Table 1: The "Yin-Yang" hierarchy of the organs.
| Left column = Yin (inner); right column = Yang (outer) | |||
| Rows progress from Yin (lower) to Yang (higher) | Lungs | Large intestine | Meridians on the arms |
| Pericardium | Lymphatic system | ||
| Heart | Small intestine | ||
| (Pancreas) | Stomach | Meridians on the legs | |
| (Liver)1 | Gallbladder | ||
| "Kidneys"2 | Bladder | ||
Caption: There are two columns and six rows. Organs in the left column are Yin when compared to organs in the right column. And if an organ appears in a row that is lower than the row another organ appears in, the organ in the lower row is more Yin than the organ in a higher row, and vice versa: the higher organ is more Yang than the lower organ.
1The pancreas and liver are bracketed, because their position in the table is interchangeable, depending on the bodily location being considered. It is for this reason that these two meridians cross one another at three different locations on the body, indicating that the "Yin-Yang" polarity of these two organs is crossing over at those three locations.
2In Chinese medicine, whenever the "kidneys" are mentioned, this also includes the adrenal glands and sex organs, all considered as a single overall organ.