1. Properties and Classification of the Five Elements
The theory of the Five Elements (Wu Xing) is capable of summarizing all things in the universe primarily due to its method of thinking, which classifies phenomena based on the characteristics of the Five Elements. By using the method of “analogy and classification,” it categorizes various phenomena into five major categories, corresponding to Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. This classification explains the relationships and changes among different phenomena based on the interactions and rules of the Five Elements. In medicine, it elucidates the complex relationships between the organs and tissues of the human body in both physiological and pathological contexts, as well as the close relationship between the human body and the external environment.
The original theory of the Five Elements as material substances has evolved into the Five Element theory, which is no longer merely about the five substances themselves but is applied as an abstract concept of properties. Each of the Five Elements has its distinct characteristics: “Water moistens and descends, Fire blazes upward, Wood represents growth and flexibility, Metal signifies contraction and transformation, and Earth is the source of nourishment and cultivation.” This means that Wood has the properties of growth and communication; Fire has the qualities of heat and ascension; Metal has the characteristics of contraction and transformation; Water has the properties of moisture and descent. Therefore, using the aforementioned characteristics, the method of “analogy and classification” divides the phenomena to be explained into five categories, assigning each category of similar properties to one of the Five Elements, and based on the classification of the Five Elements, the rules of generation and overcoming among them are applied to explain or deduce the complex relationships and changes of phenomena.
2. Classification of the Five Elements
Throughout history, physicians have sought to illustrate the integrity and complexity of the human body by establishing extensive connections between the organs, physiological activities, pathological responses, and natural phenomena closely related to human life.
(1) The functions of the five organs are explained based on the characteristics of the Five Elements. For example, Wood is associated with growth and flexibility, the Liver is characterized by its ability to promote and regulate, while Water is associated with moisture and descent, and the Kidneys store essence and govern water. Thus, the Liver belongs to Wood, and the Kidneys govern Water, and the same applies to other organs.
(2) This has formed a functional activity system centered on the five organs, which corresponds to the five directions, five seasons, and five types of qi, linking the five organs, five senses, physical form, and emotions.
(3) These five functional activity systems illustrate that there exists a relationship of opposition and unity between the internal environment of the human body and the external natural environment. For instance, Spring corresponds to Wood, and the Liver is most active in Spring, which is often windy. Internally, the Liver and Gallbladder are interrelated, opening to the eyes, governing tendons, and are associated with anger, making them prone to wind-related pathologies.
It should be noted that the above describes horizontal connections; from a vertical perspective, it indicates that there are relationships of generation and overcoming among these five categories of phenomena.
3. Significance of the Classification of the Five Elements
The classification of the properties of the Five Elements is primarily used to summarize the internal connections of various phenomena or attributes between the human body and the natural world. For example, using the characteristics of the Five Elements to illustrate certain physiological functions of the organs: Wood, with its growth characteristics, corresponds to the Liver, which is gentle and promotes regulation and ascension; Fire, representing yang and heat, corresponds to the Heart, which is an active organ with warming functions; Earth, as the mother of all things, has the ability to transform and nourish, corresponding to the Spleen, which processes food and is the source of qi and blood; Metal, with its cleansing and contracting properties, corresponds to the Lungs, which govern respiration and descending; Water, with its moistening and descending characteristics, corresponds to the Kidneys, which store essence and regulate the metabolism of body fluids.
Daoist medicine refers to this relationship between humans and nature as “the correspondence between Heaven and Man.” The theory of the Five Elements categorizes the organs and physical forms of the human body and similar phenomena in the natural world into the Five Element system, thereby illustrating the mutual correspondence and influence between the human organ system and similar natural phenomena. Moreover, there exists a relationship of mutual promotion and mutual restriction between systems, explaining certain physiological connections that objectively exist between the organs, which can be used to interpret certain pathological phenomena and guide diagnosis and treatment of diseases. For example, since the Spleen belongs to Earth, it is related to the mouth (one of the five senses), the emotion of thought, the season of late summer, and the climate of dampness, indicating that there are not only certain physiological internal connections but also pathological reflections and validations, such as a sweet taste indicating excessive dampness in the Spleen.
4. Basic Laws of the Five Elements
1. Mutual Generation and Overcoming of the Five Elements
Mutual generation and overcoming are abnormal phenomena that arise under the influence of certain factors within the relationships of the Five Elements. Mutual generation refers to the phenomenon of one element overpowering another, while overcoming refers to the act of a stronger element dominating a weaker one. Mutual generation occurs when the overpowering element exceeds the normal restraining force, disrupting the normal coordination of the Five Element system. This abnormal phenomenon generally has two situations: one is when the element being overpowered is insufficient, and the overpowering element takes advantage of its weakness; the other is when the overpowering element is excessively strong and not restrained by other elements, thus dominating the element it should overcome.
