Library

Human diseases are not beyond three categories of etiology: external causes include the Six Excesses (Wind, Cold, Summerheat, Dampness, Dryness, and Fire), internal causes involve the Seven Emotions (Joy, Anger, Worry, Pensiveness, Sorrow, Fear, and Fright), while factors such as improper diet, overwork, and trauma belong to neither purely internal nor external causes. When one is solely affected by the Six Excesses, even if the individual has a constitutionally weak physique, severe illness will not necessarily occur. However, if there is concurrent injury from the Seven Emotions, leading to prior deficiency of the Zang organs followed by the contraction of external pathogens, the resulting disease will inevitably be severe. Therefore, the damage caused by the Seven Emotions exceeds that of external contractive diseases.

The injuries caused by the Seven Emotions each have their specific organ associations. Joy is associated with the Heart, Anger with the Liver, Pensiveness with the Spleen, Worry with the Lung, and Fear with the Kidney; these constitute the Five Willful Emotions (Wu Zhi). Additionally, Sorrow is associated with the Lung, and Fright with the Heart, together forming the Seven Emotions. The Seven Emotions are unavoidable in human life, but they must not be excessive; excess leads to injury. Although this injury is distributed among the five Zang organs, it essentially pertains only to the Heart. The Heart serves as the Sovereign Monarch, while the other organs act as ministers, all obeying the commands of the monarch. They merely execute the orders issued by the sovereign. Thus, those skilled in health preservation maintain a firm mind, akin to Yue Fei’s army, which was unshakable. If the commander remains composed, who would dare to move rashly? Similarly, when Zhang Weigong was in the military camp, he heard noise and disturbance at night but lay still and calm. Soon, silence prevailed. The next day, upon investigating, he identified the instigator and executed him. Seeing the leader remain unmoved, no one dared to act; seeing the crowd move, yet the leader remained steadfast. The relationship between the Heart and the other four organs is analogous: in an army, order is maintained; in a person, harm is avoided. As for avoiding being troubled by hunger, fullness, or labor, people can generally manage this easily; it is not comparable to the difficulty of controlling the Seven Emotions, let alone physical trauma.

In ancient times, Xie An’s breaking of his wooden clogs and Jing Wen’s gathering of chess pieces, though involving emotional restraint, ultimately reflected elegant magnanimity. Encountering joy as if there were none, and meeting sorrow or fright as if there were none, indicates a mind that holds its ground. When faced with unreasonable treatment or sudden adversity, ordinary men would surely burst into anger. Yet the virtuous declare that such matters can be resolved through reason and forgiven through empathy, never reacting with the explosive anger of the common folk. This is due to understanding principles. When Guan You’an crossed the sea during a hurricane, with the boat threatening to capsize, the passengers were overwhelmed with fear, yet Guan displayed no look of worry and spoke in his usual tone. This too is because he understood destiny. Understanding principles and knowing destiny are capabilities unique to the Heart. Hence I say: although the Seven Emotions are distributed among the five Zang organs, they essentially pertain only to the Heart. Observing this makes the concept clear and lucid.