The Senses and Emotions in Traditional Chinese Medicine

Abstract

There are fundamental differences between East and West about how the Elements and Activities that conform the Universe are concieved. Greeks studied four elements and Chinese developed a Five Movement Theory. The five senses were also different for Chinese doctors: hear, sight, taste, smell and diction (speaking). The inclusion of “speaking” among the senses suggests that early Chinese doctors and philosophers looked at the activities that humans develop instead of thinking that humans passively sense and then have motor responses. This is discussed in the context of both cultures and associated with the ideas Chinese had about emotions in clinical practice.

Keywords: Emotions, Senses, Traditional Chinese Medicine