The Five Elements

From five materials to five elementsThe five elements refer to wood, fire, earth, metal and water.The five elements theory resulted from the observations and studies of the natural world by the ancient Chinese people in the course of their lives and productive labor. Since ancient time, wood, fire, earth, metal and water have been considered as basic substances to constitute the universe and they are also indispensable for life. It came to recognize that everything in nature might be respectively attributed to one of the five elements.

In TCM, the five elements theory as a theoretical tool, is used to explain different kinds of medical problems by analogizing and deducing their properties and interrelations. It also used to guide clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Nature of Five ElementsWood has the nature of growing freely and unfolding. Anything that grows and flourishes freely has the character of wood. Fire has the nature of flaming upwards. Fire symbolizes anything that is hot and has such an upward flaring pattern.

Earth has the nature of giving birth to all things. Then it represents the promotion of growth and the nourishing process, the earth is the mother of all things.Metal has the nature of purifying and descending. Anything that purify and descend corresponds to mental.Water has the nature of moistening and flowing downwards. Anything that moistens, cools and flows downward corresponds to water.

Application of five elementsDoctor classified all things into five elements according to their nature, function and form.In TCM, five Zang organs are classified into five elements according to their nature.Liver-woodHeart-fireSpleen-earthLung-metalKidney-water

Five Elements Classification

WOOD

FIRE

EARTH

METAL

WATER

Season

Spring

Summer

Late Summer

Autumn

Winter

Climatic Qi

Wind

Heat

Damp

Dryness

Cold

Colour

Green

Red

Yellow

White

Black

Taste

Sour

Bitter

Sweet

Spicy

Salty

Orientation

East

South

Center

West

North

Development

Germination

Growth

Transformation

Reaping

Storing

Zang Organ

Liver

Heart

Spleen

Lung

Kidney

Fu Organ

Gallbladder

Sm. Intestine

Stomach

Lg. Intestine

Bladder

Sense Organ

Eyes

Tongue

Mouth

Nose

Ears

Body Tissue

Sinews

Blood Vessel

Muscles

Skin

Bone

Emotion

Anger

Joy/Shock

Worry

Sadness

Fear

Sound

Shout

Laugh

Sing

Cry

Moan

ExampleA 32 year old man had a fight with his wife during breakfast. He became very angry and forgot about finishing his meal. He presented at the clinic with strong cramping pain around the lower right front ribs, greenish facial complexion, and a frontal headache which seemed to affect his eyes.

AnalysisAnger is the emotion of Wood Pain around the lower right front ribs - Possible gallbladder pain-WoodGreen is the color of wood Eyes are the sense organs of Wood Diagnosis: The gentlemans Wood element is out of balance.

Normal relationship and disruption Among the five elements, there exist The normal relationships of generation and restrictionThe disruption of over-restriction (overmaster) and counter-restriction(rebel)

Generation relationships among five elementsIn ancient timepeople made fire by drilling wood, so wood produce firepeople burn some substance such as tree to ashes for fertilizing the soil, hence fire produce earthpeople obtained metal from rock and earth (ore), thus earth produce metalWater come from ore (mineral water), hence metal produce waterWithout water, plants could not grow, so water produce wood

GenerationGeneration implies that one kind of thing can promote, aid or bring forth another wood generates fire, fire generates earth, earth generates metal, metal generates water, Water generates wood.

The Mutually Generation CycleThe clockwise sequence on the circle represents the Generation cycle. Each element is mother to the next element. waterwoodfireearth metal

"mother-child" relationshipEach of the five elements contains the dual nature -"being generated" and "generating". This relationship of the five elements is called the "mother-child" relationship. The element that generates is called the "mother", while the element that is generated is called the "child".

Take wood for examplebecause wood generates fire, it is the mother of fire; but wood is generated by water, so it is child of water.

RestrictionRestriction means bringing under control or restraint.The order of restriction goes as follows: wood restricts earth, earth restricts water, water restricts fire, fire restricts metal, Metal restricts wood.

How restriction happenPlants grow and absorb fertilizer from the earth, so wood subdues earthEarth blocks water, so earth subdues waterWater puts out fire, so water subdues fireFire can melt metal, so fire subdues metalTools made of metal are used for cutting down trees, so metal subdues wood

The Mutually Restriction Cycle Wood

Water Fire

Metal Earth

The sequence on the circle represents the Restriction cycle. Water can extinguish Fire, Fire can melt Metal, Metal can cut Wood, Wood can contain Earth and Earth can absorb Water.

