上焦

shàngjiāo
noun #65,312

Meanings

  1. 1 upper jiao (TCM)
  2. 2 upper burner (the part of the body cavity above the diaphragm, housing the heart and lungs)

Examples

Zhōngyī rènwéi shàngjiāo zhǔ nà.
In TCM, the upper jiao is responsible for intake.
Shàngjiāo yǒu rè huì yǐnqǐ késou.
Heat in the upper jiao can cause coughing.

Tips

culture
上焦 (upper jiao) is one of the 三焦 (Triple Burner) in Traditional Chinese Medicine, alongside 中焦 (middle) and 下焦 (lower). The 三焦 is one of the six fu organs (六腑) and has no direct anatomical equivalent in Western medicine.
usage
Outside TCM contexts, 上焦 sounds clinical and is rarely used. In everyday Chinese, body regions are usually described with plain anatomy words like (chest).

Stroke Order

shàng
jiāo