WU XING: The Five Elements,
and the Correspondences

A Storm in the Mountains, and the Valley is Flooded

A Unique Way to Understand How Things Interact

WU XING, has been translated in many different ways.  It's been called the Five Elements, Five Phases, Five Agents, and other names.  Viewing nature through the gaze of the 5 Elements enables a practitioner to understand how the internal organs interact with one another.  This helps to determine the root of the disharmony and may also help to determine a method and course of treatment.

Relationships Between the Organs:

It is obvious that our body’s organs are dependent on one another. The Five Elements is a theory that helps us to understand these relationships. According to this schema, there exist five elemental types. These elements are known as Fire (the Heart), Earth (the Spleen), Metal (the Lungs), Water (the Kidneys), and Wood (the Liver). Each element relates to the other according to two cycles of influence. Disharmony in one element will thus create disharmony in others according to these cycles.  The two cycles are:

1- The Generating Cycle moves clockwise effecting the next element. For example, the Liver (wood), overheated by anger, can attack the heart (Heart Fire), 

WOOD (LIVER) - > FIRE (HEART) -> EARTH (SPLEEN) -> METAL (LUNGS) -> WATER (KIDNEYS)

2- The Checking Cycle (Overcoming Interaction) moves counter clockwise, skipping over the preceding element). For example, Insomnia caused by Heart Fire can also be caused by Kidneys, weakened by overwork.

WOOD (LIVER) <- METAL (LUNGS) <- FIRE (HEART) <- WATER (KIDNEYS) <- EARTH (SPLEEN)

Correspondence: Another Idea About How Things Relate To One Another Within the WU XING

Some consider the theory of WU XING as separate from the theory of Correspondence, but it's easy to see how they work together as a system for diagnosis and treatment. 

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