Conceptual Blending, Chinese Five Element Theory and Cognitive Coherence

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Conceptual Blending, Chinese Five Element Theory, and Cognitive Coherence
Nathan Davis—M.A. Thesis
Dept. of Cognitive Linguistics
Sussex University 2006
Abstract
Chinese medicine is an ancient form of health care that has relied heavily upon analogical thinking in order to build a complex system of
knowledge networks. Cognitive linguistics is a modern approach to understanding encyclopaedic knowledge networks within the human
mind. In this study conceptual blending theory—from cognitive science and linguistics—is utilized to illustrate possible cognitive constructs
within the Chinese five-element theory of Chinese medical philosophy. Chinese five-element theory uses a system of analogy and metaphor
to understand cosmological patterns of interaction, both within the human body and through interaction with environmental factors.
Conceptual blending theory provides a model through which the cognitive reality of these analogical connections can be illustrated and
understood by the Western scientific mind. In order to achieve this goal, extensive introductions have been provided to both conceptual
blending theory and Chinese five-element theory. This is followed by a series of cognitive models created through the application of
conceptual blending to five-element theory. This theoretical data analysis is intended to provide a basis for further study into the application
of conceptual blending theory to Chinese scientific philosophy.

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Conceptual Blending, Chinese Five Element Theory, and Cognitive Coherence
Nathan Davis M.A. Thesis
University of Sussex—Cognitive Linguistics Dept.
Under supervision of: Vyv Evans

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SUMMARY
This case study represents the first step toward establishing mutually beneficial avenues of communication and research between cognitive
science and Chinese medicine. The relevance of such an endeavour is established by aligning the similarities between both systems—such as
“levels of truth” and metaphoric extension of embodied experience. Upon establishing connections between both systems a more detailed
case study is carried out by applying conceptual blending theory from cognitive science to Yin-Yang and Five Element theories in Chinese
medicine. Conceptual blending provides the means by which the cognitive networks behind these knowledge systems can be modeled and
available to conscious awareness. This case study begins the process of modeling the conceptual integration networks involved in both
theories and their metaphoric extension of embodied experience to abstract objective patterns of interaction in the world

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1. INTRODUCTION—
Mapping Yin/Yang and Five Element Theoretical Frameworks Through Conceptual Blending Theory
1.1. Relevant Research in Conceptual Blending and Cognitive Science………………………………………p. 11
1.2. Toward Mapping Cognitive Network Constructs of Chinese Medicine…………………………………..p. 12
1.3. Cognitive Understanding of Systems………………………………………...…………………………….p. 14
1.4. A Case Study of Conceptual Blending in Chinese Medical Theories of Yin-Yang and The Five
Elements……………………………………….……………………………………………………………p. 16
2. OVERVIEW—A Brief History of Both Sets of Theories: Conceptual Blending and Chinese Medical Theories
2.1. A Brief History of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements Interactions…………………………………………p. 16
2.2.Establishing Chinese Medicine as a System of Knowledge—
A Detailed Orientation to Relevant Medical Theories………………………………………………………p. 17
2.3.Causation—Self-Limiting Western Perspectives……………………………………………………………p. 25
2.4.Toward Mapping the Cognitive Framework of Chinese Medical Philosophies of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements
through Conceptual Blending Networks……………………………………………………………………p. 27
2.5.Introduction to Conceptual Blending Theory………………………………………………………………p. 29
2.6.Accessing Belief Systems Through Language……………………………………………………………..p. 31
2.7.Why Apply Conceptual Blending Theory to Chinese Medical Philosophy……………………………….p. 32

