What are the five elements in Chinese medicine

The five elements refer to the movement of five substances: wood, fire, earth, gold and water. Ancient Chinese people in the long-term life and production practices recognize that wood, fire, earth, gold, water is essential to the most basic substances, and thus derived from all things in the world are generated by the movement of wood, fire, earth, gold, water, the five basic substances between the changes, the five substances, the existence of both mutual sustenance and mutual constraints on the relationship between, in the constant movement of mutual sustenance and maintenance of a dynamic balance, which is the basic meaning of the doctrine of the five elements. This is the basic meaning of the doctrine of the five elements.

According to the doctrine of the five elements, "wood is said to be straight", where there is growth, rise and shine, the role or nature of the Shu Shu, etc., are attributed to the wood; "fire is said to be on the inflammation", where there is a warm, ascending role of things, are attributed to the fire; "earth I harvest", where there is a biochemical, bearer, acceptance of the role of things, are attributed to the earth; "gold is said to be from the leather", where there is a clean, purging, astringent, etc., are attributed to gold; things are attributed to the gold. Things are attributed to the gold; "water is said to run down", where there is cold, moisturizing, downward movement of things are attributed to water.

The doctrine of the five elements is based on the characteristics of the five elements to categorize things, the nature of various things and phenomena in nature and the role of the five elements and the characteristics of the nature of the five elements and the analogy, respectively, will be attributed to the five elements.

The doctrine of the five elements holds that there is a relationship between the five elements of life, grams, multiplication and insult. The relationship between the five elements can explain the interconnectedness of things, while the multiplication and insult of the five elements can be used to indicate the interactions between things when the balance between them is disturbed.

Chinese medicine applies the five elements to explain the physiological functions of the human body, to illustrate pathological changes in the body, and to diagnose and treat diseases.

Categorization of the five elements

The doctrine of the five elements is based on the characteristics of the five elements to categorize things, and the nature and role of various things and phenomena in the natural world are analogous to the characteristics of the five elements, and then attributed to each of the five elements. For example, if the characteristics of a thing are similar to those of wood, it is categorized as wood, and if the characteristics of a thing are similar to those of fire, it is categorized as fire.

The five elements of birth, grams, multiplication and insult

The five elements doctrine believes that there is a relationship of birth, grams, multiplication and insult between the five elements. The relationship between the five elements can explain the interconnection between things, while the multiplication and insult of the five elements can be used to indicate the interactions between things when the balance between them is broken.

Compatibility means that the five elements are mutually reinforcing and supportive of each other. The order of the five elements is: wood begets fire, fire begets earth, earth begets gold, gold begets water, and water begets wood. The relationship can also be called a mother-child relationship, such as wood begets fire, which means that wood is the mother of fire, and fire is the son of wood.

Phase-control means to restrain and restrain each other. The order of the five elements is as follows: wood is to earth, earth is to water, water is to fire, fire is to gold, and gold is to wood.

Compatibility is inextricably linked, no birth, things can not happen and growth; and no grams, things have no constraints, can not maintain a normal coordinated relationship. Only by maintaining the dynamic balance of phasing can things occur and develop normally.

If the five elements are too much or too little, it will destroy the normal relationship of birth and death, and there will be multiplication or insult. In the case of multiplication, one of the five elements is too restraining to the one it is restraining. For example, if the wood is too vigorous and the gold cannot properly restrain the wood, the wood will excessively restrain the earth, making the earth more weak, which is the wood multiplying the earth. The five elements are also known as counter-keying or counter-insulting because one of the five elements is so excessive in itself that the one that is restraining it is unable to restrain it, and is instead restrained by it. For example, under normal circumstances, water can restrain fire, but when there is too little water or too much fire, instead of restraining the fire, the water will be dried up by the fire, i.e., the fire will counter-restrain or counter-insult the water.

Application of the five elements in Chinese medicine

Chinese medicine utilizes the five elements to explain the physiological functions of the human body, to illustrate pathological changes in the organism, and for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases.

The five elements doctrine attributes the five organs and six bowels of the human body to each of the five elements. From the viewpoint of the five organs, the essence of kidney water to nourish the liver wood, liver wood blood to help the heart fire, the heat of the heart fire to warm the spleen earth, the spleen earth to produce water and grain essence to fill the lung gold, the lung gold clear and clean down to help the kidney water. This illustrates the symbiotic relationship between the five organs. From the viewpoint of the mutual constraints between the five organs, the lung qi QingSu descending, can inhibit the liver yang over-exuberance, that is, JinKeWu; liver qi strip, can drain the spleen soil stagnation, that is, WoodKeTu; spleen transportation, can avoid the flood of water, that is, the earth KeWu; kidney water moisturizing, to prevent the heart of the fire of the over-exuberance of the fire of the water KeWu; heart fire of the YangHeat, can constrain the lung JinQingSu is too much, that is, the fire KeWuJin. Chinese medicine also uses the doctrine of the five elements to illustrate the relationship between the human body and the natural environment, as well as climate and diet.

The changes in the human body in pathological conditions can also be explained by the five elements doctrine. As the organs belong to the five elements, the interactions between the organs, is also based on the law of the five elements doctrine. Such as liver disease transmission spleen, that is, wood multiplied by earth; and spleen disease and liver, that is, earth insult wood; and liver and spleen mutual pathology between the influence of wood and soil deficiency or soil Yong wood Yu. Liver disease affects the heart, the mother's disease and the child; affect the lungs, that is, wood insults gold; affect the kidney, that is, the child's disease and the mother.

