Contents of the Tongue Examination

• Overview of the tongue examination

Principles of the tongue examination

Relationship between the tongue manifestation andzang-fu organs

Normal tongue manifestation

• Inspection of the tongue body

Tongue spirit

Tongue colour

Tongue shape

Tongue motility

Sublingual veins

• Inspection of the tongue coating

Coating texture

Coating colour

• General analysis of the tongue body and tongue coating

• Clinical significance of the tongue examination

Judging exuberance or failure of thezheng qi and pathogen

Distinguishing the nature of the pathogenic factor

Analysing the location and tendency of the pattern

Estimating the prognosis of the pattern