Harmonizing the Seven Emotions, Living a Peaceful Life
Harmonizing the Seven Emotions, Living a Peaceful Life
Ancient Chinese medicine recognized the concepts of “external pathogenic factors” and “internal injuries.” “External pathogenic factors” refer to wind, cold, summer-heat, dryness, and fire—equivalent today to microbial infections. “Internal injuries” refer to the seven emotions: joy, anger, worry, thought, grief, fear, and shock—essentially human emotional states. People inevitably react emotionally toward surrounding events, either favorably or unfavorably. These psychological responses are called emotions.
Regulating negative emotions so they do not spiral out of control is a crucial aspect of health preservation. Traditional Chinese health philosophy holds that life originates from yin and yang, and only through balancing yin and yang can longevity and wellness be achieved. Yin-yang theory posits that all natural phenomena contain dual aspects, and the interplay of yin and yang governs all changes. Life depends on the balance between yin essence and yang qi. Though physiological functions are complex and variable, they can all be summarized as the dynamic conflict between yin essence and yang qi. Thus, all life activities result from the dynamic equilibrium of yin and yang. The entire process of birth, growth, strength, aging, and decline stems from the combined action of yang qi (which drives and warms) and yin essence (which nourishes and moistens). When yin, yang, zang-fu organs, meridians, and qi-blood are balanced, the body remains healthy, resists aging, and enjoys extended lifespan. Therefore, unbalanced or uncontrollable emotions disrupt mental stability, disturb yin-yang harmony, and lead to various diseases. Hence, Qing dynasty health expert Shi Chengjin advocated “discussing the seven emotions to live a peaceful life,” preventing emotional imbalance before it occurs. “Discussing the seven emotions” means not letting external stimuli cause emotional fluctuations, maintaining a consistently calm state. “Living a peaceful life” means approaching life circumstances and interpersonal relationships with calm and joyful attitudes, ensuring the seven emotions remain balanced and avoiding internal yin-yang disruption. Clearly, regulating the seven emotions appropriately to maintain balance is a vital method of health preservation.
China’s traditional health practices have developed numerous effective methods for emotional regulation, combining modern psychological therapy with unique techniques of mutual emotional modulation. Famous physician Zhang Zihé of the Jin-Yuan period stated: “Use grief to treat anger; use mournful, sorrowful music to induce it. Use joy to treat grief; use humorous, playful words to cheer. Use fear to treat joy; use words evoking sudden death or panic. Use anger to counteract overthinking; use humiliating or deceitful situations. Use thinking to counteract fear; use words shifting attention from one concern to another.” All these methods require cunning and eccentricity, going to any lengths to deeply move the patient and transform their emotions. Historical medical cases show such emotional modulation effectively restores internal yin-yang balance and treats illness.
By calming the seven emotions and living peacefully, one avoids diseases caused by emotional excess, benefiting health and longevity—a central tenet of Chinese health preservation. Sun Simiao in *Qianjin Yaofang* proposed the Twelve Essentials of Nourishing Life: “Few thoughts, few worries, few desires, few ambitions, few words, few laughs, few sorrows, few joys, few pleasures, few anger, few preferences, few aversions,” adding: “These twelve ‘fews’ are essential principles for cultivating life.” Among them, emotional regulation occupies the majority, demonstrating its paramount importance in health preservation.