Tongue Diagnosis in Pictures

Tongue Diagnosis in Pictures is a practical book on tongue diagnosis in traditional Chinese medicine that uses images as its main form of presentation. The author, Zang Junqi, is a chief physician who has long worked in TCM clinical practice and acupuncture research. In a format that pairs images with text, the book organizes the most intuitive knowledge of tongue diagnosis in TCM inspection, helping readers use photographs of the tongue to recognize basic changes in tongue body, coating, shape, and movement, and to understand the common significance of these changes in TCM pattern differentiation. The book uses different body-constitution types as its organizing thread, introducing the typical tongue features commonly seen in constitutions such as yang deficiency, yin deficiency, phlegm-dampness, damp-heat, qi stagnation, and blood stasis, with photographs and text explanations for each, guiding readers to observe comprehensively from aspects such as tongue color, coating texture, coating color, moisture, and tongue body size. Beyond the identification section, the book also combines medicinal therapy, dietary therapy, and physical therapy to introduce everyday regulation approaches corresponding to different tongue patterns, seeking to let readers understand the holistic concept of "observing the outside to know the inside" while learning tongue patterns. It should be noted that tongue diagnosis is one part of the four diagnostic methods of TCM and must be combined with inquiry, listening and smelling, and pulse-taking; a single tongue and a single sign are hard to settle conclusively. The book is positioned as an introductory reader for beginners and supplementary material for family health observation, not a basis for clinical diagnosis. Readers should learn step by step with formal textbooks and clinical guidance after mastering the basic concepts, and should still seek medical care promptly when feeling unwell.