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Fear is the emotion associated with the Kidney, so why does it injure the Kidney? It is because "the Kidney governs hibernation and is the root of sealing and storing"; it prefers stillness over movement. Fear causes Qi to sink, which precisely disturbs this state. As Zhang Zihe stated: Pathologies caused by fear-Qi include soreness and weakness of the bones, flaccidity and coldness of the limbs (Wei Jue), sudden diarrhea of clear fluid, impotence, and jaw dislocation due to fright. Are not all these symptoms clear evidence of Kidney injury? If a person skilled in contemplation faces such a situation, even without extraordinary events occurring suddenly, they would naturally maintain a firm perspective; how could fear shake their judgment? Moreover, the emotion of contemplation originates from the Spleen. Using contemplation to overcome fear is essentially using Earth to control Water. In terms of both sentiment and logic, this fits perfectly.

The Spleen's emotion is contemplation, and the Liver's emotion is anger. Wood controls Earth; this is the principle. The meanings of "injury" and "victory" are also explicit. Qibo said: "Contemplation causes the mind to dwell on something and the Spirit to return inward; healthy Qi remains stagnant and does not flow, thus causing Qi stagnation." The Spleen resides in the Central Region and belongs to Earth; it favors vigorous transformation and abhors stagnation. Contemplation leads to Qi knotting, hence it is said to cause injury. Furthermore, although contemplation is the emotion of the Spleen, it fundamentally stems from the Heart. The Heart is the mother of the Spleen. Now, excessive contemplation secretly consumes the Heart's Nutritive Qi. Since the Mother Qi is deficient, the assistance provided to the Spleen is also diminished. As for anger overcoming contemplation, this goes without saying. One often observes that when people are deeply engrossed in thought, a sudden contrary event occurs. A momentary fit of anger causes them to abandon everything; the previous thoughts that were pursued relentlessly are now disregarded as there is no time to consider them. There is no other reason than human nature, which involves differences between slowness and urgency.

The Liver is a Wood organ; it desires dispersion but suffers from constraint. The Classics state: "When Liver Qi is deficient, there is fear; when it is excess, there is anger." It also states: "Anger causes Qi to ascend." Relying on its role as the General Officer and its rigid nature, adding anger further aids this Qi, resulting in constraint rather than dispersion. Hence, it is said to cause injury. As for grief, it arises from sorrow and pain. The Classics state: "Grief causes Qi to dissipate." Therefore, at a time when Qi is rebelling upwards, encountering this dissipation-inducing grief is termed "victory." Who would deny this?
One might ask: The victory of the four emotions aligns with the theory of Five Element counter-control. Here, anger is the emotion of the Liver. Why is it not overcome by the Lung's emotion of worry/sorrow, but rather by "grief overcoming anger"? Generally, there are seven emotions: joy, anger, worry, contemplation, grief, fear, and fright. However, the Five Zang organs have only five emotions. Thus, grief and fright are omitted because grief is similar to worry, both belonging to unfulfilled desires; fright is similar to fear, both involving timidity. Grief is more urgent in nature than worry, so its ability to overcome anger is more pronounced. From this perspective, one could equally say that worry overcomes anger.