The so-called five elements are a set of theories summarized by the ancients, which are mainly used to explain the interrelation, mutual endowment and mutual restriction of all things, so as to achieve ecological balance. The theory of five elements is a knowledge that is good at solving the balance, harmony and existence of multiple factors, and it is a valuable theoretical method.

The specific content of the five elements is very simple, that is, primary gold, primary water, aquatic wood, wood fire, fire and earth; And the relationship between soil and water, water and fire, fire and gold, Jin Kemu and wood and soil. In other words, there is a complex relationship between the five elements of gold, wood, water, fire and earth.

The so-called symbiosis means that there are "I am born" and "I am born" in the five elements. For example, primary gold means that the earth's veins contain metals, which can be produced by smelting; Jinsheng water means that metal tools can dig wells, canals and water sources, so it is called Jinsheng water. Aquatic wood means that the growth of vegetation must be nourished by water. Plants can't grow without water. Wood fire means that vegetation can burn into fire, which is what the ancients often do. Fire is the first natural force conquered by human beings. Fire-born soil means that hot sunlight can warm the soil and make it full of vitality. In winter, the land is lifeless because there is no fire and no vegetation.

"I am alive" is my "son", just like my own child. My mother gave birth to me, just like my own mother. Every element in the five elements has the mother of the living and the son of the living. The five elements constitute an endless biosphere, an interdependent ecosystem. The five elements are "relatives" to each other, a loving system and a mutually supportive relationship. However, everything in the world needs not only mutual assistance, but also mutual restraint, that is, mutual containment and restraint, in order to establish an equal and harmonious system.

The so-called mutual containment means mutual containment. For example, Tuke water is a dam of soil, which can limit the flow of water. The so-called "water to block the soil" is this truth; Water is used to put out fires; Hawkkin, the metal in the ore was smelted by fire, and it should have been discovered gradually after the ancients mastered the pottery-making technology. Of course, forging metal with fire to make all kinds of utensils and tools is a great pioneering work. Jin Kemu means that metal tools can cut down trees, harvest crops, build ships and wooden furniture; Muke soil means that the growth of vegetation can change the soil structure, make the soil loose without hardening and become a vibrant land.

Between the five elements, it is a dynamic process of human labor participation and a beautiful picture of the harmonious development between man and nature.

Each of the five elements is indispensable. Without a line, this system does not exist. No one element can go too far, it will affect other elements, and other elements will change accordingly, and the balance of the system will be restored through mutual interaction.

It is particularly worth mentioning that water, fire, wood and earth in the five elements can be natural substances, but gold is not. Gold is the fruit of human labor. The harmony between life and five elements can only be realized with the participation of human labor. Without the participation of human activities, the five elements cannot be established or "active"

Archaeology has confirmed that before metal was smelted, it was only in the Stone Age that a large number of metal tools appeared as the material basis for the emergence of the Five Elements Theory.

In other words, "primary gold" is the production of copper, iron and silver by human beings through smelting ores, and the production of metals is the result of human labor; "Jin Kemu" is also a human labor process, harvesting with metal tools and processing wood with metal tools; The process of "burning gold" is the process of human smelting metal and manufacturing metal utensils; The process of "golden water" is the process of digging wells, repairing canals and digging water sources. Therefore, we say that without human creation, the five elements cannot be established, and there are only four material elements: wood, fire, earth and water; Without the participation of human labor, even if there are five substances, they can't be "done", but only the "five things" and "five elements", that is, the five material elements move, "act" and change with the participation of human labor.

The theory of five elements is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. For example, the five flavors of heaven and earth are closely related to the five internal organs of the human body.

Spring gas belongs to the liver and belongs to wood. Summer heat connects the heart, and the heart belongs to fire. The qi of long summer passes through the spleen, which belongs to the soil. Autumn qi passes through the lungs, and the lungs belong to gold. Winter qi belongs to kidney, and kidney belongs to water.

There is wind in spring, and the wind blows the vegetation to make it grow. The growth of vegetation shows upward extension and downward rooting, and the taste of native vegetation is sour. The function of the liver is to drain, wind and stretch like a tree. When the liver qi is comfortable, people's blood will be smooth and the function of digestion and absorption will be vigorous. Trees depend on and affect water and soil. Therefore, whether the function of the liver is normal depends first on whether the kidney water is sufficient and whether the spleen soil is healthy. Of course, wood can make a fire, and fire can produce gold, so excessive liver fire will affect the release of lung qi, the flow of blood and the peace of mind.

Like the liver, the normal function of the other four viscera is not only related to itself, but also affects other viscera, which is the characteristic of traditional Chinese medicine. It doesn't just look at one viscera, but looks for balance in the whole system, trying to restore the balance among five viscera, viscera, viscera, qi, blood, body fluid, five senses, nine orifices, blood gas and bones.

In the system of Five Elements Theory, every line is equal, harmonious, balanced and dynamic. No one can overdo it, which will lead to a series of changes, disharmony, other material factors and diseases. In the same way, no one is allowed to have "one line is too weak" in the five elements, because "one line is too weak" will also affect other lines, resulting in disharmony, imbalance, a series of changes and diseases.

The theory of five elements emphasizes wholeness, harmony, dynamics and balance. The emergence of this "ideal country" requires the mutual containment and great wisdom of multiple worlds. What is great wisdom? It is "Taoism is natural", that is, the movement of heaven, earth, sun, moon and stars forms four seasons and five elements.

It can be said that the theory of five elements is a philosophical thought produced at a certain stage of the development of human society, a philosophical basis for being good at solving complex problems, building a harmonious society and advocating people-oriented, a crystallization of oriental wisdom, an excellent thought of Chinese culture and a theoretical magic weapon for solving complex problems in the world.

