Guest guest Posted June 3, 2001 Report Share Posted June 3, 2001 >After doing a little research on herbal medicine, I recently discovered >that herbs are categorized into Hot, Warm, Neutral, Cool and Cold. And in >Chinese medicine, they are further categorized according to the ZangFu >organs they affect (this I assume is how Chinese herbal medicine operates). Yes. Say for example a person who is Cold overall has Heat in the Liver. Because herbs have affinity for certain systems, it's possible to target the Liver with a cooling herb. " Guide herbs " may also be used. A guide herb is one which is included in a formula to guide the actions of other herbs to a particular system. For example, some Kidney tonics are taken with a pinch of salt in order to better insure that the Kidneys get the maximum effect of all the herbs in the formula. >But I recently found this information on a Chinese herbalists web page: > >Fire - Hot >Metal - Warm >Wood - Neutral >Earth - Cool >Water - Cold > >(note, Ko cycle) > >Of course, Fire and Water are correct, but I'm a bit confused about the >other three. Are these the correct qualities of each? >Let's look at this according to the Sheng cycle. > >Water - Cold >Wood - Neutral >Fire - Hot >Earth - Cool >Metal - Warm Please post the website address so I can take a look. I'm confused too. I've seen the 5 Elements classified according to relative Yin/Yang qualities, and different tastes will *tend* to have certain thermal energies. (For example, pungent or spicy herbs will *tend* to have very heating thermal energy. Bitter herbs will *tend* to have very cooling thermal energy. There are exceptions.) For those new to TCM, the first cycle - Fire, Metal, Wood, Earth, Water - is the Victor/ Vanquished cycle of the 5 Elements. The second cycle - Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal - is the Mother-Son cycle. There are previous posts on the 5 Elements. A lot of TCM courses don't teach the 5 Elements, but I find that knowledge of the 5 Elements and their relationships can provide extra analysis and healing abilities. For those interested in learning more, do a search on the Chinese Traditional Medicine website for " Elements " . Victoria _______________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 3, 2001 Report Share Posted June 3, 2001 After doing a little research on herbal medicine, I recently discovered that herbs are categorized into Hot, Warm, Neutral, Cool and Cold. And in Chinese medicine, they are further categorized according to the ZangFu organs they affect (this I assume is how Chinese herbal medicine operates). But I recently found this information on a Chinese herbalists web page: Fire - Hot Metal - Warm Wood - Neutral Earth - Cool Water - Cold (note, Ko cycle) Of course, Fire and Water are correct, but I'm a bit confused about the other three. Are these the correct qualities of each? Let's look at this according to the Sheng cycle. Water - Cold Wood - Neutral Fire - Hot Earth - Cool Metal - Warm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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