organs and, on the other hand, disharmony of the internal organs causes emotional imbalance.
The emotions taken into consideration in Chinese medicine have varied over the years. From a
5-Element perspective, the Yellow Emperor's Classic considered 5 emotions, each one affecting
a specific Yin organ:
Anger affecting the Liver
Joy affecting the Heart
Pensiveness affecting the Spleen
Worry affecting the Lungs
Fear affecting the Kidneys.However, these are not by any means the only emotions discussed in the Yellow Emperor's
Classic. In other passages sadness and shock are added, giving 7 emotions:
Anger affecting the Liver
Joy affecting the Heart
Worry affecting the Lungs and Spleen
Pensiveness affecting the Spleen
Sadness affecting the Lungs and Heart
Fear affecting the Kidneys
Shock affecting the Kidneys and Heart.Other doctors considered other emotions such as grief, love, hatred and desire. Grief would
naturally be akin to sadness. "Love" here means not normal love, such as that of a mother
towards her child or that between two lovers, but rather the condition when love becomes an
obsession or when it is misdirected, as when a person loves someone who persistently hurts
them. Hatred is a common negative emotion which would be akin to anger. "Desire" means
excessive craving. The inclusion of this as a cause of disease reflects the Buddhist influence on
Chinese medicine which began during the Tang dynasty. The ultimate cause of disease according
to Buddhist thought is desire, i.e. clinging to external objects or other people and always wanting
more. This excessive craving, which is one aspect of the emotion of "joy" in Chinese medicine,
causes the Minister Fire to blaze upwards and harass the Mind.
Finally, there is one last emotion which is not usually mentioned in Chinese medicine, and that is
guilt. This is an extremely common and damaging emotion. A feeling of guilt may derive from
religious or social taboos or from a person having done something wrong about which he or she
feels guilty. Of course, guilt can also arise in those who always tend to blame themselves, even if
they have done nothing wrong; for example, someone blaming himself (or herself) unnecessarily
for the breakdown of their marriage. This attitude can sometimes be due to patterns established
in childhood if a child is never praised and always reprimanded.
In some cases, guilt may also arise from repressed anger. When anger is repressed and not