Musical Therapy in Chinese Medicine
Romantic, rejuvenating, cathartic, relaxing, energizing, empowering: music has touched these emotional chords in human beings for thousands of years. In ancient China, physicians developed a systematic approach of incorporating musical notes into the healing process.
The use of music as therapy is documented in China’s first medical text, The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine, written 2,300 years ago. Music therapy is an aspect of Five-Element theory, which is foundational to traditional Chinese medicine. All things in nature are composed of the elements of earth, water, fire, metal and wood. Each of these elements has many corresponding aspects, such as season of the year, internal organ, color, musical note, etc. Classical Chinese music was composed from five notes or sounds — jiao, zhi, gong, shang, and yu — and was performed on classical Chinese musical instruments such as drum, gong, flute and zither. Chinese medicine uses the relationship between internal organs and five-element correspondences, such as musical notes, to achieve different healing purposes.
According to this theory, the “jiao” note (corresponding to E in Western musical notation) belongs to the wood element, is the sound of spring, and influences the Liver. It promotes the smooth functioning of Liver Qi, helping to relieve depression. The “zhi” note (corresponding to G) belongs to the fire element, is the sound of summer, and influences the Heart. It helps to nourish the Heart and invigorate blood flow. The “gong” note (corresponding to C) belongs to the earth element, is the sound of late summer, and strengthens the Spleen. The “shang” note (corresponding to D) belongs to the metal element, is the sound of autumn, and protects and nourishes Lung yin. The “yu” note (corresponding to A) belongs to the water element, is the sound of winter, and helps to nourish Kidney yin, protect Kidney essence, and reduce Lung fire.
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