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_5 Elements

In China, all the phenomena of the earth were seen as different combinations of or changes to the five elements wood, fire, earth, metal and water. These five elements are interactive. The change of one element into another is seen as a cycle. There is a fundamental differentiation into the causative or feeding cycle and the conquering cycle.

The causative cycle:
Wood – fire – earth - metal - water

The five elements feed and change in accordance with this cycle: The wood feeds the fire when it burns, which transforms wood to ashes. The ash turns into humus and to new earth. Metals are created in the earth, which attract the morning dew (the water), which in turn nourishes the plant and therefore the wood.

The conquering cycle:
Wood – earth - water– fire- metal

Wood conquers earth because the plants drill through the earth. The earth conquers the water, because it absorbs the water. The water conquers the fire because it extinguishes the fire. The fire conquers the metal because heat melts the metal. The metal conquers the wood because the axe fells trees.

In accordance with traditional Chinese medicine, the five elements and their two underlying cycles are an expression of the interconnection of all organs and all possible disorders within a functional circle.

In complex diseases with several symptoms, this viewpoint has the effect that several disorders are seen in relation to one cause for a disease and that in this way the cause can be treated instead of the symptoms.