The five traditional Chinese elements, or Wu Xing, are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. Like the traditional Greek elements, they were devised before modern science and used not only in medicine but in all areas of life, such as astrology and martial arts. However, they are less like static elements than dynamic states of energy or "Qi," as the name Wu Xing (literally, "five phases") suggests.
The use of the Wu Xing in acupuncture is naturally based on its more general application to traditional Chinese medicine, or TCM. Each element has a number of things associated with it that aid in diagnosis and indicate treatment. Some of the most useful are the associated tastes, colors, and moods, which are listed on the chart with possible clinical uses described below.
Each element is also associated with two organs and their meridians: one Yin organ, which is considered in TCM to be more or less solid, called "Zang," and one Yang organ, which is considered to be more or less hollow, called "Fu." The Zang-Fu organs make up ten of the twelve regular acupuncture meridians (the other two regular meridians being the Pericardium and Triple Burner, which are Fire Zang and Fire Fu, respectively). Thus we have:
Wood: Zang: Liver, Fu: Gallbladder, associated with anger, sour, green
Fire: Zang: Heart and Pericardium, Fu: Small intestine and triple burner, associated with joy, bitter, red
Earth: Zang: Spleen, Fu: Stomach, associated with worry, sweet, yellow/orange
Metal: Zang: Lung, Fu: Large Intestine, associated with sadness, pungent, white
Water: Zang: Kidney, Fu: Bladder, associated with fear, salty, black
Acupuncture is used to restore balance between the elements. The Wu Xing are believed to manifest in a cyclical nature, each one engendering the next in the order given above. For instance, if there is a problem with the spleen, the heart may be the culprit, as Fire is unable to warm Earth. This person might feel cold all the time. This ability of one element to nurture and support the next is called the Sheng cycle.
The three other cycles are called the Ke, Cheng, and Wu cycles. The Ke, or controlling cycle, acts as a system of checks and balances between elements and works in the order Wood, Earth, Water, Fire, Metal. It's often called the "grandfather/grandson" cycle because it skips an element in the Sheng cycle. In a diagram, this makes a pentagram pattern. The Cheng, or overacting cycle, works in the same order but pathologically, with one element exerting an excess of control over the next. Finally, the Wu, or insulting cycle, works backwards from that in the order Metal, Fire, Water, Earth, Wood. This is another pathological cycle which results from the Cheng cycle, when the element affected counterreacts to the pathological influence of the "grandparent."
So how is this used by acupuncture practitioners? First of all diagnosis takes into account the color of a patient's tongue and skin.
For instance, black circles around the eyes relate to a malfunction of the kidney, while excessive pallor, or whiteness, means a problem with the lungs. The same thing can be done with patients' emotions and eating habits. Someone who worries all the time and has a craving for sweet "comfort" foods may have a deficiency in the organs of the Earth element, while a person with a bitter taste in their mouth might have heart problems due to excess Fire. A person who is angry all the time may be experiencing liver or gallbladder problems.
These types of symptoms help acupuncturists diagnose which cycle of elements is at play. This in turn helps them decide on which acupuncture points to use. Although this is a bit oversimplified because acupuncturists take more than the five elements into account, the meridian associated with each element will generally be treated along associated meridians using points that will disperse or tonify depending on whether there is an excess or lack of Qi in a particular element.
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