A Brief Analysis of the Correspondence Between Root-Qi and Branch-Qi of the Six Qi

Abstract

There are three major reasons why the theory of Five Movements and Six Qi employs Three Yins and Three Yangs for designation. First, the theories of Three Yins and Three Yangs and of Five Movements and Six Qi respectively originate from the Yin-Yang theory and the Five-Elements theory, and the Yin-Yang theory and the Five-Elements theory are fused into one through the Qi theory, which provides the philosophical premise for designating Five Movements and Six Qi with Three Yins and Three Yangs. Second, the core spirit of both Three Yins and Three Yangs and the Five Movements is to conceptualize the movement of Qi as a circular cycle advancing in a definite sequence. Third, Three Yins and Three Yangs were originally used to designate the Zang-Fu viscera and meridians of the human body, whereas the Five Movements in the Seven Treatises on Yun-Qi are used to describe the Qi of Heaven and Earth and nature; designating Five Movements and Six Qi with Three Yins and Three Yangs thus connects the Qi of Heaven and Earth with the viscera and meridians of the human body.