THE ORIGIN OF THE FIVE ELEMENTS IN THE TRADITIONAL THEOREM OF ACUPUNCTURE: A PRELIMINARY BRIEF HISTORIC ENQUIRY

Abstract

Five Xing is an important integral in the traditional theoretic basis of acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine. The word Xing has been translated as Element. However, it actually denotes movement and activity. The word element implies a stationary state. Some of the evidence in ancient Chinese literature was reviewed to support the hypothesis that Five Xing were originally meant to be the Five Xing Xin (Moving Stars, i.e., Planets). By the 4th century B.C., associations of the Stars with human events gradually evolved. However, between the 4th and the 6th century A.D., when the Taoist scholar-physicians expanded the Five Xing into abstractive concepts, they used the five basic materials as their representatives. Since they were basically alchemists and not astronomers, they apparently minimized the relationship between the Five Moving Stars and the human illnesses. It is, therefore, proposed that the usage of the word Element be discontinued and the word Xing be employed as is.

Keywords

Five Xing Five Elements Five Xing Xin (Moving Stars)Five Planets acupuncture traditional Chinese medicine Chinese philosophy

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

1.Anonymous: Imperial Collections of Literature. Section on Arts and Crafts. Complete Works of Medicine. Vol. 1-6, Su Wen (“Common Questions”). Vol. 6-9 Lina Shu (“Book of Acupuncture”). Yangfu-Shangvuan Edition. 1897. (In Chinese). [

]

2. Breuer

, Translated by Attanaslo

: Columbus was Chinese. New York: Herder and Herder. Pp. 5-7. 1972.

3. Fung

: A Short History of Chinese Philosophy. New York: The Free Press. 1948.

Liao

Questions and Answers about Acupuncture. Middlebury, Connecticut: American Academy of Acupuncture, Inc. 1980.

Needham

Celestial Lancets. A History and Rationale of Acupuncture and Moxa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1982.

Meng

The Origins of The Theoretic Bases of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Chongqing: Chongqing Publishers. 1990. (In Chinese)

LKY

Liao

Acupuncture. Traditional and Scientific Perspectives. In Weiner

(Ed.) Innovations in Pain Management. Orlando, Florida: Paul M Deutsch Press. In Press.

Omura

Acupuncture Medicine. Its Historical and Clinical Background. Chapter III.3, “The Five Element Theory” and Its Application in Classical Oriental Medicine, Pp. 137-142, and Chapter III.4. “The Eight Element Theory” of “I Ching” and “the Five Element Theory” of “Nei Ching” and “Nan Ching”, Pp. 142-143. Tokyo: Japan Publications. Distributed by New York: Harper and Row. 1982.

9. Temple

., Introduced by Joseph

Needham

: The Genius of China. New York: Simon & Schuster. 1986.

10.

Veith

Huang Ti Nei Ching Su Wen. Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine. New Edition. Berkeley CA: University of California Press. 1972.