The Color Connection In Traditional Chinese Medicine
As we celebrate St Patrick’s Day and everyone is wearing green, you might stop and think, why green? What does that represent? Then you might ask yourself, why is red associated with Valentines Day? Why do we associate colors with certain events, emotions, or objects? In Traditional Chinese Medicine, color association is all about the theory of the Five Elements.
The Five Elements
A fundamental classification system in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), The Five Elements system is a way of understanding the physical world that students of Eastern tradition— from acupuncturists and herbalists, to martial artists, tai qi healers, feng shui practitioners, and spiritual teachers— learn as a foundation. This ancient system was created to explain natural phenomenon from weather patterns to diseases of the human body.
The color associations linked to the physical and emotional characteristics in the Five Elements Theory are relationships between things that should start us thinking on a deeper level about connections. The more connections we make between the outside and inside worlds, the deeper our understanding of ourselves as part of the bigger picture of nature becomes.
Image credit: By Parnassus - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0
Green Growth
Let’s start at the beginning of the color cycle, the beginning of the year—spring and the color green. As new plant growth bursts forth in the springtime, there is green as far as the eye can see. Green is the color associated with the liver in Chinese medicine and the liver is the organ associated with spring. Its partner in TCM is the gall bladder. The gall bladder and its product, bile, are seen as green in medical texts. This is not coincidence but ancient observation linking the nature we see to our own physical nature. Scholars theorize that the donning of green garments on St. Patrick’s Day and the association of shamrocks with the Irish holiday represents the regenerative powers of nature (in spring!).
The Power of Red
Next on the Five Element color wheel is red or the fire element which represents the heart. We saw this in last month’s holiday, Valentine’s Day. Fire is associated with strength, power, and volatility, and the same can be said for the heart organ and emotion. Red is the strongest of all the colors in evoking emotion. Children tend to pick it out first when learning colors, and marketing for food and restaurant products apply the color red to provoke hunger and a “lust for food”.
The Yellow Earth
As we continue around the Five Element color wheel, next we come to the spleen organ system (the digestive system in Western medicine), which represents the earth element and the color yellow. Yellow is an earth tone and the earth, the very ground beneath our feet, represents stability. Diagnosing and treating through the digestive system is arguably the most important aspect of treatment in TCM. Maintaining the health of the digestive system and keeping it grounded and stable is the key to good health. We are what we eat and what we eat determines how we digest.
The ancient Chinese people saw themselves as part of the earth element. They looked to the heavens for the answers, and the earth to keep them grounded and they were the conduit between the two.
White—All Colors In One
Next on the color wheel, we come to white, the combination of all colors, associated with metal. White is close to the color silver and the color of metal objects like knives, coins, and in ancient kingdoms, swords. The metal element is represented by the lungs and large intestine, partners to our immune system. Many of the supplements we take to enhance immune system health are designated as metals on the periodic table. Zinc is a white metal and a very strong immunity booster. Potassium and magnesium are also metal elements on the periodic table as well as electrolytes that keep the muscles working properly. Selenium, another metal, is an immune-boosting supplement that helps with oxidative stress.
Black—The Absence of Color
The final color on the Five Element wheel belongs to the water element and it is the color black. This element is represented by the kidneys and it’s the deepest organ system, found in the darkest part of the year—winter—and it literally has the most depth. Black is the absence of all light and the kidneys represent the beginning or genesis of a human (absence becomes presence). Chinese Medicine works from the belief that all of our traits and genetics are stored in the kidneys. If you look into deep water, it appears very dark blue or black. When you scoop up a handful of that water it is clear.
How I Use Color in Your Treatment
Understanding the connections between color and the body’s systems and emotional characteristics can help an acupuncture practitioner diagnose patients. Applying the Five Element theory may help me narrow down a diagnosis when the patient shows a variety of signs and symptoms.
For example, when a patient tells me they “saw red” and felt their face turning red with anger, I know that they were hurt emotionally and that they were so angry and frustrated that their blood pressure went up. I would target the heart and pericardium meridian in my treatment of this patient to help calm them and lower their blood pressure.
If a patient whose liver is not working properly comes into my clinic, I can expect that they will have a greenish skin tone. This abnormal skin coloration is a result of blood not being cleansed properly because the liver is overworked trying to filter an excess of waste products. The liver is not able to function at its maximum capacity and the body’s waste disposal system is clogged or backed up.
In these two examples, I listened to the patient explain their symptoms, and then I corroborated my diagnosis through observation of their physical body, including assessment and application of the Five Element color theory. I was then able to treat them effectively with acupuncture, herbal medicines, and nutritional counseling.
Nutritional balancing and working through emotional issues can also benefit from a practitioner’s application of the Five Element theory. Red cherries help the heart tonify the blood and reduce inflammation by carrying away free radicals from the circulatory system via the blood. I might recommend tart red cherry juice to a patient with knee pain for its anti-inflammatory effects.
Garlic, onions, and leeks benefit the lungs, breaking up mucous and phlegm. These white, “metal” foods are all members of the alum family, high in antioxidants and quercetin which is an anti-viral, anti-microbial, and anti-inflammatory flavonoid. A perfect recipe for lung health!
The next time you’re “feeling blue” or “green with envy”, or choosing a red shirt over a black one, ask yourself why and refer to the five elements system for a deeper look at how color is integral to the most fundamental aspects of our lives. There is more to colors than meets the eye!