Zodi Animal· The Elements· Metal 金· Metal in the body

A room of Metal · 金

One of the five phases behind your Primal Zodiac Animal

Metal in the body

Lung and soul

In classical Chinese medicine, Metal governs the Lung (肺) and Large Intestine (大腸). The Lung is called the prime minister of the organs: it governs the qi and the breath and rules the exterior of the body.

The breath and the skin

The Lung is classically said to govern the qi and respiration 主气司呼吸, to disperse and descend 宣发肃降, to control the exterior and the defensive qi 卫气, to open to the nose 鼻, to show in the skin and body hair 皮毛, and to house the corporeal soul 魄 (pò). Even, unforced breathing is described as the sign of a settled Lung.

Grief, and the minister

Metal carries the emotion grief and sadness 悲 (bēi) and 憂 (yōu). The classics warn that grief harms the Lung, 悲伤肺, and that sorrow scatters the qi, 悲则气消. The Suwen calls the Lung the prime minister 相傅之官, the organ that regulates the rhythms of the whole body under the Heart's rule.

Classical system, not medicine. This describes a traditional medical-philosophical framework and cultural tradition. It is not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and nothing here heals or balances anything as fact.

Where Metal sits

Leave Metal in any direction

The five phases are one lens on your Zodi Animal, the creature you get when your Western Sun sign crosses your Chinese zodiac year.