Brief Introduction to Five Phases Diagnosis

The five phases theory is a more complex way of looking at the world and our physical state compared to the Eumyang(음양) theory. It enables us to pay more attention to organs and related parts of the body, and it defines the exterior pernicious influences in more specific categories. So it is no wonder that it has had a great influence on methods of diagnosis. Some Korean doctors still use the Five Phases diagnosis in its unchanged form; more use diagnosing methods which are variants and developments from this root.

A disorder is caused by the interaction between pernicious influences and a person's antipathogenic Gi. After a disorder appears, the disorder may exist as an independant state within the body. Therefore, in diagnosing a disorder, three things must be considered. The nature of the pernicious influence, the state of the person's antipathogenic Gi, and the progress of the disorder.

Pernicious Gi and Protective Gi in Diagnosis

It is easier to apply the Phases for the former two. Pathogenic and antipathogenic Gi both follow the Five Phases, as they are part of nature. So when pathogenic Gi enters the body, it is in a fashion in accordance with the Five Phases. This is the reason that Wind is the predominant pernicious influence in spring. And antipathogenic Gi also follows the pattern, so for example, Liver would be easily affected in spring. And the Seven emotions are also related to the Five Phases; therefore they pertain to certain Gi and do damage to specific organs. All this should be considered in diagnosing a patient.

There are points that might seem strange. The Liver is said to thrive in the spring, so why is it damaged in this season? And Anger makes the Liver Gi rise upward, which make it seem unlikely that pathogenic Gi would enter the Liver. But why does this article say things that don't look right?

There are reasons for this kind of physiological response. The Liver may not be damaged in spring, of course. But if any pathogenic Gi enters due to excessive work, the Liver is the first to be affected. For example, a person acting as a member of a group might receive praise for his diligency. But in many cases, after choosing the very person to lead the group, small faults may become visible and may result in his or her getting a bad reputation and loss of health. This is a parallel with the reason the Liver is the first to be affected in spring.

Here we may establish groundwork for diagnosis: When any of the Five Organs have been affected, we may find out which organ, by the season the affection appeared.

Color in Diagnosis

Color and taste are other traits through which we may recognize a disorder. A blue face, stool or urine would indicate the pathogenic Gi is in the Liver. Blue color and Sour taste are two properties linked with the Liver through the Wood Gi. The color of a person's face normally doesn't stop changing. This is because our body follows the changes of the Five Phases. The changes of a person's facial colors change roughly in the same direction as the following paragraph. A person's entire life may be considered in accordance with the Five Phases, but a year, and a day are all periods of time defined by nature and thus are also correlated with the Phases.

A child's face would normally have a bluish tint in comparison to older people, since the Liver Gi is yet strong. After reaching puberty, a red tinge appears amidst the blue, and acnes sprout and most warts at fingertips would disappear. Warts and signs of psoriasis are not so common nowadays, but these were caused by the Liver Gi. The reason they used to appear is that children didn't get enough nutrition to meet the growth caused by Wood Gi. Warts and psoriasis were signs of Wood Gi forced to the exterior. Nowadays, children get little exercise and enough nutrition, so these signs have become unusual. One starts to recede after reaching 40, and hair and face starts to grow white. The whiteness shown in this stage shows no luster. And reaching 60, the face becomes dark because all the energy in the body has been combusted. A dark face among black people has lustrous qualities since the body contains Essence, but an old person's face has no luster since there is no Essence left.

The reason we are able to use color for diagnosis is that the affected organ shows its related color. This is because the affected organ has to exert itself to meet the demands of the body. The organ would naturally become taxed, and thus its colors would show up as the organ strains itself.

Body Form in Diagnosis

The form and structure of the body is even more important than color. Because a person's growth is slow to recognize, the growth of animals such as dogs are useful examples. A healthy animal first grows in length(stature). The shoulders and the hips grow wider, and flesh grows on, until the animal gets a balanced and firm body. Wood Gi makes the animal grow longer, Fire Gi widens the shoulders and hips, Earth Gi puts adds flesh to the framework, Metal Gi balances, and Water Gi makes the creature firm.

An ideal person should have all these characteristics. This means that a person lacking any of them may be prone to certain kinds of disorders. This would be another way of diagnosing a patient on the grounds of the Five Phases. A short person would have weak Liver Gi, and narrow shoulders would indicate weak Heart Gi. A person unable to gain weight would have Spleen Gi problems, an unbalanced shape would tell of weak Lung Gi, and soft skin would mean weakness of Kidney Gi.

Players in traditional Korean wrestling wear only boxer shorts, and one can observe the player's body structure. The game is in favor of heavy people, since traditional Korean wrestling involves hurling the opponent down, but the champions usually show all of the five strong characteristics.

But the most important factor is one's Spirit. A person whose spirit is in harmony with the body is the healthiest of all. There are few who would disagree with this. But there are fewer who can manage this. There certainly are difficulties in observing one's emotions to look for a state of health, but sudden outbreaks of any type of emotion may give clues to the cause of the disorder.

Conclusion

So the Five Phases diagnosis has such reasoning behind its framework, and also has the support of innumerous successful cases of clinical application. Observation of color, shape, pulse and such are sources of information, and the Five Phases diagnosis is a way of sifting the information to find a pattern hidden behind it. But interpreting the pattern is the role of the doctor. No theory is absolute in the hands of a quack. The wise doctor is the one who can find the meaning of the pattern, no matter how he found it.

**Professional information on the cause of disorders and their diagnosis in this article was mostly excerpted from Prof. Pak, Chan Guk's 'Special Lecture on Korean Medicine'.