The Seven Emotions

The seven emotions are joy, anger, worry, contemplation, sorrow, fear, and shock. The seven emotions can cause disease, and conversely, disorders of the internal organs can cause the seven emotions. The Yellow Emperor's Classics of Internal Medicine states: "Anger will force energy to move upward; joy will cause energy to relax; grief will cause energy to disperse; fear will cause energy to move downward; cold will cause energy to constrict; heat will cause a reduction of energy; shock will cause a disorder of energy; labor will consume energy; contemplation will cause energy to coagulate; anger will cause upsurging energy and in severe cases, the patient will display the symptoms of vomiting blood and diarrhea containing undigested foods. Thus, anger will cause energy to move upward. When one is joyful, the energy will remain in harmony, and the will is fulfilled so that nutritive and defense energies will flow smoothly.

Thus, joy will cause energy to relax. When one is in grief, the heart connectives will become cramped, the lungs will be expanded with lobes lifted up, the upper burning space will be blocked up, and the nutritive and defense energies will be unable to disperse. As the hot energy is in the internal region, it will extinguish energy. Fear will cause a decline of pure energy. When pure energy is in decline, it will cause a blockage of the upper burning space; when the upper burning space is blocked up, the energy will move downward; when the energy moves downward, the lower burning space will be distended; thus, the energy stream stops. In contemplation, the heart focuses on something, the spirits have a place to return to, and the righteous energy stays put; thus, the energy becomes coagulated."