It should be noted that “overcoming” and “mutual generation” are different; overcoming is a restraining relationship under normal circumstances, while mutual generation is an excessive overcoming that occurs after the normal restraining relationship is disrupted, representing an abnormal phenomenon. In the human body, the former represents a physiological state, while the latter represents a pathological state.
Mutual overcoming, which is the reverse of mutual generation, is also known as reverse overcoming. It is another manifestation of the loss of normal coordination in the structure of the Five Element system. Similarly, there are two situations: one is when the element being overcome is excessively strong and not restrained, thus overpowering the overcoming element. For example, if Metal is supposed to overcome Wood, but Wood is excessively strong and does not submit to Metal, it results in Wood overpowering Metal. The second situation is when the overcoming element is weak, and the element being overcome takes advantage of its weakness to overpower it. For example, if Metal is supposed to overcome Wood, but Metal is weak, then Wood, due to its weakness, overpowers Metal.
Thus, it can be said: “When qi is excessive, it overcomes what it can dominate and oppresses what it cannot; when it is insufficient, it is overpowered by what it cannot dominate and overcomes what it can dominate.” This means that if one element’s qi is excessive, it will excessively restrain the element it dominates (the one it overcomes), leading to mutual generation. Conversely, if one element’s qi is insufficient, the element it cannot dominate will excessively restrain it, leading to mutual overcoming. For example, in clinical observations of bronchiectasis, the disease is located in the Lungs, often due to Liver qi stagnation, causing qi to rise and transform into fire, leading to coughing up blood, which is a case of Wood (Liver) overpowering Metal (Lungs); Liver qi stagnation affects the Spleen and Stomach’s digestion and absorption, resulting in Wood overpowering Earth (Spleen). Hypertension due to damp-heat is often caused by damp-heat obstructing the Spleen, leading to Liver’s failure to regulate, resulting in Liver yang rising, which is Earth overpowering Wood. As for Metal overpowering Wood (deficiency), this clinical presentation is rare.
2. Regulation of Overcoming and Restoration
The structure of the Five Element system maintains dynamic balance and cyclical movement primarily due to the existence of two self-regulating mechanisms and pathways. One is the “regulation of overcoming and transformation” under normal circumstances; the other is the “regulation of restoration” under abnormal circumstances.
Regulation refers to restraint, while transformation refers to the process of generating and transforming. The so-called regulation of overcoming and transformation mainly refers to the regulatory effect produced by the interaction of mutual generation and overcoming in the structure of the Five Element system under normal conditions, also known as “Five Element Regulation of Overcoming and Transformation.”
Firstly, from the overall effect of the Five Elements, it is evident that the relationship between any two elements is not unidirectional but mutual. Each element in the Five Elements has relationships of generation, overcoming, and mutual restraint, ensuring the normal regulation of the “regulation of overcoming and transformation.”
This means that Wood can overcome Earth, Earth can generate Metal, and Metal can overcome Wood, thus preventing Wood from becoming excessive or deficient, allowing it to nourish Fire, which in turn allows Fire to generate normally.
Fire can overcome Metal, Metal can generate Water, and Water can overcome Fire, thus preventing Fire from becoming excessive or deficient, allowing it to nourish Earth, which in turn allows Earth to generate normally.
Earth can overcome Water, Water can generate Wood, and Wood can overcome Earth, thus preventing Earth from becoming excessive or deficient, allowing it to nourish Metal, which in turn allows Metal to generate normally.
Metal can overcome Wood, Wood can generate Fire, and Fire can overcome Metal, thus preventing Metal from becoming excessive or deficient, allowing it to nourish Water, which in turn allows Water to generate normally.
Water can overcome Fire, Fire can generate Earth, and Earth can overcome Water, thus preventing Water from becoming excessive or deficient, allowing it to nourish Wood, which in turn allows Wood to generate normally.
It can be seen that it is this mutual generation and overcoming that regulates and maintains the relative coordination and balance of the structure of phenomena. The process of mutual generation and overcoming is also the process of growth and decline of phenomena. In this process, the frequent occurrence of imbalances in growth and decline is itself a further regulation of mutual generation and overcoming, leading to repeated coordination and balance. It is this cyclical movement of seeking balance in imbalance, which is immediately replaced by new imbalance, that drives phenomena to continuously change and develop.
