Chinese Medicine History and the Theory of the Five Elements (5 Phases)
"The body is visible, but Qi is invisible. "
saying in Chinese Medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine and the The Five Elements
Relationships of the organs to one another and the theory of corespondances
A Storm in the Mountains and the Valley is Flooded
Chinese Medicine saying
It is obvious in Chinese medicine and Western medicine, that the organs are dependent on one another. The Five Elements is a theory that helps us to understand these relationships. According to this principle, there exist five elemental types. These elements are known as Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, and Wood. Each element relates to the other according to two cycles of influence. Disharmony in one element will thus create disharmony in others according to these cycles.1- The generating cycle (clockwise effecting the next element)) For example, the Liver, overheated by anger, can attack the heart,
2- The checking cycle (counter clockwise, skipping over the preceding element). For example, Insomnia from Heart Fire can be caused by Kidneys, weakend by overwork.
Each type also corresponds to a major organ system. Each type also has corresponding tastes, colors, odors, and emotions. Some of these correspondences are:
1 - Fire/ Red/ Heart/ Joy/ Bitter/ Scorched (acrid)
2 - Earth/ Yellow/ stomach/ Spleen/ Worry/ Sweet/ Fragrant
3 - Metal/ White/ Lungs/ Grief/ Hot/ Fleshy
4 - Water/ Black/ Kidneys/ Fear/ Salty/ Putrid
5 - Wood/ Green/ Liver/ Anger/ Sour/ Rancid
"To know the body, study nature"
© 2001 Joel Harvey Schreck
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