I) Classification of Five Elements of Things
① Classification: The five-element attribute of things is derived from the nature of things and the characteristics of the five elements by analogy. If things have similar characteristics to wood, they belong to wood; Similar to the characteristics of fire, belonging to fire and so on For example, the five internal organs belong to five elements, the liver belongs to wood, the heart yang belongs to fire, the spleen belongs to earth, the lung belongs to gold, and the kidney belongs to water. If you belong to the five elements in orientation, then it belongs to wood, because the sunrise is in the east, which is similar to the rising characteristics of wood. The heat in the south is similar to the inflammatory characteristics of fire, so it belongs to fire; Sunset in the west is similar to the decline of gold, so it belongs to gold; The north is cold, similar to the characteristics of water, so it belongs to water.
② Deductive method. For example, if the liver belongs to wood, then the main reinforcement of the liver and the opening of the liver are also wood for the purpose of "tendon" and "eye"; If the heart belongs to fire, the pulse and tongue also belong to fire; Spleen belongs to soil, so do "meat" and "mouth"; If lungs are gold, so are fur and nose. Kidney belongs to water, so do "bone", "ear" and "two yin".
(3) The Five Elements Theory also holds that things belonging to the Five Elements are related. For example, wind, wood and acid substances in the East and nature are all related to the liver.
For the human body, it is to summarize the various tissues and functions of the human body into five physiological systems centered on the five internal organs.
2) Explain the physiological functions and relationships of viscera.
① Explain the physiological characteristics of the five internal organs. For example, the liver is fond of reaching the middle, has antidiarrheal function, and has the characteristics of "wood" in hair growth, so the liver belongs to "wood"; Heart-yang has the function of warmth and has the characteristics of "fire" and yang-heat, so the heart belongs to "fire"; Spleen is the source of biochemistry and has the characteristics of "earth" to biochemical things, so spleen belongs to "earth"; Lung qi governs descending, which has the characteristics of "gold" clearing and astringing, so lung belongs to "gold"; Kidney has the function of controlling water and storing essence, and also has the characteristic of "water" moistening, so kidney belongs to "water".
② Explain the internal relationship of physiological functions of human viscera. For example, the essence of kidney (water) nourishes the liver, the liver (wood) stores blood and nourishes the heart, the heat of heart (fire) warms the spleen, and the spleen (soil) turns into the essence of water valley to fill the lung, and the lung (gold) helps the kidney. This is the relationship between the five internal organs. The decrease of lung (gold) qi can inhibit the hyperactivity of liver yang; The smoothness of liver (wood) can relieve the depression of spleen and soil; The transportation of spleen (soil) can prevent the flooding of kidney water; Moistening kidney (water) can prevent excessive heart fire; Yang-heart heat (fire) can excessively restrict lung-qi-Jin-Qing-Su, which is the relationship between the five internal organs.
③ Explain the relationship between human body and external environment, such as the four seasons and five flavors of food. In a word, the application of the theory of five elements in physiology lies in explaining the unity of the interrelationship between human viscera and tissues, as well as between human body and external environment.
3) Explain the pathological influence between zang-fu organs.
For example, liver disease can disperse the spleen, and it is a tree to borrow soil; Spleen disease can also affect the liver, which is an insult to wood; Liver and spleen are the same diseases, which affect each other, that is, wood stagnation and soil deficiency or soil stagnation and wood stagnation; Liver disease can also affect the heart, which is a maternal disease and a child disease; Affecting the lungs is a disgrace to gold; Diseases that affect the kidneys, for children and mothers. This is true of liver disease, as is the pathological changes of other organs. The relationship between the five elements can be used to explain their pathological interaction.
4) Used for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases.
Application of (1) in disease diagnosis
Diagnosis of visceral diseases from color, taste and pulse. If you see a blue face, like to eat sour taste, and see a string pulse, you can diagnose liver disease; Red face, bitter taste and red pulse can be diagnosed as excessive heart fire. Patients with spleen deficiency have a blue face and take soil as wood; Heart disease patients, see the dark, take fire as water, and so on.
Diagnose the spread of five zang-organs diseases from its color, taste and pulse. For example, patients with spleen deficiency have a blue complexion and a string-like pulse, which disperses the spleen for liver disease (wood with soil); Patients with lung disease have a red face, red ears and red pulse, which means that heart disease has spread to the lungs. Any one of the five internal organs has pathological changes, which can spread to the other four internal organs. According to the theory of five elements, there are four transmission and change relationships: reproduction, mutual offense, maternal disease, child disease and maternal disease.
Judging the prognosis of diseases from the relationship between color and pulse. If the liver disease looks blue, see the string pulse, which is consistent with the color pulse. If you don't see the string pulse but see the floating pulse, it is a mutually winning pulse, and the pulse of Kese (Jin Kemu) is reverse, and the main prognosis is poor; If the pulse condition is deep, it belongs to the interrelated pulse condition, that is, the color-producing (aquatic wood) pulse condition, which is smooth and has a good prognosis.
