Why the Chinese Don't Count Calories by Lorraine Clissold

Author:Lorraine Clissold
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: CKB090000
ISBN: ISBN9781742734828
Publisher: Hardie Grant Books
Published: 2008-09-30T16:00:00+00:00

Why Chinese people hug trees

In the early morning Chinese parks are full of people taking in the morning air. Often you will see an old woman with her leg at right angles against a tree or a man doing pull-ups. Some use one of the exercise areas that now feature in every park, but they often prefer the connection with nature – wood, in particular, represents the liver, which needs to be kept toned so that it can ensure the steady flow of blood, qi and jing. It was only when I began to appreciate the Taoist view of the world as a living organism, where man is an integral part of a greater whole, that I began to see how every aspect of Chinese life is connected with nature and is manifest in the Five Elements of wood, fire, earth, metal and water.

The relationship between the Five Organs is best understood against the background of the Five Elements which nourish each other and consume each other all the time in what is sometimes called the ‘cycle of promotion and consumption’. So the growth of wood is fed by water, but wood has to consume water to grow; fire is fed by wood, but wood is destroyed by fire’s flames; earth is nourished by the ashes from fire, but fire can be extinguished by earth; metal comes from the earth but when metal is extracted it robs the earth of its resources; and water is divined by metal, but metal can be diluted by water.

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