The Tao of Health, Sex and Longevity

Charts illustrating the Five Elemental Activities and their cosmic associations

Each force is generated (‘given birth’) by one of the other forces and suppressed (‘conquered’) by a different one, as follows:

A literal look at the symbols explains their relationships. Wood burns to generate fire. Fire produces ash, which generates Earth. Earth generates and yields forth Metal. When heated, Metal becomes molten, generating the Water element. Water promotes plant growth, thereby generating Wood. Following the suppressive cycle, Wood depletes soil of nutrients, thereby suppressing Earth. Earth soils and channels Water, thereby ‘conquering’ it. Water suppresses fire by extinguishing it. Fire suppresses Metal by melting it, and Metal suppresses Wood by cutting it. The generative cycle is called the ‘Mother/Son’ relationship, and the suppressive cycle is the ‘Victor/Vanquished’ relationship. Their constant interactions produce the myriad phenomena of the universe.

The Yellow Emperor’s Classic describes the connection between emotions and energy as follows:

Anger causes chee to rise, joy causes chee to slow down, grief causes chee to dissipate, fear causes chee to descend, surprise causes chee to scatter, exhaustion causes chee to waste away, thought causes chee to concentrate.