The four qi and five flavors and elevation and sinking all belong to the content of the theory of medicinal properties, but their concepts, the basis for determining and clinical significance have differences.
1. Four qi and five flavors: four qi refers to the drug has cold, hot, warm, cool four different medicinal properties, also known as the four sexes; five flavors refers to the drug has sour, bitter, sweet, pungent, salty five different medicinal flavors. The four qi and five flavors of each Chinese medicine are different and thus have different therapeutic effects.
Among them, the four qi is based on the drug affects the body’s yin and yang, cold and hot changes in the role of tendency, while the five flavors of the determination of the basis is based on the therapeutic effect of the drug deduction is the main, oral taste to obtain as a supplement.
2. Lift and sink and float: lift and sink and float is the drug to the body has upward, downward, inward and outward four different kinds of tendency; its determination based on the texture of the drug, the drug’s smell of thick and thin, the drug’s taste and most importantly, the drug’s utility. The lifting, floating and sinking of drugs can help play a guiding role in the matching of drugs and help adjust the disorder of internal organs and qi to restore normal physiological functions.
The four qi and five flavors and the elevation, floating and sinking all belong to the important content of the theory of medicinal properties in traditional Chinese medicine, each of them represents different meanings and has different determination bases, but ultimately they are all for the purpose of better guiding the dispensing of medicines. The use of Chinese medicine needs to be decided by a professional doctor according to the condition, not blindly use their own medicine.