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3. ANALYSIS
3.1.The Integration Network in Chinese Medical Theory—
Yin-Yang and the Five Element Patterns of Interaction………………………………………………………p. 33
3.2.The Foundation: Yin-Yang Cycle—Creation of Cosmological Systems (Figs. 1-2b) ……………………….p. 33
3.3.System Operation: The Five Element Patterns of Interaction (Figs. 3-3i) ……………………………………p. 44
3.4.System Established: Prepared for Extension (Figs. 4-4d) …………………………………………………….p. 62
3.5.Network Extension……………………………………………………………………………………………..p. 71
4. CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………………………………………p. 72
APPENDICIES:
Appendix 1: Yin-Yang Correspondences…………………………………………………………………………………p. 75
Appendix 2: Five Element Correspondences………………………………………………………………………………p. 76
Appendix 3: Yin-Yang Cycle Correspondences and Icons…………………………………………………………………..p. 77
Appendix 4: Five Element Qualities and Image-Schematic Representations………………………………………………….p. 78
Appendix 5: Icons and Image-Schematic Representations…………………………………………………………………..p. 79
Appendix 6: Image-Schematic Phenomenological Motion-Organ Icon Blend…………………………………………………p. 80
Appendix 7: Complex Cross-Space Mapping—Generating/Controlling Seq. …………………………………………………p. 81
Appendix 8: Conceptual Blend Model... ………………………………………………………………………………….p. 82
Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………………………..…pp. 83, 84
Grade & Reviews: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….p. 85

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LIST OF FIGURES:
Fig Y.—YIN-YANG
CYCLE……………………………………………………………………………………………………………p. 21
Fig 1—Yin-Yang Cycle Network Blend—Blend 1……………………………………………………………………..p. 36
Fig 1a—Yin-Yang Cycle Blend: Cyclic Day/ Cardinal Directions………………………………………………………..p. 37
Fig 1b—Yin-Yang Cycle Blend: Seasons/ Phenomenological Motion…………………………………………………….p. 38
Fig 1c—Yin-Yang Multi-Scope Blend: Compressed Cycles of Space and Time…………………………………………..p. 39
Fig 2a—Blend 1 (G25): Lexical Information: Yin-Yang Cycle, Phenomenological motion………………………………...p. 41
Fig 2b— Blend 1 (G25): Image-Schematic: Yin-Yang Cycle, Phenomenological motion………………………………….p. 42
—EXTENSION OF YIN-YANG CYCLE TO FIVE ELEMENT PATTERNS:
Fig 3—Yin-Yang Cycle and Five Element Sequences Network Blend—Blend 2………………………………………….p. 43
Fig 3a—Blend 2a: Yin-Yang Cycle, Phenomenological Motion, Material Substance………………………………………p. 48
Fig 3b—Blend 2a: Lexically Elaborated……………………………………………………………………………….p. 49
Fig 3c—Blend 2a: Image-Schematic Cross-Space Mappings……………………………………………………………..p. 50
Fig 3d—Blend 2b: Five Element Generating and Controlling Sequences Blend……………………………………………p. 53
Fig 3e— Blend 2b: Image-Schematic Content Five Element Sequences Blend……………………………………………..p. 54
Fig 3f— Blend 2b: Lexically Elaborated Five Element Sequences Blend………………………………………………….p. 55
Fig 3g— Blend 2: Complete Five Element Patterns of Interaction Blend…………………………………………………..p. 59
Fig 3h— Blend 2: Image-Schematic Content of Five Element Patterns of Interaction Blend………………………………...p. 60
Fig 3i— Blend 2: Content of Five Element Patterns of Interaction Blend…………………………………………………..p. 61

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LIST OF FIGURES CONT.
EXTENSION OF FIVE ELEMENT PATTERNS TO CORRESPONDENCES
Fig 4—Blend 3: Extension of Five Element Sequences to Additional Correspondences……………………………………………p. 66
Fig 4a—Blend 3: Highlighted Aspects of Mental Spaces in Blend 3……………………………………………………………..p. 67
Fig 4b—Blend 3a: Representative Element-Organ Blend: Generating Sequence………………………………………………….p. 68
Fig 4c— Blend 3b: Representative Element-Organ Blend: Controlling Sequence…………………………………………………p. 69
Fig 4d— Blend 3c: Representative Element-Organ Blend: All Five Element Sequences……………………………………………p. 70

