In this article I hope to make Chinese medicine comprehensible mainly by dividing it into four categories and describing examples of each. First, however, I describe briefly one of TCM's most important theories and summarize what Chinese medicine encompasses. The ancient Chinese construct of the Five Elements is an integral part of TCM theory.
Wood destroys Earth.
Metal destroys wood. In Chinese medicine, each of the Five Elements symbolizes a group of physiologic functions. For example, Metal represents decay, and Wood represents a growth phase. The alternative-medicine literature includes many affirmative references to the Five Elements. The Five Elements' planetary counterparts are Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus, and Mercury, to which Chinese cosmologists attributed astrological qualities very different from those attributed by Western astrologists.