Relying on traditional Chinese medicine look, smell, ask, cut the four diagnostic methods to obtain information have their five elements belonging to, according to this, can be comprehensive judgment of the patient's disease. For example, the patient's face green, like to eat acid food, pulse string, can be diagnosed as liver disease; face red, bitter mouth, pulse flood, can be diagnosed as heart fire. Another example, spasmodic constriction of the wind, according to the five elements are categorized as wood disease, from the view of the human body organs, can be diagnosed as liver disease; generalized edema, urine is not conducive to the five elements are categorized as water disease, and the disease can be designated as the kidney.

According to the theory of the five elements, the treatment of disease should not only consider the lesion of the internal organs themselves, but also according to the relationship between the internal organs of the birth of grams, to control the disease transmission. As the "difficult classic" discussed: "see the disease of the liver, you know that the liver when transmitted to the spleen, when the first solid spleen."

Based on the law of "phasing" of the five elements, Chinese medicine puts forward the treatment principle of supplementing the mother when it is weak and diarrhea when it is real:

1. Supplementing the mother is mainly used for the deficiency of mother-child relationship, in acupuncture therapy, all the deficiency can be supplemented with the mother meridian or the mother point to which it belongs, for example, in the treatment of the deficiency of liver, the kidney meridian and the point of the yin valley is selected. This is that the deficiency is to make up for its mother, make up for the mother is the son of peace.

2. Diarrhea of the child, mainly used in the mother-child relationship of real evidence. In acupuncture therapy, any solid evidence, can be diarrhea of its belonging to the child meridian or child point. For example, liver solid evidence can take heart meridian Xing point Shaofu, or this meridian fluorescence point Xingma treatment. This is the real is diarrhea its son, diarrhea son is mother security.

Based on the relationship between mother and child, the following treatment principles are proposed:

1. The method of nourishing water and wood, that is, nourishing the kidney (water) yin to nourish the liver (wood) yin, is suitable for the deficiency of liver yin caused by kidney yin deficiency.

2. The method of benefiting fire and replenishing earth, i.e., warming kidney yang (fire) to replenish spleen (earth) yang, is applicable to the evidence of spleen yang deficiency caused by kidney yang weakening. In the five organs with the five elements, fire refers to the heart, but since the rise of the doctrine of the life gate, the warming of the organism is mostly referred to as the role of the fire of the life gate, that is, the role of kidney yang.

3. The method of gold and water, i.e., nourishing the lungs (gold) and kidneys (water) yin deficiency treatment, applies to the lungs can not transport fluid to nourish the kidneys, or kidney yin insufficiency, essence can not be nourished up to the lungs, resulting in the lungs and kidneys yin deficiency.

4. The method of cultivating earth and generating gold, i.e., the method of tonifying the spleen (earth) and benefiting the qi of the lungs (gold), is applicable to the weak spleen and stomach, which can not nourish the lungs, resulting in the evidence of lung and spleen weakness.

Based on the law of the five elements, Chinese medicine has created the following treatment principles:

1. The method of cultivating the earth to control the water is applicable to the evidence of edema and distension caused by a deficiency of the spleen and the inability to transport water and dampness. Earth and water, refers to the spleen and kidney two organs, cultivate the earth to control water, refers to warming the spleen yang, or warming the kidneys to strengthen the spleen, in order to treat water-dampness stagnation for the disease, also known as warming the kidneys to strengthen the spleen method. If the kidney yang deficiency can not warm the spleen yang, then the kidney is not the main water, the spleen does not control water, water and dampness can not be transformed, the treatment should be based on warming the kidney, taking into account the strengthening of the spleen.

2. The method of suppressing the wood and supporting the earth is applicable to the evidence that the liver's detachment is too excessive and the wood is strong and multiplies the earth. Wood and earth are the two organs of the liver and spleen. The method of suppressing the wood and supporting the earth, i.e., to treat the liver and spleen to treat the liver-excited spleen deficiency, is also known as the method of suppressing the liver and strengthening the spleen, the method of calming the liver and stomach, and the method of regulating the liver and spleen.

3. The method of laxing the south and replenishing the north is applied to the evidence of insufficient kidney yin, excessive fire in the heart, water and fire, and lack of communication between the heart and kidney. The heart is the main fire, fire belongs to the south; the kidney is the main water, water belongs to the north. The method of diarrhea south and north, that is, diarrhea heart fire nourish kidney water, also known as diarrhea fire water method.

4. Zuojinpingmu method, applicable to the lung is not clear, liver fire bias of the evidence. The two organs of the lungs and the liver are gold and wood. The two are the two organs of the lungs and the liver. The method of purging the lungs and suppressing the liver is also known as the method of purging the lungs and catharticizing the liver.

The relationship between yin and yang and the five elements

The doctrine of yin and yang mainly describes the mutual dependence, mutual growth and mutual transformation of the two opposing sides of things, while the doctrine of the five elements uses the five elements of the attributes of things to categorize and the law of birth and death and insults to illustrate the attributes of things and the interrelationships between things. In Chinese medicine, the two are viscera, meridians, blood, fluid and other material basis; are from the macro-natural phenomena (including) the human body's law of change, with the use of analogical methods, to analyze, study, explain the physiological activities of the human body and pathological changes in the human body and the human body's internal and external relationships, and to guide the clinical diagnosis and treatment.