestine or Large Intestine do you read, and which finding separates the neighbours?
6. Kidneys and Bladder A Pale wet tongue, a bare root, a sticky coating at the back, a pulse that disappears at chi under deep pressure: which pattern of the Kidneys or Bladder do you read, and which finding separates the neighbours?
7. Qi, Blood and Body Fluids Pale or Pale and dry, Purple or dark red, sticky or dry, a pulse without strength or without filling: what is happening with Qi, Blood or fluids, even before you know the organ?
8. The pathogenic factors A pulse that floats, a coating that turns yellow within a few days, a tongue that quivers or dries out: which climate are you reading, does it come from outside or from inside, and how deep has it already gone?
9. Combined patterns How do you read tongue and pulse when two patterns are at play at once, and how do you see which side comes first?

Module 5: Going deeper

How do you read tongue and pulse in special situations, and how do you follow them over time?

1. Acute disease: Six Stages and Four Levels How do you read tongue and pulse in a febrile illness, and which finding shows you that it is going a layer deeper?
2. Women: cycle, pregnancy and menopause How do tongue and pulse change through the cycle, pregnancy and the menopause, and how do you read them in menstrual complaints?
3. Children and older people How do you read tongue and pulse in a child and in an older person, and what is normal there that would stand out in an adult?
4. What masks tongue and pulse What do medication, lifestyle, a pacemaker and an arrhythmia change in tongue and pulse, and what can you still read then?
5. The classical pulse texts and prognosis What do the classical pulse texts say, and how do you read a prognosis from them that you can use responsibly today?
6. Case work: mixed pictures How do you read a picture with two or more patterns, a tongue and pulse that clash, and a red flag hiding among the TCM findings?
7. Case work: one picture over time How do tongue and pulse change when things get better or worse, and what do you adjust?
8. Follow-up, records and continued practice How do you follow a picture over time, and how do you keep training your eye and your fingers?