This study started with the cultural comparison on the cognition difference between Chinese and Western medicines of kidney（shen） function， and analyses the cultural symbolic meaning of word?formation， folk customs， myths and arts about shen in ancient Chinese. It was understood that the “kidney?semen?sex?ear”in Traditional Chinese Medicine（TCM） is a metaphorical system related to sexual culture， and“tonifying the kidney” is not only a drug or food therapy， but also has the implied meaning of cultural psychology. It also explained and analyzed the possibility of the “tonifying the kidney”cultural metaphor system， and was understood that it was influenced by the limitation of the ancients’ anatomical knowledge， the continuation of original logical thinking， and the inherent contradiction of sexual attitude.