The Emperor
“The Heart is the emperor, the supreme controller. The Heart is the fire at the center of our being, from which the spirit radiates.”
-Neijing Suwen (Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine)
From a Chinese medicine perspective, the organs of the body are not just physical but include functional, emotional, and spiritual aspects.
The Heart is called the Emperor because it is the seat of the most important part of our being- the shen, or spirit. According to Chinese medicine and its Taoist roots, humans are of an earthly nature and the divine cosmos. The shen is the divine spark within and governs the individual spiritual aspect of all the other organs.
Shen literally translates to “heart-mind” and mental illness is considered to be a disorder of the shen.
Fire Element
In the body, as in nature, the fire element warms, burns fuel, transforms fluid into vapor, and energizes. In its grossest state it provides metabolic function and in its more rarified state it is the fire of the spirit and of love.
There are two pairs of organ systems classified as fire element: Heart and Small Intestine, and Pericardium and Triple Burner.
Small Intestine
Just as the Heart is the throne of the shen, the Small Intestine is the repository of the blood which is the substance that allows the shen to interface with the body’s function.
“The link with the Heart is key to understanding the subtle levels of the Small Intestine function. The Shen, or pure awareness housed in the Heart and whose influence is distributed throughout the body via the Blood, arrives in the physical body at birth like a ‘stranger in a strange land’. In order to be rooted in the physical confines of the human condition and function appropriately within human existence, it must perform the massive task of assimilating the experience of the physical environment and its conditions.” [source]
Pericardium
Also called the Heart Protector. The Pericardium acts as an intermediary between the Heart and the outside world, functioning on the emotional level as interpersonal love and warmth. Because the Heart is considered sacred and the repository of the divine spirit, in some earlier traditions of acupuncture the Heart channel is not needled. The Pericardium is paired with the Triple Burner organ.
Triple Burner
Also called the Triple Warmer, Triple Heater, Triple Energizer, or the Chinese term San Jiao. This organ has important functions within the body of metabolizing fluid and regulating temperature.
There is discussion that the Triple Burner corresponds to the lymphatic or fascial systems, but it really has no physical biomedical counterpart.
Chinese Medicine and the Heart
Disorders of the Heart in Chinese medicine are related to anxiety, sleep disorders, and mental illness. Basically an over or under-functioning fire element in relation to general enthusiasm about life. The Heart can be treated directly, or through supporting the Pericardium or Small Intestine systems.
Love and the Heart
“I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the heart’s affections, and the truth of imagination.”
-John Keats
A broken heart is not just an expression but a real understanding that the heart is affected physically by emotional turmoil and trauma. Loving involves an opening of the heart, a connection of the fire element to another person, and even an electromagnetic connection. Loss and heartbreak affects us on an electro-magnetic level and takes time and therapies to heal.
A connection to something greater than ourselves is crucial for a healthy heart whether it is a spiritual, humanistic, community, family, or creative connection.