The Theory of the Five Elements subdivides everything that surrounds us and composes us into five great interdependent wholes. It came from the ancient naturalist schools and reached its full maturity during the Zhou dynasty, from 480 to 221 BC. AD (See Foundations.) It is already well established in the first classical medical treatises, the Nei Jing and the Nan Jing, and it has retained its place in modern practice. It is a way of representing the world that has been celebrated since the dawn of time for its beauty and simplicity.

However, all the classifications resulting from this theory should not be taken at face value. Rather, they should be seen as guidelines that were the source of an endless clinical trial-and-error process to confirm, refute or refine the original hypotheses.

Originally, Yin and Yang

The advent of the Five Elements stems from the interaction of the two great powers Yang and Yin of the universe: Heaven and Earth. Heaven is a stimulating power which causes the Earth to transform, and which makes it possible to nourish and support all of its biodiversity (poetically represented by “the 10 beings”). Heaven, by the play of the active, hot and luminous forces of the celestial bodies, emits a Yang Energy which, by its cyclical growth and decrease, defines four particular dynamisms that can be associated with the four seasons of the year and with the four phases of the day. In return, the Earth represents a calm and passive force, a kind of stable pivot, which responds to this external power like clay under the sculptor’s fingers.

On the basis of these observations, the Theory of the five Elements symbolically describes five Movements (WuXing): the four basic dynamisms plus the support which harmonizes them. These five Movements are named after five elements: Wood, Fire, Metal, Water and Earth. They have been named so because the natural characteristics of these elements can help us remember what each of the Movements symbolizes.

• The Wood Movement represents the force of activation and growth which asserts itself at the start of a cycle, it corresponds to the birth of Yang; Wood is an active and voluntary force like the powerful and primitive force of vegetable life which germinates, grows, emerges from the ground and rises towards the light. The Wood bends and straightens.
• The Fire Movement represents the maximum transforming and animating force of Yang at its peak. The Fire rises, rises.
• The Metal Movement represents the condensation, the taking of a lasting form by cooling, drying out and hardening, which is present when the Yang decreases towards the end of its cycle. Metal is malleable, but it retains the shape given to it.
• The Water Movement represents the passivity, the latent state of what awaits a new cycle, the gestation, the apogee of Yin, while the Yang hides and prepares the return of the next cycle. The Water goes down and humidifies.
• The Earth Movement, in the sense of humus, soil, represents the support, the fertile environment that receives heat and rain: Fire and Water. It is the reference plane from which the Wood emerges and from which the Fire escapes, where the Metal sinks and inside which the Water flows. The Earth is both Yin and Yang since it receives and produces. The Earth makes it possible to sow, to grow and to reap.

“The Five Elements are not constituents of nature, but five fundamental processes, five characteristics, five phases of the same cycle or five potentialities for change inherent in any phenomenon. »1 It is an analytical grid that can be applied to a variety of phenomena to recognize and classify their dynamic components.

The Theory of the Five Elements is also used to define the organic spheres which are vast sets associated with each of the Organs. Each organic sphere includes the Organ itself as well as Entrails, Tissues, Organs, Senses, Substances, Meridians, and also emotions, aspects of the psyche and environmental stimuli (seasons, climates , Flavors, smells, etc.). This organization into five spheres, based on a vast and complex network of affinities, has been decisive in the development of Chinese medical physiology.

Here are the main components of the five organic spheres. (Note that there are several different tables and that through the ages schools have not always agreed on all matches.)

The integral theory of the Five Elements also incorporates in its grid the luminaries of Heaven (the five principal planets), the celestial energies, the colors, the smells, the meats, the cereals, the sounds of the body, the sounds of the pentatonic scale and many other elements and phenomena.

The classification of the elements is based on the observation of resonances between different phenomena… as if they had affinities in their functions. For example, when we observe the elements of the Wood column (which is the Movement representing the original activation), we notice that they all have a connotation of beginning, initiation or renewal:

• The Liver releases the Blood into the body, depending on our periods of activity.
• In the east, the sun rises, and the day begins.
• Spring is the return of light and heat, activating renewal and growth.
• The Wind is the climatic factor of change, bringing back warm air masses in spring, favoring the movement of trees, plants, waves, etc.
• Acid is the flavor of spring shoots, young and immature.
• The muscles promote movement, the quest, the grasp of what we are striving for.
• Sight, through the eyes, is a sense that projects us into the future, to where we are headed.
• The Hun are the embryonic forms of our psyche: intelligence, sensitivity, strength of character. They give the initial push to our Spirits, which will then develop through experience and experience.
• Anger is a force of affirmation useful for confronting the obstacles which arise in front of us.

