The Five Elements or Five Phases theory

The theory of Five Elements, together with the theory of Yin and Yang, is the staple of  Traditional Chinese Medicine and its physiology. It is used to make a diagnosis, to find a therapy and control the evolution of the disease, according to the rules of the Generative and Control cycles. The Five Elements are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. Apparently, this theory was as an attempt to understand and explain not only the functioning the human body, but also the functioning of the entire universe. It presumes that all phenomena of the universe and nature can be broken down into the five elemental qualities stated above. Each element has a direct correspondence with an Organ-Zang, but there are a lot of other correspondences, as listed below:

Element

Wood

Fire

Earth

Metal

Water

Zang Organ

Liver

Heart

Spleen

Lung

Kidney

Fu Organ

Gallbladder

Small Intestine

Stomach

Large Intestine

Bladder

Direction

east

south

center

west

north

Sense organ

eyes

tongue

mouth

nose

ears

Colour

green/blue

red

yellow

white

black

Climate

wind

heat

damp

dryness

cold

Taste

sour

bitter

sweet

acrid

salty

Emotion

anger

joy

concern

sadness

fear

Tissue

tendons

vessels

muscles

skin

bones

Dynamics of Generation and Controltheory-of-five-elements

According to the theory, a problem to the tendons or also an axcess of anger, can be referred to the Liver. A cause will be looked for in the external pathogens, or in the loss of balance among the dynamics of Generation and Control. In a normal situation, there is a correct relation of generation and control, according to the following dynamics:

WOOD    generates     FIRE        we use wood to light a fire
FIRE               “                EARTH    what remains of a fire is ash (earth)           
EARTH          “                METAL    from earth we get metal
METAL          “                WATER    when heated, metal becomes liquid    
WATER          “                WOOD     water allows a seed to become a tree

The Five Elements, also control each other:

WOOD    controls     EARTH     the roots of the trees prevent earth to slide
EARTH           “             WATER    earth embanks water
WATER          “             FIRE          water puts off fire   
FIRE                “            METAL      fire can forge metal (into utensils)
METAL           “            WOOD       with metal utensils (ax) we cut wood  

The balance in the generation and control cycles can be broken. That happens when an element does not feed (generates) his child who will get weaker. It can also happen when an element, instead of controlling another one, exploits it, or on the contrary, instead of being controlled, an element opposes to the controller. In all these cases we develop a disease. According to the general rule if an element is in state of depletion, the mother must be invigorated. In case of excess of an element, the child must be drained.