The Kidney Xiu (宿) : Jiao (角) and Kang (亢)

Jiao (角) “Horn”

The 角c onstellation is the horn of the Azure Dragon of the East. This constellation was seen as a symbol of creation and the beginning of Spring, when the birds and beasts began to breed. This associates the Kidney with fertility, birth, growth and creation.
It is also significant to note that Horns are often used as storage devices, and depicted during the Fall harvest as a container for what has been reaped at the end of the season, the Cornucopia. The Kidney is on a Yin Metal Earthly Branch and so goes with the Fall time and the season of reaping.

Kang (亢) “Neck” or “Strong Stance”

亢 is a picture of a person standing with their legs open, as in horse stance, and so holds the quality of strength that comes through a proper foundation. This matches up with Chapter 8 of the Suwen, which says that the Kidney is in charge of strength and fortification. The Kidney houses the Zhi, which is in charge of solid grounding in one’s life purpose.
Kang is also the neck or throat of the dragon, which, while that area is ruled by the Lung, has everything to do with sound –once again pointing to the Kidney’s orifice of the ears.
Around the 5th Century BC, it is believed that eclipses would take place in this constellation. This coming together of the Sun and the moon works as a symbol that points towards the ShaoYin relationship of the Kidney and Heart.

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I'm a Chinese medicine student who uses this blog as a place to store my thoughts and occasionally rant and rave about things I trip over in life.

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