In western medicine, the body's organs are explained in terms of their anatomical structure and physiological functions. However, in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the approach is quite different. Organs are considered functional units of the body. Therefore, what is typically thought of as an organ has a much broader meaning and application in TCM. An organ's anatomical structure is not as important as its yin yang properties or relationships with other organs. Chinese medicine recognizes five yin organs (heart, liver, spleen, lung & kidney) and six yang organs (gall bladder, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, bladder and triple burner), also known as "zang" and "fu" organs respectively.

According to the TCM theory, disorders in organs may be due to organs themselves, or it may result by a broken relationship between the organs. Therefore, the health of the organs is identified according to their unique physiological functions. Problems arising in the five "yin" or "zang" organs tend to be more serious. The above is a brief description of the main syndromes attributed to each of the organs.