5,079
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
[[File:Chiny - gotowanie sosu sojowego.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.6|A pot of soy sauce in an illustration from the ''Food Herbal'']]
The movements of tree and fire are, respectively, the initial and final phases of ''yang'', that is, energy moving upwards and outwards, growth and expansion. The movements of metal and water are the initial and final phases of ''yin'', or energy moving downwards and inwards, condensation and consolidation. And the movement of earth is the axis around which all other movement take place. The five movements are reflected in time and space as movement of the sun 's motion in sky and cardinal directions: tree – sunrise – east, fire – noon – south, metal – sunset – west, water – midnight – north, and earth is in the middle.
When it comes to human anatomy, the movements are assigned to key internal organs, with the latter divided into those which are hollow inside (''yang'') and those that are solid (''yin''). Tree corresponds to the liver (solid) and the gallbladder (hollow); fire, respectively, to the heart and the small intestine; earth, to the spleen or pancreas (I never know which is which, and ancient Chinese doctors seem to have also treated them as if they were a single organ) and the stomach; metal, to the lungs and the colon; and water, to the kidneys and the urinary bladder.
{| class="wikitable"
| style="background: LightCoral;" | 1
| style="width:1015%;" | Fire phasemovement
| First, quite literally, light a fire on the stove and heat up the pan.
|-
| style="background: Yellow;" | 2
| Earth phasemovement
| Put a piece of butter on the pan and let it melt.
|-
| style="background: White" | 3
| Metal phasemovement| Add some chopped onion. And now, focusBut here comes a twist: fresh onion has a pungent taste, so it belongs in the metal phasemovement, but when sautéed, it becomes mild and sweet, which takes us back to the earth phasemovement.
|-
| style="background: Yellow" | 4
| Earth phasemovement| Take advantage of getting back to this phase movement by breaking in a few eggs. Stir.
|-
| style="background: White" | 5
| Metal phasemovement
| You can't skip it now, so we need to add something pungent again. Add some freshly ground pepper.
|-
| style="background: DimGray; color: white;" | 6
| Water phasemovement
| This is easy, you need to add something salty, so just sprinkle in a pinch of salt.
|-
| style="background: PaleGreen;" | 7
| Tree phasemovement
| Finally, garnish your scrambled eggs with some chopped parsley leaves.
|}
