According to Taoist philosophy, nature and the laws that govern the on-going harmonious flow of life energy through the natural world are used to better understand the body and health. Each person is viewed as an ecosystem that is embedded in and related to the larger ecosystem of nature and is thus believed to be subject to the same laws.
The life force, chi (qi), is believed to circulate through the body and enliven it. Health is seen as a function of a balanced harmonious flow of chi, and illness results when there is a blockage or an imbalance in the flow of chi. Yin and yang are opposite and complementary qualities of life energy (chi); yin is regarded as the feminine principle, and yang the masculine principle.
The human being is thought to have a system of pathways called meridians (also sometimes called channels) through which chi flows. The body has been mapped with these meridians, which pass through all its organs, and specific meridians correspond with specific organs or organ systems (also called organ networks). Health is believed to be an ongoing process of maintaining balance and harmony of the circulation of chi through all the organs and the systems of the body.
Symptoms are regarded as signals of impaired flow or circulation of chi through the body and are considered as part of a larger picture or pattern affecting the whole person. The practitioner seeks to connect seemingly unrelated symptoms and come up with a unifying explanation. This unifying explanation uses a unique diagnostic system that incorporates every symptom into a diagnosis.
Harmony and disharmony are understood in two main conceptual frameworks: the eight principles and the five elements.
The eight principles are actually four pairs of complementary opposites describing patterns of disharmony within the person. These pairs are not always important in Western medicine, but in healing systems influenced by Taoism, these details provide clues as to the flow of qi in the patient's body. The eight principles are: interior/exterior, referring to the location of the disharmony in the body (internal organs vs. skin or external qi); hot/cold, referring to qualities of the disease pattern (such as fever or thirst vs. chilliness or desire to drink warm liquids); full/empty, referring to whether the condition is acute or chronic, and whether the body's responses are strong or weak; and the balance of yin/yang. The eight principles are the theoretical basis of all Taoist-influenced modalities.
The five element theory is the basis of the approach called traditional acupuncture (also referred to as classical or five element acupuncture). The five elements are fire, earth, metal, water, and wood. These terms do not refer to basic constituents of matter, but are seen as dynamic qualities of nature and are used to describe the changing qualities of chi energy as it circulates through the person.
The body is thought to have five organ networks, each corresponding with a particular element: heart/small intestine with fire, spleen/stomach with earth, lungs/large intestine with metal, kidneys/bladder with water, and liver/gall bladder with wood. The organ networks are named for the common meridian or energy pathway that circulates through and connects the organs, as it circulates chi throughout the larger body-wide meridian system. The organ systems of Taoist-influenced modalities do not have a corollary in Western medicine and do not refer to clearly defined body tissues. Rather, the organ systems are a complex grouping of symptoms that identify a patient's overall sense of wellbeing. The practitioner's efforts to harmonize the five elements are thought to promote greater harmony in the functioning of all the organ networks.
