Relationship of the organs based on the elements

Relationships between Organs.

Ancient Chinese people use the ideas of assist and hinder to explain the relationships of these 5 elements. Each of the 5 elements has an element that it assists when its energy is increasing and an element that it hinders when its energy is decreasing.

l Wood assists Fire: When the liver’s (Wood) energy increases, the heart’s (Fire) also increases.

l Fire assists Earth: When the heart’s (Fire) energy increases, the spleen’s (Earth) energy also increases.

l Earth assists Metal: When the spleen’s (Earth) energy increases, lung’s (Metal) energy also increases.

l Metal assists Water: When the lung’s (Metal) energy increases, kidney’s (Water) energy also increases.

l Water assists Wood: When the kidney’s (Water) energy increases, liver’s (Wood) energy also increases.

l Wood assists Fire….Etc.

Using the ideas of assist and hinder, we can see that every Zan and Fu organ are interrelated. When a change occurs in a single organ, other organs will also be affected.

There is also a cycle for hindering elements.

l Wood hinders Earth: When the liver’s (Wood) energy decreases, spleen’s (Earth) energy will also decreases.

l Earth hinders Water: When the spleen’s (Earth) energy decreases, kidney’s (Water) energy also decreases.

l Water hinders Fire: When the kidney’s (Water) energy decreases, heart’s (Fire) energy also decreases.

l Fire hinders Metal: When the heart’s (Fire) energy decreases, lung’s (Metal) energy also decreases.

l Metal hinders Wood: When the lung’s energy decreases, liver’s (Wood) energy also decreases.

The hindering logic can be described as the transfer of negative energy. A common example is the energy transfer during anger emotions. According to Chinese medicine, anger is a negative energy formed from the heart. Such energy will transfer to the lungs and then transferred to the liver. When a person’s body energy is not sufficient, this type of energy transfer may cause permanent damage to the organs. It is said that patients during the final stages of cancer is highly vulnerable to anger as the patient’s body energy is extremely low. Lung failure often occurs as a result of anger received by these patients.