TIENS NATURAL HEALTH NUTRITION

Westerners are always puzzled when they first hear about the 5-element theory. They often find it abstract and hard to understand. It is, in fact, quite plain and accepted as a series of natural laws in China.

Now we’ll try to explain in an easy way by showing you some examples

The so-called five elements in traditional Chinese medicine: wood, fire, earth, metal and water.

The interactions among elements:

• Fire evolved from wood, because wood can catch fire
• Earth evolved from fire, as anything on fire becomes ashes afterwards
• Metal evolved from earth, because metals are from the earth
• Water evolved from metal, as all metals can melt into liquid
• Wood evolved from water, because water is indispensable for plants
• Wood prevails over earth, because trees grow out of the earth
• Earth prevails over water, as earth stops the flood
• Water prevails over fire, because it extinguishes fire
• Fire prevails over metal, as heat melts metals
• Metal prevails over wood, because wood can be cut or sawn by metals

The above, when understood, becomes the first step towards a better understanding of 5-element theory which at first sounds mythical and profound. In fact, with the development of this 5-element theory, it has been endowed with more meaning.

The following is an analogy drawn by Chinese scholars majoring in preserving health by comparing the nature of these elements:

• Liver associates with wood
• Heart associates with fire
• Spleen associates with earth
• Lung associates with metal
• Kidney associates with water
• Circulation of Assimilation: liver-heart-spleen-lung-kidney
• Circulation of Depression: liver-spleen-kidney-heart-lung

These interactions have been tested and approved by human clinical experiments. For example, spleen turns food and water into nutrition and vigour to nourish the lung. A bad functioning lung will impair the function of the spleen.

Yin, Yang, and the five elements; the contradictory unity of nature

The human body is an integral whole. Nothing can exist without Yin and Yang. As the saying goes, “a single Yin does not grow; a lone Yang does not survive.” The world is actually integrated as a result of the contradictory unity of Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang represent the properties of matter that are both contradictory and related. Neither man nor nature is separable from the five elements – metal, wood, water, fire and earth.

The property of wood is Yang because it grows and connects. Water is a property of Yin because it flows downward. Fire is attributed to Yang because it goes upward. But Yin and Yang are intermingled. For example, the surface of water is Yang but its bottom is Yin.

This explains the integral concept of the contradictory unity of Yin, Yang and the five elements, which interact with man and nature to form a balance of gain and loss by promoting and restricting each other. In a state of balance, for instance, the body’s five internal organs (the liver, heart, spleen, lungs and kidneys) promote each other to make the body strong with a prolonged life. On the other hand, damage to any of the organs will affect all the rest.

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