[ENG][Part 3] Five Movements and Six Qi

   CALee Acupuncture

🌿 [Part 3] Five Movements and Six Qi: How Heavenly Energies Flow into the Human Body

— The I Ching's vision of the sky, as interpreted in Oriental Medicine

As mentioned in the introductory post, this series explores the connection between the I Ching and Oriental medicine. Today, we’ll delve into the third theme: the Five Movements (Wu Yun) and Six Qi (Liu Qi), examining how cosmic energies are understood and applied in medical theory.

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■ The Five Movements (Wu Yun): Dynamic Forces from Heaven

In the I Ching, the universe is not static — it is a constant dance of transformation.
The heavens are not just a backdrop, but active agents shaping the quality of each year. Oriental medicine embraces this view through the concept of Wu Yun (Five Movements).

• These are the dynamic elemental forces: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water.

• Each year, one of these forces predominates, in what is called Annual Yun (Sui Yun).

This dominant movement influences both nature and the human body.

For example:

• A Fire-dominant year may increase heat-related disorders like insomnia, inflammation, or heart problems.

• A Water-dominant year might bring cold syndromes, fatigue, or kidney-related issues.

This model helps practitioners anticipate disease trends on a yearly basis.

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■ The Six Qi (Liu Qi): Environmental Factors as Pathogenic Forces

In addition to the five elemental movements, Oriental medicine incorporates six environmental influences, known as the Six Qi:
Wind, Cold, Summer Heat, Dampness, Dryness, and Fire.

These are not only meteorological concepts but are also seen as pathogenic factors when they interact harmfully with the body.

For example:

• Excess Dampness in humid seasons can lead to joint pain or digestive issues.

• Overabundant Dryness in autumn can trigger respiratory problems and skin conditions.

In the I Ching, these patterns are not random but follow predictable cyclical rhythms.
Oriental medicine interprets these rhythms as guidelines for diagnosis and prevention.

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■ Seasonal Diseases and Clinical Application of Wu Yun and Liu Qi

Modern clinical experience confirms that many diseases exhibit seasonal tendencies.
This is not simply due to temperature, but also the cyclical energetic patterns described by the I Ching and reflected in the theory of Wu Yun and Liu Qi.

Season	Dominant Qi	Key Organs	Common Disorders
Spring	Wood / Wind	Liver	Allergies, headaches, colds
Summer	Fire / Heat	Heart	Insomnia, palpitations, heatstroke
Late Summer	Earth / Damp	Spleen	Bloating, indigestion, swelling
Autumn	Metal / Dry	Lung	Cough, dry skin, nasal issues
Winter	Water / Cold	Kidney	Low back pain, chills, urinary issues

This table reflects a profound idea:

The same logic used by the I Ching to read cosmic time is used by Oriental medicine to read patterns of illness.

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■ In Closing: From Cosmic Order to Clinical Wisdom

The I Ching is not merely a book of divination — it’s a blueprint of how change unfolds in the cosmos.
Oriental medicine borrows from this framework to understand how external energies penetrate and influence the internal body.

The theory of Wu Yun and Liu Qi is, in essence, the pathway through which the heavens leave their imprint on human health.

In the next installment, we’ll explore how this cosmic logic is embedded even more structurally — in the form of the Eight Trigrams (Ba Gua) and the meridian system, the “map of the universe” within the human body. 🧭

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Shall we keep walking together? 🌱