The excesses or deficiencies of any element will first affect the Organ and the constituents of the sphere with which it is associated, before having repercussions on other spheres or other Organs. For example, in the sphere of Wood, too much Wind or Acid Flavor will affect the muscles; too much anger will prevent the liver from performing its functions properly. In the sphere of Water, an unusually mild winter, where there is a lack of cold and where the rains abound, will cause pain in the bones, kidneys and knees.

The Theory of the Five Elements suggests that the internal homeostasis of the organism is based on the interaction of the five organic spheres which influence each other according to the same cycles of generation and control as the Movements.

The overstimulation of an Organ or, on the contrary, a weakening of its functions, can affect the other Organs. Thus, the presence of a pathogenic factor in an Organ can modify the capacity of this Organ to support or adequately control another organic sphere. The pathogenic factor then affects two organs and modifies the normal cycle of control which turns into a pathological cycle, called Aggression.

The Five Element Theory defines two normal relationships: Generation and Control and four pathological relationships, two for each Cycle. In the cycle of begetting, the mother’s illness can pass to the son, or the son’s illness can affect the mother. In the Control Cycle, the Controlling Organ can attack the Organ that it controls, or on the contrary a Controlled Organ can revolt against the one who controls it.

The Five Element Theory proposes to deal with imbalances by restoring the normal Cycles of control and generation. One of the interesting contributions of this theory will have been to stimulate research on the regulatory action of acupuncture points distributed along the meridians.

On the forearms and legs are the ancient points which affect the quality and quantity of Blood and Qi circulating in the Meridians. By associating these points with a Movement (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal or Water), the Theory made it possible to determine and test three categories of points: the master points (BenShu), the toning points (BuShu) and the points dispersion (XieShu).

Again, an example. We know that the Metal Movement is generated by the Earth Movement (its mother) and that it itself generates the Water Movement (its son). The Earth Movement is therefore considered as invigorating for the Metal Movement since its role is to nourish it, to prepare its manifestation, according to the cycle of generation. On the contrary, the Water Movement is considered as dispersing for the Metal Movement because it receives the Energy from it, thus favoring its decline.

Each Organ has a principal Meridian on which we find points corresponding to the five Movements. Let us take the case of the Lung Meridian which is a Metal Organ. There are three particularly useful points:

• The Metal point (8P) is the master point of the Lung because it belongs to the same Movement. It is used to mobilize and direct Lung Energy to appropriate places.
• The Earth point (9P) is used to invigorate the Energy of the Lung if it is deficient (since the Earth generates Metal).
• The Water point (5P) allows to disperse Lung Energy when it is in excess (since Water is generated by Metal).

Stimulating points on a Meridian can therefore meet different objectives:

• Mobilize the Energy of a healthy organic sphere to come to the aid of another (and the Organs and functions that compose it).
• Disperse the Energy present in a sphere (in its Viscera, its emotions, etc.) if it is found there in excess.
• To invigorate and revive the contribution of Energy and Blood in a sphere where there is a deficiency.

The assumptions about the factors that can influence an organ and its functions have been the subject of continual clinical testing for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Today, only the most convincing hypotheses have been kept. For example, the general concept of Wind is used to designate the action of air currents and what they carry when they affect the Surface of the body and the Sense Organs. Experience has shown that the Lung and its sphere (which includes the skin, nose and throat) are particularly vulnerable to the external wind which can cause cooling and inflammation. On the other hand, the liver sphere will be the first to be affected by an internal wind which will cause neuromotor disorders: spasms, tremors, convulsions, sequelae of cerebrovascular accident (stroke), etc.

Furthermore, the application of the Five Element Theory to point and meridian treatment protocols has paved the way for a very practical clinical exploration whose echoes still persist in the modern era. Often, what this theory suggests is confirmed in the clinic, but not without certainty … In reality, it is the accumulation of clinical experiences that has made it possible to discover the best applications. For example, we now know that the Water point of the Lung Meridian is a particularly effective point of dispersion when the affection is characterized by fever, thirst, cough and yellow sputum (Fullness-Heat), such as in the case of bronchitis.

The Theory of the Five Elements must therefore be considered above all as a research model, to be corroborated by a multitude of clinical experiments. Applied to medicine, this theory has had a profound impact on physiology as well as on the classification and interpretation of symptoms, in addition to having been the source of many clinical discoveries that are still quite useful and relevant. These days.