With some understanding of yin-yang, let us have some fun with the following quotation:
Heaven has four seasons and five elemental changes; hence, there are germinating, growing, gathering and storing; giving birth to cold, heat, dryness, dampness and wind. Man has five viscera, generating five energies; hence, there are joy, anger, sorrow, worry and fear. Joy and anger injures spirit. Cold and heat injures form. Excessive anger injures yin, and excessive joy injures yang. Negative energies rise up; pulse rates lose their structures. If joy and anger is uncontrolled, cold and heat is excessive, then health is impaired. - Nei Jing The above quotation is in fact one of the core passages of Nei Jing, the Inner Classic of Medicine, expressing in a very concise manner the essence of Chinese medical thought. But those not familiar with Chinese medical theory will be greatly puzzled, and it is not unreasonable if they think it is based on philosophy or metaphysics.
Much bewilderment can be avoided if we bear in mind that classical Chinese, with which much of Chinese medical knowledge is written, is very concise. For instance, in the above quotation, the term “cold and heat” does not refer to cold and heat only. It is an idiomatic expression for the “six evils”, which are actually six generalized groups of external causes of illness, namely cold, heat, dampness, dryness, wind and fire. Of course, they must not be taken at their surface meanings only. Cold, for example, refers not only to a lowering of temperature, but also to the weakening of bodily functions.
The annotated meaning of the above quotation is as follows:
There are four seasons and five elemental processes in nature. The four seasons are germinating in spring, growing in summer, gathering the harvest in autumn, and storing supplies in winter. The five elemental processes that symbolically describe all phenomenal changes in nature, are the processes of metal, water, wood, fire and earth, and they can cause climatic conditions of dryness, cold, wind, heat and dampness. Man has five internal “storage” organs, and six “transformation” organs. The five “storage” or “zang” organs are heart, liver, spleen, lungs and kidneys; and the six “transformation” or “fu” organs are small
intestine, gall bladder, stomach, colon, urinary bladder and “triple warmer”. These organs generate energies for their respective functions; for example, the heart generates energy for the functioning of the heart, the small intestine generates energy for the functioning of the small intestine, and so on.
Man also has seven emotions, namely joy, anger, sorrow, worry, fear, anxiety and shock. If “joy and anger” — which is a short form referring to all the seven emotions — are disharmonious, they injure a man’s spirit. Thus the seven emotions are internal causes of illness. If “cold and heat” — a short form referring to the six evils of cold, heat, dryness, dampness, wind and fire1 — are disharmonious, they injure the physical body. Thus the six evils are external causes of illness.
For example, excessive anger injures the liver, because when a person becomes excessively angry, the resultant disharmonious energy interacts against the liver. As the liver is responsible for regulating blood, this will subsequently affect our natural resistance provided by our blood against disease. Natural resistance is symbolized as yin, in contrast with yang external pathogenic agents. Hence, excessive anger injures yin defence, thus resulting in yin-yang disharmony.
Excessive joy injures the heart, because the resultant disharmonious energy reacts against the heart, which in classical Chinese often means the mind. The heart, or the mind, controls various physiological functions, and as functions are symbolized as yang, excessive joy, therefore, injures yang functions, thus causing yin-yang disharmony too. When disharmony of yin-yang occurs, various negative energies will result. This will disrupt normal energy and blood flow, and can be detected from irregular pulse rates. Hence, if man loses control of his seven emotions, or fails to contain the six evils, his health will be impaired.
You will notice how concise the original quotation is. You will probably be impressed by the profound knowledge the ancient masters had concerning man’s health. Chinese medical terms like five elemental processes, six evils and seven emotions, and how they affect health, will be explained subsequently.
The Chinese approach to health is holistic; it involves not only the fight against invading micro-organisms, and the proper functioning of his organs, but also his harmonious relationship with himself, with other people, with climatic and environmental conditions and with the whole universe. And if illness occurs, the Chinese physician will examine the cause not from a localized, reductionist viewpoint, but attempt to relate it to all relevant factors, internally and externally.
6: ARCHETYPICAL INTERACTIONS OF MYRIAD
PHENOMENA
(The Five Elemental Processes)
So much misinformation about Chinese medicine crowds the shelves of European and American bookshops that a Chinese account is badly needed.
- Nathan Sivin