(2) Application in disease treatment
(1) Control the spread of diseases of the five internal organs. If liver disease can disperse spleen (wood with soil), replenish spleen in advance to prevent its spread. "When you see the disease of the liver, you know that the liver has to pass on the spleen, so you must first consolidate your temper."
② Determine the principle of treatment. It is summarized as the method of "tonifying the mother and purging the child", that is, "deficiency is tonifying the mother, but it is actually purging the child" Tonifying the mother is aimed at the deficiency syndrome of mother-child relationship, such as tonifying the kidney because of liver deficiency, because the kidney is the mother of the liver, so tonifying the kidney water can produce liver wood. Diarrhea is treated according to the evidence of mother-child relationship, such as liver excess purging heart, because heart is the son of liver, purging heart fire helps purging liver wood.
According to the relationship between the two, the principle of treatment can be summarized as "suppressing the strong and reducing the skin", that is, purging the strong of the suppressed and supplementing the weak of the suppressed. If the liver wood is too strong and the spleen soil is too strong, it must be diarrhea and the spleen soil is weak, so it must be supplemented.
③ Formulating treatment methods. Drug therapy, such as nourishing water and containing wood, is a method of nourishing kidney yin and preserving liver yin, which is suitable for deficiency of kidney yin and liver yin. Another example is the method of nourishing the soil and producing gold, that is, the method of invigorating the spleen and benefiting the lung, which is suitable for the diseases of spleen deficiency and lung deficiency. Another example is the method of supporting soil and restraining wood, which is a method of treating liver depression and spleen deficiency with drugs that soothe the liver and strengthen the spleen.
In addition, in acupuncture and psychotherapy, the restraint of the five elements can be used to select points and adjust emotions. If sadness can overcome anger, it is because sadness belongs to the lungs and anger belongs to the liver.
In the process of practical application, the theory of Yin-Yang and Five Elements is often interrelated and inseparable. The combination of yin-yang and five elements theory can not only explain the general relationship between two contradictory sides of things, but also explain the more specific and complex relationship between things, which is conducive to explaining complex life phenomena and pathological processes.
(5) Zang-fu organs and parts that need to be supplemented in the four pillars and five elements.
Wood: Liver and gallbladder are internal and external organs, belonging to bones and limbs. Excessive prosperity or aging is more suitable for diseases such as liver and gallbladder, head and neck, limbs, joints, tendons, eyes and nerves.
Fire: the heart and small intestine are internal and external organs, belonging to blood vessels and the whole circulatory system. If it is too strong or too weak, it is more likely to suffer from diseases of small intestine, heart, shoulders, blood, menstrual blood, face, teeth, abdomen and tongue.
Earth: Spleen and stomach are internal and external organs, belonging to the intestine and the whole digestive system. Excessive prosperity or aging is more suitable for diseases such as spleen, stomach, ribs, back, chest, lung and abdomen.
Jin: Lung and large intestine are viscera, belonging to trachea and the whole respiratory system. Excessive prosperity or aging is more suitable for diseases such as large intestine, lung, umbilicus, expectoration, liver, skin, hemorrhoids, nose and trachea.
Water: The kidney and bladder are internal and external organs, belonging to the brain and urinary system. Excessive or aging is more suitable for diseases such as kidney, bladder, tibia, foot, head, liver, urine, vulva, waist, ear, uterus and hernia.
6) Clinical application
The five elements theory of traditional Chinese medicine divides all parts of human body into five categories: wood, fire, earth, gold and water. There is a vertical relationship between similar things: for example, those belonging to wood, such as liver, gallbladder, eyes, tendons, anger, blue, acid and wind. The relationship between them is "liver opening eyes", "liver main reinforcement" and "anger hurts liver", and liver disease is prone to "liver wind". When seeing a doctor, cyan is mostly liver wind, red is mostly heart fire, yellow is mostly spleen dampness, white is mostly lung cold, and black is mostly kidney deficiency;
When taking medicine, sour taste enters the liver, bitter taste enters the heart, sweet taste enters the spleen, spicy taste enters the lungs, salty taste enters the kidney and so on. There is a horizontal relationship between various things: that is, the relationship between the five zang-organs under physiological and pathological conditions is explained by changes such as generating grams and taking advantage of them. For example, if a dirty body is sick, it can be transmitted from another dirty body because of the relationship between birth and gram, or it can be transmitted to another dirty body through the relationship between birth and gram. "Seeing the disease of the liver, knowing that the liver spreads the spleen, strengthening the spleen first" and "deficiency of the mother and deficiency of the son" are the concrete applications of this theory.
Among the five elements, fire has the strongest attack, water has the best relieving ability, wood has the strongest healing ability, gold has the strongest impact ability and soil has the best defense ability!