For exampleAny one of the five elements has two aspects, being restricted and restricting. the water restrict fire, and the water is restricted by earth. restrictis restricted

Generation and restriction have the correlations inseparable in the five elements.They oppose each other and yet also complement each other.Without generation, there would be no growth and development of things;Without restriction, there would be no balance and coordination during development and change, thus resulting in excessive growth would bring about harm.

For examplewood generates fire, fire restricts metal;metal restricts wood.

Precisely because generation resides in restriction and restriction resides in generation,the relative balance maintained between generation and restriction ensures normal growth and development of things.

Over-restriction and counter-restrictionHowever, once any one of the five elements becomes excessive or insufficient, there would appear abnormal relationship among five elements: over-restriction and counter-restriction

Over-restrictionOver-restriction is meant that one of the five elements overacts upon another one when the latter is weak. Therefore, it is also called "double restriction".

The Over-restriction Cycle

Wood

Water Fire

Metal Earth

The sequence on the circle represents the Over-restriction cycle. The sequence is same to restriction cycle;But it is too over Because of the restricting element is too strong or the restricted element is too weak

For instanceNormally, wood restricts earth,While excessive wood may over-restrict earth, and resulting in insufficiency of earth, so called wood over-restrict earth.

Counter-restrictionCounter-restriction means that the strong bully the weak. It is also a morbid condition in which one element fails to restrict the other in the regular order, but in reverse order. It is clear that the order of counter-restriction is just the opposite to that of restriction.

The Counter-restriction Cycle Wood

Water Fire

Metal Earth

The sequence on the circle represents the Counter-restriction cycle. The sequence is just opposite to restriction cycle;Because of being restricted element is too powerful.

For exampleunder normal conditions, metal should restrict wood, but in case of wood-Qi excess, or metal-Qi deficiency, wood will counter-restrict metal instead of being restricted by metal, which is known as "wood counter-restrict metal."

Essential Question states"When Qi of a certain element is sufficient,it will Over-restrict the restricted element and counter-restrict the restricting element. When Qi of a certain element is insufficient, it will be Over-restricted by the restricting element and counter-restricted by the restricted element,"

Application: 1.Normalgeneration and restriction Wood(liver)

Water Fire(kidney) (heart)

Metal Earth (lung) (spleen)Each of the internal organs pertains to the five elements

Application: 2. Abnormalover-restriction Wood(liver)

Water Fire(kidney) (heart)

Metal Earth (lung) (spleen)

Application:3. Abnormalcounter-restriction Wood(liver)

Water Fire(kidney) (heart)

Metal Earth (lung) (spleen)

Example wood excess kidney (water)

counter-restrict over-restrictLung liver spleen(metal) (wood) (earth)

(The disorder of mother affects son)

heart (fire) purging the son organsupporting the weak

Example wood deficiency kidney (water) (The disorder of son involves mother) over-restrict counter-restrictLung liver spleen(metal) (wood) (earth)

heart (fire) reinforcing the mother organInhibiting the excess

Treatment principleAccording to the theory,Treating the excess syndrome of mother organ by purging the son organThe excess of liver fire can be reduced by purging heart fire

Treating the deficiency syndrome of son organ by reinforcing the mother organBuilding up kidney essence to generate liver Qi

Inhibiting the excess, supporting the weakPurging heart fire, nourishing kidney Yin

Review Five elementsNature of Five ElementsNormal relationship and disruptionApplication

*The theory, like the theory of yin-yang, has become an important component of the theoretical system of TCM. *Lets examine a simplified case.*6*The clockwise sequence on the circle represents the Shen cycle. The Shen cycle is often called the nourishing cycle or the mother-son cycle. Each element is mother to the next element. Water nourishes Wood, Wood fuels Fire, Fire makes Earth (ashes), Earth yields Metal, Metal produces Water (e.g. condensation). *Fire accident (), to put out a fire *Fire accident (), to put out a fire *Fire accident (), to put out a fire *encroachI [ ] subjugate;;*Fire accident (), to put out a fire *Fire accident (), to put out a fire *Fire accident (), to put out a fire *