FONG WAN - Library

FIVE COLORS REPRESENT THE FIVE ELEMENTS IN NATURE
1. RED represents the FIRE ELEMENT.
2. YELLOW represents the EARTH ELEMENT.
3. BLACK (dark) represents the WATER ELEMENT.
4. WHITE represents the MINERAL ELEMENT.
5. GREENISH BROWN represents the VEGETATION ELE-
MENT.
Not only does each of these colors represent an element in Nature
but it also represents one of the five divisions of the human race. There-
fore, in each human face, one or more of these five colors is present.
For example: Some individuals of the White Race are very white;
others are a darkish brown (liver color), while others are a greenish
white, a yellowish white, or a reddish white. In each person, there is a
combination of one dominant color with others of these five colors.
A red, inflamed face signifies that the blood is overheated, there be-
ing too much of the fire element. This condition causes nervousness,
high blood pressure, headache, dizziness and heart trouble. Persons
with a liver-colored or with a yellowish-green complexion are victims
of ailments of the gall bladder and spleen.
In addition to the fact that the majority of internal disorders are
made manifest by the color of the skin, it is also true that the color of
the human tongue reveals the condition of the internal organs. For
thousands of years, Chinese Herbalists have studied the colors of the
tongue, because it is possible in many cases to discover with certainty
the diseased conditions of the internal organs by simply looking at the
tongue.
The key to the method of "tongue-reading"
is as follows : The color
of the tip of the tongue represents the heart; of the center, the stomach
and spleen; of the edges, the liver and gall; and of the under-side of
the tongue, the kidneys. A brownish color signifies an over-heated
system. Not infrequently do tongues turn so deep a brown that they
change to a coal-black. The color under the tongue becomes a blackish
purple, because the fire element burns so fiercely in the stomach that
the inflammation extends even to the kidneys. Many people are skep-
tical regarding the significance of a coated tongue. However, great
suffering can be prevented if people will but watch their tongues
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