Acu-Care Health Centers

Five Element Theory

Five Element Theory is one of the foundational concepts of Oriental medicine. It represents the fundamental processes and primary relationships in the Chinese System. Five Element Theory relates all energy and substance to one of the elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. Each element corresponds with one of five organ networks, five seasons, five climates, five personality types, the tissues in the body that it governs and many other associations. The relationship of the five elements describes the repeating cycles of transformation: birth, growth, maturation, harvest and decay.

Each organ network passes Qi to the organ network it supports, and, when necessary, controls imbalances in the Qi of the organ which it regulates. This chart is an illustration showing the different relationships associated with each organ.

Element	Color	Yin (Zang) Organ	Yang (Fu) Organ	Tissues	Sense Organs	Taste
Water	Black	Kidneys	Bladder	Bones	Ears	Salty
Wood	Blue/Green	Liver	Gall Bladder	Nerves	Eyes	Sour
Fire	Red	Heart	Small Intestine	Blood Vessels	Tongue	Bitter
Earth	Yellow	Spleen	Stomach	Muscles	Mouth	Sweet
Metal	White	Lungs	Large Intestine	Skin	Nose & Sinuses	Spicy

The goal of Five Element Theory in practice is to adjust the flow of Qi, restoring the body to a state of balance. Once this has been accomplished, the body is better able to heal itself.

Are you feeling out of balance? Answer the questions in our Five Element Questionnaire, then give us a call.