The so-called regulation of restoration mainly refers to the regulatory effect produced by the overcoming relationship in the structure of the Five Element system under abnormal circumstances, that is, when there is a significant imbalance in a localized area, a large cyclical regulation occurs. Restoration regulation can restore a temporarily excessive or deficient Five Element system structure back to balance through regulation.
The term “overcoming” refers to the excessive qi of one element, which leads to excessive restraint of the element it dominates. Once the overcoming qi appears, it will inevitably provoke a counteracting force to suppress it, known as the restoring qi. Thus, the “Su Wen” states: “When there is overcoming qi, restoration will inevitably follow.” Moreover, if the overcoming qi is strong, the restoring qi will also be strong; if the overcoming qi is weak, the restoring qi will also be weak.
For example, if Fire qi is excessive, as overcoming qi, it excessively overcomes Metal, leading to a decline in Metal qi. If Metal is weak, it cannot restrain Wood, resulting in Wood qi becoming excessive and further overpowering Earth, which weakens Earth’s ability to restrain Water, causing Water to become abundant and overpowering the excessive Fire qi, restoring it to normal. If Fire qi is insufficient, it will be excessively restrained by Water, but if Fire is weak, it cannot restrain Metal, leading to an excessive Metal qi, which strengthens the overcoming of Wood, causing Wood to decline and unable to restrain Earth, resulting in an excessive Earth qi that restrains Water, thus gradually restoring Fire qi to maintain its normal state.
If there is only overcoming without restoration, meaning that when one element in the Five Elements is excessive (too much) without the corresponding restraint from another element, the coordination of the Five Element system structure will be disrupted, leading to a chaotic and abnormal state, resulting in severe diseases.
In summary, we can view the relationships of the Five Elements as a logical expansion and complement of the yin-yang relationship. The affected party, through certain intermediate links, reacts back to the acting party, producing a feedback regulation effect that maintains the relative balance of the system structure.
5. Real-World Reflections
Metal represents principles, a conceptualization of things.
Water represents knowledge, a concrete understanding of things.
Wood represents kindness, an internal response to things.
Fire represents sincerity, an action based on internal response.
Earth represents analysis, an analytical process during action.
Metal generates Water, Water generates Wood, Wood generates Fire, Fire generates Earth, Earth generates Metal.
Conceptualization – implementing how to realize the concept – generating action ideas – action – analyzing during action – summarizing experiences and planning, conceptualizing.
6. The Five Elements and Confucianism
The Five Elements correspond to the Confucian virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness, all of which are indispensable and mutually generate and overcome each other. The ancients were truly great! Please reflect seriously on the relationship between benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, trustworthiness, and the Five Elements, and I believe you will have a very happy life.
7. The Five Elements and Geography
In the theory of the Five Elements, the South corresponds to Fire, the East corresponds to Wood, the North corresponds to Water, the West corresponds to Metal, and Earth governs the center, assisting in the balance of Metal, Wood, Water, and Fire.
8. The Relationship Between the Five Elements and Seasons
The Five Elements refer to the five modes of movement of qi.
Spring corresponds to Wood, representing the expansion of qi in all directions. In Spring, flowers, grasses, and trees grow vigorously, with branches extending outward and nutrients being transported to the tips, hence Spring corresponds to Wood.
Summer corresponds to Fire, representing the upward movement of qi. The characteristic of Fire is to rise, and in Summer, various plants grow upward rapidly, thus Summer corresponds to Fire.
Autumn corresponds to Metal, representing the inward contraction of qi. The characteristic of Metal is stability; in Autumn, harvest occurs, and people store food in preparation for winter, with leaves falling, thus Autumn corresponds to Metal.
Winter corresponds to Water, representing the downward movement of qi. Water flows downward, and in Winter, all things hibernate, storing nutrients for Spring, thus Winter corresponds to Water.
Due to the four seasons, there are four elements, but there is a transitional period between Summer and Autumn, thus there is Earth, which represents the stable movement of qi.
The Five Times (Autumn, Spring, Winter, Summer, Late Summer), the Five Elements and Time
Time is an ancient Chinese method of measuring time, dividing 24 hours into 12 time periods, starting from 11 PM, corresponding to the 12 zodiac signs: Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, and Hai. According to the Five Elements:
Yin, Mao, and Chen correspond to Wood, governing Spring, representing the East;
Si, Wu, and Wei correspond to Fire, governing Summer, representing the South;
Shen, You, and Xu correspond to Metal, governing Autumn, representing the West;
Hai, Zi, and Chou correspond to Water, governing Winter, representing the North;
Chen, Wei, Xu, and Chou individually correspond to Earth, governing the last month of each season, representing all directions.
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