장(腸) means intestines. Koreans call the small intestine 소장(小將) and the large intestine 대장(大腸). The small intestine is composed of three sections, the duodenum, the jejunum, and the ileum. The duodenum is the first and smallest section of the small intestine and connects the stomach to the middle section of the small intestine, the jejunum. The duodenum is between 10 and 15 inches long in humans.
As mentioned above, the Korean name for the duodenum is 십이지장(十二指腸), which literally means "the twelve (十二) finger (指) intestine (腸)." It is called the twelve-finger intestine because it is approximately twelve Korean finger-widths long. One finger-width (指) represents one Korean inch (치) or 촌 (寸), which is 1/10th of a Korean foot (척 尺). A Korean foot (尺) is 30.3 centimeters, which is about 11.9 inches. That means a Korean inch (指) is 3.03 centimeters, which is 1.19 inches. Therefore, Koreans in the past seemed to have measured the duodenum to be about 14.28 inches long, which is within the range of present-day measurements. According to Wikipedia, the duodenum is "the principle site for iron adsorption" in mammals.
The middle section of the small intestine is the jejunum. The Korean name for the jejunum is 공장 (空腸) or 빈창자, which literally means empty (空) intestine (腸). It is about 2.5 meters long and is where "sugars, amino acids, and fatty acids are absorbed into the blood stream."
The final section of the small intestine is the ileum, and the Korean name is 회장 (回腸) or 돌창자, which literally means the winding (回) intestine (腸). It is approximately three meters long and, according to Wikipedia, absorbs mainly B12 and bile acids.
By the way, do not confuse 장 (腸), which means intestine, with 장 (臟), which means organ or viscera. The character 臟 is composed of the character for flesh (육 月) and the character for storehouse or warehouse (장 藏), so the character for organ, 장(臟), literally means fleshy (月) storehouse (藏):
The Five Organs or Viscera (오장 - 五臟)
- 심장 (心臟) - heart
- 폐장 (肺臟) - lungs
- 비장 (脾臟) - spleen
- 간장 (肝臟) - liver
- 신장 (腎腸) - kidney
The Digestive System
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