The Principle of Mutual Generation and Mutual Restraint of the Five Elements in Traditional Chinese Medicine

The Five Elements is a philosophical theory created by the Chinese nation. It is mostly used in sociology, traditional Chinese medicine and divination. The Five Elements Theory is a key component of Chinese civilization. In ancient times, our ancestors believed that all things in the world are composed of five elements, namely gold, wood, water, fire, and earth, and that there is a relationship of mutual generation and mutual restraint among the five elements. The five elements refer to the movement and transformation of five substances: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. Therefore, in our country, the "Five Elements" have a long historical origin. Let’s learn about the basic principles of the five elements in traditional Chinese medicine and their mutual generation and restraint.

The five elements are: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water

According to the laws of nature: wood creates fire, fire creates earth, wood creates fire, metal creates water, and fire creates earth. The body is also a small universe. The various internal organs are interconnected, forming a unified whole. The five internal organs of the human body are also the five elements, and have a corresponding relationship.

The functions and activities of the five internal organs are not independent, but cooperate with each other. The five internal organs have a relationship of mutual growth and mutual restraint.

The liver generates the heart, which is wood generating fire, such as the liver stores blood to help the heart; the heart generates the spleen, which is fire generating earth, such as the heart yang warms the spleen; the spleen generates the lungs, which is wood generating fire, such as the nature of dispersing essence and returning to the lungs; the lungs generate the kidneys, which is metal generating water, such as the lung metal clears and descends to help the kidney water; the kidneys generate the liver, which is fire generating earth, such as the kidney stores essence to nourish the liver's yin blood, and so on.

Simply put, the relationship between the five internal organs is like that between a mother and her child. The liver gives birth to the heart, just as wood gives birth to fire. The liver can be seen as the mother of the heart, and the heart as the child of the liver. Likewise, wood is the mother of fire, fire is the child of wood, and so on. This is to use the basic theory of the mutual generation of the five elements to explain the mutual growth relationship among the five internal organs. In clinical treatment, Chinese medicine practitioners use the basic principle of the five elements to treat related diseases.

Because wood, fire, earth, metal and water match the five internal organs of the liver, heart, spleen, lungs and kidneys, Chinese medicine says that fire creates earth, earth overcomes water, water overcomes fire, fire overcomes metal, and metal overcomes wood. In the "Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic", "overcome" means to be defeated. In other words, water can defeat fire, but fire cannot defeat water. Because there is production and control in the process of restraint, biochemistry is therefore called dominant.

Nowadays, everyone talks about Chinese medicine and health preservation, focusing on preventing problems before they occur. According to Chinese medicine, when seeing a liver disease, one should know that the liver will pass it to the spleen, so one should first strengthen the spleen. This means that one should take the overall situation into consideration and use the conflicting relationships among the five internal organs to treat the disease.

Kidney belongs to water, kidney governs bones, and kidney is the filtering device of blood circulation system;

The liver belongs to wood, the liver governs immunity, and the liver is the solution;

Heart belongs to fire, heart is the driving force pump, heart is the internal organ that promotes blood circulation;

The spleen belongs to the earth element, and the spleen and stomach are in disharmony. The stomach is for storage, the spleen is for digestion and absorption, supplying electricity and fluid to the whole body;

The lungs belong to metal. The lungs are the prime minister. The lungs are responsible for digestion and absorption. They exhale organic waste gas and inhale CO2.

Kidneys are the foundation of our constitution: when kidney function is well regulated, the liver will be nourished; when liver function is well regulated, the heart will be nourished; when heart function is well regulated, the spleen will be nourished; when spleen function is well regulated, the kidneys will be nourished. It is a process of mutual promotion and restraint, and also a change from quantitative change to qualitative change. The bladder corresponds to the kidney. If you have kidney deficiency, you will urinate frequently. The gallbladder corresponds to the liver. You share weal and woe. The colon corresponds to the heart. The stomach corresponds to the spleen. The spleen and stomach are incompatible. Matching the lungs is the intestines, which are the five organs.

Then there are the five senses:

The kidney opens up to the ear. Tinnitus, ear blockage, and ear inflammation are all related to kidney deficiency. The liver opens up to the eyes, so dry, astringent, and foggy eyes are related to the liver. The heart opens up to the tongue, so numbness of the tongue is related to the liver. Blisters and ulcers are related to the heart; the spleen is connected to the lips, and dry mouth and lips are all caused by disharmony between the spleen and stomach; the lungs are connected to the nose, and poor sense of smell is related to the lungs, and it is one of the five orifices.

Then there are the five colors:

People with poor kidney function have dark complexion, which is a special manifestation of kidney deficiency.

People with abnormal liver function have blue facial color and poor hematopoietic function.

People with poor heart function have red faces, which indicates weak blood circulation.

People with poor spleen function have yellow complexion and weak digestive function.

People with poor lung function tests have pale face and weak respiratory function.