The Five Elements of Oriental Medicine

The Five Elements of Oriental Medicine - Assessment through the Natural

One of the major ways in which Chinese medicine determines how one’s
health is relies on the laws of the universe. This essentially means that
any trained person in Chinese medicine will turn towards nature and the
characteristics that are in this environment to determine why one may be
unhealthy. One main determination is through the five elements.


The five elements consist of water, wood, fire, earth and metal. When
looking at these elements, there are certain attributes that are analyzed.
In turn, the analysis that is made will also determine how it is related to
various organs. Not only did these five elements determine the relation of
the elements to organs, but went on to include things such as how
emotions corresponded with these various elements.

The idea of the five elements is to see how everything is interconnected to
each other through the universe. Chinese medicine determines that every
man is a reflection of what is in the universe, meaning that each individual
can be analyzed in direct co-relation to the elements of the universe.

For instance, if someone is having trouble with their heart or small
intestine. According to Chinese medicine, this would directly relate to
Fire, meaning that it would be linked with the qualities of summer and the
energy of heat. The result of the heart or intestine trouble would be that
the sense organ of the tongue would first be affected. The emotion
associated with this would be either joy or shock. The heart and the small
intestine will also trigger bitter taste that someone will respond to.

The idea is that everything in the external universe is directly aligned with
the internal. In order to be completely healthy, or to get holistic health,
the five elements principles have to be applied. By doing this, one is able
to find the natural solutions for any season or element that they are
looking at.