"The Yellow Emperor's Neijing" believes that man and nature are closely related, and people will live if they conform to nature, and die if they go against nature. If yin and yang are the cornerstones, then the five elements are the five pillars on the cornerstone, and the smooth erection of these five pillars perfectly supports the huge theoretical system of Chinese medicine. The ancients believed that the universe was composed of five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. The rise and fall of the five elements causes nature to change, and everything in the universe is also changing in a cycle.
Of course, the people who live in this nature must inevitably be affected. Therefore, thousands of years ago, our ancestors knew that man and nature must live in harmony, and created the theory of Chinese medicine from the sense of experience combined with yin and yang techniques.
The five elements have become one of the most basic contents of the Chinese medicine system, and what is the relationship between this and the five organs of our human body? Today, let's focus on the relationship between the five organs of the human body and the five elements.
Nature has five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water, and man has five organs: liver, heart, spleen, lungs, and kidneys (known as Tibet in ancient times).It has the characteristics of metaplasia and storage functions, and the five organs are hidden but not diarrheal, full but not real. The five internal organs spoken of in traditional Chinese medicine are different from the five internal organs mentioned in Western medical anatomy, and the five internal organs in traditional Chinese medicine refer to them in general, and their main physiological functions are biochemical and storage of essence, qi, blood, fluid and spirit, also known as the five divine organs. Essence, qi and spirit are the foundation of the human body's life activities, so the five internal organs play an important role in the life of the human body.
(1) Physiological functions and characteristics of the liver
The liver hides blood, the main drain, the main tendon, its splendor is in the claw, the opening is in the eyes, and the liver and gallbladder are on the surface.
(2) The physiological functions and characteristics of the heart
The heart is the main bloodline, the main god, the opening is in the tongue, and its splendor is in the face.
(3) Physiological functions and characteristics of the spleen
The spleen is the main movement, the main blood, the main muscle, the opening of the mouth, its bloom in the lips.
(4) Physiological functions and characteristics of the lungs
The main qi of the lungs, Si Xuansu, the waterway, the main fur, the opening of the nose, its bloom in the hair.
(5) Physiological functions and characteristics of the kidneys
The kidneys store essence, the main water, the main bones, the marrow, the brain, the main qi, the opening of the ears, and its bloom.
The Five Elements, also known as the Five Elements Theory, is the basic way of understanding the world, and the Five Elements explain the formation of all things in the world and their interrelationships through the five basic dynamics of the evolution of yin and yang. Five elements: that is, the movement of five types of substances: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. The Five Elements Doctrine is an abstract philosophical concept.
And because the characteristics of its five organs are similar to the nature of the five elements, the ancients matched the five organs of the human body with the five elements, that is, the liver belongs to wood, the heart belongs to fire, the spleen belongs to earth, the lungs belong to gold, and the kidney belongs to water. The relationship between the five elements and the five organs, one to one, each organ attribute corresponds to a line, the five organs have the characteristics of the five elements, mutual restraint, mutual birth is like mother and child, close relationship, mutual help, mutual restraint is like the two ends of the scale, only the same weight, in order to maintain the balance of the human body, one too much or too little will affect the normal operation of the human body, this is the close relationship between the five elements and the five organs.
There is mutual growth and restraint between the five elements, and the relationship between the five organs is also synergistic and mutually balanced. In the next section, let's analyze the relationship between these five organs and the five elements.