The Five Elements
The Chinese world is divided into five symbolic elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. Depending on its nature everything on earth is associated to one of these elements, and all change and activity in nature is determined by the constant interplay of these elements as well as yin and yang.
The Five Elements represent the primeval forces and have a generative and a subjugative influence on one other force and are subjugated or generated by an other one.
Subjugative relationships:
- Wood subjugates Earth (by braking up the soil and depleting its nutrition)
- Earth subjugates Water (by containing it in one place and soiling its clarity)
- Water subjugates Fire (by extinguishing it)
- Fire subjugates Metal (by melting it)
- Metal subjugates Wood (by cutting it)
Generative relationships:
- Wood generates Fire (by burning)
- Fire generates Earth (by generating ashes)
- Earth generates Metal (it can be mined from the ground)
- Metal generates Water (when heated it is molten)
- Water generates Wood (by promoting the growth of plants)
These subjugative-generative relationships of the Five Elements form mother-son and victor-vanquished relationships. The interactions of these symbolic representations of the fundamental forces of nature are what matters most in Chinese Medicine. They provide the tools for balancing yin and yang: each vital organ belongs to one of the Five Elements. By prescribing certain herbs, which are associated with one of the Five Elements like everything on earth, Chinese doctors can put their natural relationships at work for adjusting energy imbalances in the body (to restore the equilibrium the deficient energy is provided).
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