Witnessed by: TCM
Mutton (Ovis aries), of the Bovidae (Mammalia) family. The domestic sheep, a fleeced ruminant of grassland and hill pasture; native range: the sheep of the northern grasslands and the northwest — Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Xinjiang, Ningxia. Globally recognized as yang rou (羊肉) in Chinese, and mutton, sheep flesh in English. The part used is the flesh (meat). Deep red, close-grained meat marbled with firm white fat, with a strong distinctive gamey smell that sharpens with the age of the animal and answers to ginger and wine.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
MUTTON
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- mutton
- Scientific name
- Ovis aries Linnaeus, 1758
- Family
- Bovidae (Mammalia)
Form
- Part used
- the flesh (meat)
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- sweet (甘)
Temperature
- TCM
- warm (温)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Spleen · Kidney
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- warms the middle and augments qi, warms and tonifies the kidney yang, and nourishes the blood
Cautions
- Contraindications
- heat patterns, yin deficiency with heat signs, and febrile disease — the warmth adds to the fire
- Toxicity
- none as a food; heavy and rich, and hard on a weak digestion in quantity
This is the card. Sign in for the full four-tradition entry — the aligned TCM · Ayurveda · Western · Unani reading, actions, dosing and cautions.