Chinese lesson: gu & sui

Sandra Hill

Acupuncturist & Author: London

As usual with systems associated with the kidneys, bones (gu 骨) and marrow (sui 髓) form a yin/yang pair – reminding us that structure always needs nourishment and flexibility. Both the strength of the bones, which gives stability and alignment, and the deep nourishment of the marrow depend on the essences and qi of the kidneys. The bones are hard, the marrow soft; the bones store the marrow, the marrow nourishes the bones. Like all yin/yang couples, they are both opposite and interdependent.

The character gu (骨) simply means bone, skeleton – but also a framework, and in the phrase ao gu (傲 骨) it is to have character, spirit, or possibly, as we might say, backbone. The top part of the character is bone or skull, and can also mean to dislocate; the bottom (肉／月) represents the flesh or a part of the body – so gu is the boney structure of the living body. A similar character kua (咼) suggests a defect in the bone structure, and can be used to mean unbalanced or lopsided.

Sui (髓) – marrow – is made with the bone character on the left, and in the centre, a sign that is used for movement, and specifically, to follow. The marrow follows the structure given by the bones, in the same way that a river both follows and creates its banks. Sui can also be the innermost core of something. The brain is the ‘sea of marrow’ and brain, marrow and bones make up three of the six extraordinary and permanent fu (qi heng zhi fu 奇 恆 之 腑). This group of not quite fu but not quite zang, are fu with the yin function of storage; they are considered to be close to the beginnings of life (like the extraordinary meridians, qi jing ba mai 奇 經 八 脈) and are concerned with the storage and management of essences. They appear as a group in Suwen chapter 11, where they are said to follow the patterns of the earth, whereas the ordinary fu follow those of heaven – providing movement and circulation.

The double function of the kidneys – and the Nanjing makes a distinction between the left and right kidney and their association with yin and yang, fire and water, as well as their coupling with the bladder and triple heater – is seen in all its associations. The outward expression of the strength of the kidneys is seen in the yin/yang, hard/soft couple of teeth and hair. Suwen 5 tells us that the essences of the kidneys produce the marrow and bone; but it is the marrow, the yin, water aspect of the kidneys that nourishes wood and produces the liver – and which associates the marrow with the production and maintenance of liver blood.

The couple of bones and marrow give a clear example of the interdependence and interaction of yin and yang, hard and soft, strength and pliability at the deepest level of the body.