Wu Xing is studied as a wheel of correspondences. It keeps the channel inside its element. It does not label a person.
The first-year wheel
Wood: liver and gallbladder. Fire: heart and small intestine, and on many syllabuses also pericardium and triple burner. Earth: spleen and stomach. Metal: lung and large intestine. Water: kidney and bladder. Learn the pair before the list of flavours or emotions.
Generating and controlling
The generating cycle (mother-child) and the controlling cycle are blackboard sentences for following a study imbalance. They are not a verdict. If the syllabus asks for them, draw the wheel and mark one step.
In the atlas
Each element has a page. From there you go down to the meridian and the point. You do not need a second notebook: the link is the note.
The five elementsThe 12 meridiansTCMArticle
Questions
- Is fire two meridians or four?
- Heart and small intestine always. Pericardium and triple burner join fire on most TCM syllabuses. Check your school’s programme and do not mix the two counts on one diagram.
- Does this describe my character?
- No. It is a study correspondence between channel and element. It is not a personality test.
Study reference within traditional Shiatsu/TCM frameworks. Does not diagnose or treat.