• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.85-95
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• 2004

The theory of liver by Jang suk-sun[張錫純] is that first, although liver exists at right side of body and spleen at left anatomically, function of liver presents at left side of body and function of spleen at right based on principle of 'interdependence between eum and yang' and 'join strength with elasticity', and in the relation between liver and spleen, if gi of spleen ascends, gi of liver also ascends, and if gi of stomach descents, gi of gall bladder also descents. So. care of spleen and stomach becomes main point in treating disease of liver. The meaning of 'the liver being in charge of the evaporation'[肝主氣化] is that first, it raises the primordial gi and forms the 'great g' for it's circulation of whole body. Second., it excretes the functional activity of gi and connects heart with kidney and guides the evaporation of the whole body by connecting innate nature with acquired nature. Third, 'the liver being in charge of the evaporation' is realized by the help of spleen and stomach. And he said that this functional activity of gi is one of distinctive features that distinguish Oriental medicine from Western medicine. He discoursed upon physiology of 'the liver being in charge of the evaporation' and 'the Body belonged to yin and the Use belonged to yang' after seeing an evil of abusing drugs that calm the liver and check hyperfunction of liver by contemporary doctors. And he established a treat of 'warming and recuperating the gi of liver' [溫補肝氣法] and used it for symptoms of 'deficiency of liver-gi'[肝氣虛], 'exhaution of liver-gi'[肝氣脫], and 'the liver-cold'[肝寒證].