Tongue Diagnosis
Visual assessment of the tongue body and coating to identify patterns of disharmony in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
In TCM, the tongue is considered a mirror of the body's internal condition — its color, shape, coating, and moisture reveal patterns of organ health that may not yet show external symptoms. Tongue diagnosis is one of the four pillars of TCM clinical examination.
Body Shape
Cracked Tongue
Yin deficiency, Blood deficiency, or excess Heat consuming fluids
Stiff Tongue
Internal Wind, Phlegm obstructing the Heart orifices, or extreme Heat agitating the Liver
Swollen Tongue
Spleen Qi deficiency failing to transform and transport fluids, leading to Dampness and fluid accumulation
Teeth-Marked Tongue
Spleen Qi deficiency, often with Dampness
Thin Tongue
Blood deficiency, Yin deficiency, or Jing (essence) depletion
Body Color
Deep Red Tongue
Severe Heat that has penetrated to the Ying (nutritive) or Xue (Blood) level in Wen Bing (Warm Disease) theory
Normal Pink Tongue
No pathological pattern -- this is the benchmark of health
Pale Tongue
Qi deficiency, Blood deficiency, Yang deficiency, or Cold patterns
Purple Tongue
Blood stasis (the primary indication), or extreme Cold or extreme Heat causing Blood to stagnate
Red Tongue
Internal Heat, either excess Heat (from pathogenic invasion or organ dysfunction) or deficiency Heat (from Yin depletion)
Coating
Gray or Black Coating
Extreme Heat or extreme Cold -- two opposite conditions producing the same coating color
Peeled Tongue
Stomach Yin deficiency or Kidney Yin deficiency
Thick White Coating
Cold-Damp accumulation, Phlegm retention, or food stagnation
Thin White Coating
Normal and healthy -- this is the standard coating of a well-functioning digestive system
Yellow Coating
Internal Heat or Damp-Heat