Five Elements

It is obvious that the organs are dependent on one another. The Five Elements(五行wǔxíng) is a theory that helps us to understand the relationships. According to the principle, there exist five elemental types. These elements are known as Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, and Wood. Each element relates to the other according to two cycles of influence. Disharmony in one element will thus create disharmony(when there is disharmony, people disagree about important things and this causes an unpleasant atmosphere) in others according to these cycles.

The generating cycle(clockwise affecting the next element), for example, the Liver, overheated by anger, can attack the heart,

The checking cycle(counter clockwise, skipping over the preceding element). For example, Kidneys, weakened by overwork can cause Insomnia from Heart Fire.

Each type also corresponds to a major organ system. Each type also has corresponding tastes, colors, odors, and emotions. Some of these correspondences are:

1 - Fire/ Red/ Heart/ Joy/ Bitter/ Scorched

2 - Earth/ Yellow/ stomach/ Spleen/ Worry/ Sweet/ Fragrant

3 - Metal/ White/ Lungs/ Grief/ Hot/ Fleshy

4 - Water/ Black/ Kidneys/ Fear/ Salty/ Putrid

5 - Wood/ Green/ Liver/ Anger/ Sour/ Rancid