This restores the balance and harmony of Qi. These Points are used to transfer Qi between COSs when there is one or more with Qi Excess and an equal number with Qi Deficiency. Each Channel has 5 special Points, corresponding to each of the Five Phases and a Luo (Passage) Point. Therapy involves restoration of the balance of Qi. Thus, Fire relates to the COSs Heart and Small Intestine (HT and SI) and their Correspondences (sweat, tongue, speech, face, circulation, excitability, psyche, bitter taste, red, summer, south etc).ĭisease involves imbalance ( Excess, Deficiency or Stagnation) of Qi in one or more COSs. In the Ko Cycle, Fire is the Grandmother of (dominates or controls) Earth and Metal is the Grandson of (is brought under control by) Earth.Įach Phase (or ELEMENT) relates to a specific Yin/Yang pair of the Channel-Organ System (COS) and to a wide list of Correspondences (function, emotion, excretion, body tissue, season, food etc). The Ko Cycle is : Fire X Metal X Wood X Earth X Water X Fire. In the Sheng Cycle, Fire is the Mother of (feeds or strengthens) Earth and Metal is the Son of (is nourished by) Earth. The Sheng Cycle is: Fire -> Earth -> Metal -> Water -> Wood -> Fire.
Thus, the Five Phases have a Sheng (Mother-Son, anabolic, creative, nourishing = ->) and a Ko (Grandmother-Grandson, catabolic, controlling, destructive, = X) Cycle. As Yin and Yang have anabolic and catabolic aspects, so also have the Five Phases. The Phases and their Correspondences interact in predictable ways. Five Phase Theory extends Yin-Yang Theory, in which all things in nature are classified into five basic types or Correspondences: Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, Wood. Nature and the body are unities, in which mutual control and harmony are maintained by creation (anabolism) and destruction (catabolism). Postgraduate Course in Veterinary AP, Dublin, 1996 FIVE PHASE THEORY AND ITS USE IN MEDICINE Part 1