Time and space are the existing forms of matter. In the past philosophy, time and space were measured separately, just like two line segments that could cross at will. As long as time and space are combined, different substances will be produced. Therefore, in the past, time and space were always separated, measured and marked by different theories. In the theory of five elements, time and space are fused together with the help of people.

The five flavors of heaven and earth were originally unrelated things, isolated from each other, and were ten material elements with "inclusion standard" and "exclusion standard" respectively. However, with the help of human internal organs, the five flavors of heaven and earth unite to form people and support them together.

Of course, the separation of heaven and earth will also contribute to human death.

The five directions of space, east, west, south, north, middle, spring, summer, autumn and winter, are combined through the five internal organs of the human body under the guidance of the five elements. For example, the east is spring, which belongs to wood; The south is summer, which belongs to fire; West with autumn, belonging to gold; The north is winter and belongs to water; The middle part belongs to the soil, which is related to the four seasons, and mainly belongs to the long summer in late summer and early autumn. This attachment constitutes a whole and dynamic that is uninterrupted in time and inseparable in space.

The five tones, five colors, five bodies, five flavors, seven emotions and nine orifices of the human body can be penetrated by the five elements theory to form a complete system. In other words, the philosophical basis related to the five internal organs of the human body is the theory of five elements.

People often mention the relationship between Yijing and TCM, and most people think that they are closely related, but we can't see the quotation of Yijing in TCM works.

In fact, there is little medical content in the Book of Changes, mainly in methodology, in order to inspire people's thinking. In addition, in methodology, the theory of Yin-Yang and Five Elements passed on the essence of Yijing to TCM. Therefore, it is difficult to see the Book of Changes in the classics of traditional Chinese medicine.

When people interpret the Eight Diagrams in Zhouyi, they think that dry divination represents heaven, Kun divination represents earth, Kan divination represents water, leaving divination represents fire, root divination represents mountain, changing divination represents ze, Zhen divination represents thunder, and Kun divination represents wind. Heaven, earth, water, fire, mountains, mountains, rivers, thunder and wind are basically natural material environments on which people live, and there are no human factors in the eight substances.

However, the land and mountains of gossip can be merged into soil; Heaven, thunder and fire can be combined into fire; Wind can turn into wood; Water or water? Although the material in gossip is rich, it can't cover up the gold in the five elements. In other words, although gossip claims to sum up everything, it lacks the gold in the five elements.

Why is this happening? Because gold is not inherent in nature, it is the result of human labor.

The formation of gossip does not depend on metal, which means it appeared earlier. The theory of five elements can't appear before metal is smelted and when metal tools are not widely used.

In the system of five elements theory, fire, as the earliest natural force mastered by human beings, has a history of more than one million years, and it has gained a more important position than gossip; Because wood can represent life, it also has a special meaning different from wind in gossip; As the representative of the essence of land and mountains and rivers, soil has a more prominent position. Water is the most abundant substance on this planet, and it is also an indispensable substance for life, and its position cannot be underestimated.

In gossip, "Xun" is sometimes interpreted as a symbol of the wind and sometimes as a symbol of wood. In Xiang Zhuan, when the fifteen hexagrams are interpreted with three paintings, the hexagrams are interpreted with wind for ten times and with wood for five times. In most cases, cantaloupe is said to be a symbol of water, and sometimes it is also said to be a symbol of spring, clouds and rain; Deviation from divination is mostly interpreted as a symbol of fire, and in a few cases it is said to be a symbol of light and electricity.

Zhuan Gua Zhuan connects the Eight Diagrams with all directions, matches the head, abdomen, feet, thighs, ears, eyes, hands and mouth of the body, and matches the Eight Diagrams with animals such as horses, cows, dragons, chickens, tapirs, pheasants, dogs and sheep, thus gradually expanding the dependence of the Eight Diagrams.

The legendary gossip originated in Fuxi era, earlier; The theory of five elements was formed in Yu before Shang Dynasty and later than the theory of eight diagrams, which can be used for reference and can be chosen.

The Five Elements not only simplified the "basic unit" of the Eight Diagrams, from eight elements to five elements, but also removed the mysterious cloak of complex operations with the help of "props", making the relationship between gold, wood, water, fire and earth more extensive, universal and close.

The five elements get rid of the calculation results of "contingency" and "randomness" of gossip (that is, the results of each divination are different) and form a theoretical system that often exists and has universal guiding significance.

The theory of five elements also solves some shortcomings of the theory of yin and yang, which makes the connection between complex things in the world include complex forms such as birth control, causal abuse and insult besides the unity of opposites.

For example, men and women are opposites of yin and yang, but apart from the different attributes of yin and yang, there are also mother-child feelings. Besides the unity of opposites of Yin and Yang, water, fire, cold and heat are also different in different regions and seasons. Too much or not enough of the same water and fire will lead to completely different results in different seasons and regions. This complex relationship is handled by the theory of five elements, which is more suitable than the theory of yin and yang.

In the foundational works of TCM theory, Su Wen, Ling Shu and Nan Jing, we have seen the rich contents of the five elements theory, but we have not found any gossip.

As the head of the Six Classics and the source of China culture, "Yi Xue" has been replaced by the theory of Yin-Yang and Five Elements. They merged and interwoven with the original medical knowledge, completely got rid of the influence of "wizards" and "witchcraft", got rid of superstition, and went to science, forming a complete and systematic medical theory, guiding the continuous development, progress and perfection of traditional Chinese medicine, and jointly went to 2 1 century.

In the exchange and impact with modern science, the theory of Yin-Yang and Five Elements still leads the safe and effective treatment and health preservation of traditional Chinese medicine with its deep foundation, broad vision and advantages of being good at solving complex problems, and gradually moves towards the world and brilliant future.