Blind Eye

As the saying goes: "Eyes never get enough of seeing, and stomachs never get enough of eating." Everyone knows that eyes are important visual organs, and as the saying goes, "Without eyes, one is blind," which is why we say "blind eye" when referring to a misjudgment of someone. So how does Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) view the eyes? Do they have other functions akin to a lens for observation? According to TCM, the eyes not only have visual functions but can also be used to observe the health status of internal organs, diagnosing many ophthalmic diseases. As it is said, "The essence of the five zang and six fu organs all rise up to the eyes, providing their essence," "The eyes are messengers of the heart," "The essence of the gallbladder is the white of the eye, the essence of muscles is the ligament, wrapping and gathering the essence of tendons, bones, blood, and qi, and together with the pulse form a system, connecting upward to the brain." This unique method of observing the eyes for diagnosis is called the Five-Wheel Differentiation. The Five-Wheel Differentiation uses the theory of the five elements and the theory of zang-fu organs to…