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PREFACE
The idea for this dissertation came to me long before I ever heard of cognitive linguistics or conceptual blending theory. Well, maybe not the
exact idea but the inspiration for this study started a long time ago. It started with my desire to study Chinese medicine a number of years
ago. After years of continually changing my area of study and searching for what it was that I really wanted to focus on, I realized that I’m
really after “knowledge” itself—the search for “truth” maybe. My primary area of focus has always been the healthy function of the human
body and interaction within the cosmos. This has lead me to switch my studies from psychology, to religion, to nutrition and medical
sciences, to English language teaching, to more recently cognitive linguistics. So, how does this relate to Chinese medicine?—and even more
importantly to cognitive linguistics! Well, I was drawn to study Chinese medicine—while studying nutrition— because I realized that
Chinese medicine has maintained an intricate system for understanding such interactions of the human body—mind, body, and spirit—with
the objective world for thousands of years. This lead me to become an English teacher so that I could live in Asia and study Chinese
medicine at its roots. After only a very short period of time in Asia I realized that studying Chinese medicine at its roots cannot be
approached in the same way as Western studies. Chinese medicine maintains a pluralistic system with respect for systems of knowledge and
practice at different levels that ultimately holds the individual practitioner responsible for achieving global understanding of objective patterns
interaction. This understanding is situated upon complex layers of conceptual integration of systems of form and meaning. It became evident
that simply trying to “translate” the ideas is not very feasible. Lexical information is only the very surface level of the infinitely complex
conceptual systems that lie below “the tip of the iceberg.” I then realized that information transmission ran far deeper than just its linguistic
manifestation. This led me to search linguistics programs for a way to study about the human conceptual system through language. Much to
my amazing there is a field called “cognitive linguistics.” So, here I am studying cognitive linguistics. I came to cognitive linguistics
expecting to obtain a set of established tools that I could apply to function in the world. What I found was a study that is still diligently
working to define, refine, and redefine tools for setting out to achieve the tasks that they have come to realize as critical during this present
day and time. I found that if I want to be able to apply these theories to anything I’m going to either have to be patient enough for others to
establish these tools or I’m going to have to contribute to the process. I was relatively discouraged until I found conceptual blending theory.
Upon expressing my gratitude recently to Gilles Fauconnier, he informed me that Mark Turner—I hope I’m representing this correctly—told
him that he couldn’t introduce diagrams of the sort that he intended in conceptual blending theory—as seen in The Way We Think. I’ve come
to understand that I don’t “think” the same way as most linguists and for the most part my program has been an extreme rollercoaster of first
understand what my instructors are trying to explain to me and then—the most arduous task of all—communicate my understanding back in a
coherent way. This work is a move out of this curve, though maybe not by leaps and bounds. It has been repeatedly pointed out that the task
that I’ve undertaken in this study is “ambitious”—or immensely large to say the least. I do realized this, but it is the only effort to which I am
drawn. I don’t expect this work to warrant amazing marks or outstanding comments, my only hopes are that it is evident that I do understand
the theories put forth in this paper and that the models created for this study coherently represent such an understanding to all those who read
it—regardless of their theoretical background. As this endeavour did prove to be much larger than was initially realized, and the space
allotted proved to be relatively small, the data analysis is not as intricately outlined as perhaps it could be in a much larger study. The data

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and sources for the study came almost entirely from Sussex University holdings. Almost every single text—on both cognitive linguistics and
Chinese medicine—came from Sussex library. It is surprising that the Sussex library has such holdings. Most journal articles also came
through the Sussex library online journal database. A few additional sources came from internet sites and personal pages from various
researchers. The only other source of information and inspiration was from conversations with Gilles Fauconnier at the recent First UK
Postgraduate Conference in Cognitive Linguistics. I should also express my gratitude to those who have made this program available to me,
and for such an amazing opportunity to consider another perspective and have my ass kicked forcing myself to think about things in a
completely different way than I’m used to academically. I should therefore thank all those in the linguistics department at Sussex University
involved in creating and maintaining the cognitive linguistics program, all those who were involved directly in teaching the program—
Vyvyan Evans, Melanie Green, and Stephanie Pourcel; all of those who were involved in initiating and organizing the recent conferences in
cognitive linguistics at Sussex—especially Chris Sinha, Anu Koskela, and those previously mentioned; and John Sung for his foresight and
help in dealing with the frustration of learning to communicate in an entirely new way—transitioning from a science background to the field
of linguistics. It hasn’t been easy and I haven’t represented my capacity to achieve the task at hand very well for numerous assignments.
This dissertation and case study represents the final step in a very compressed, very intense, very beneficial program of study. It is not
developed as it could be—given more space and time. Though, I should hope that it has been developed enough to meet the goal of
representing a sufficient understanding of the two sets of theories at hand—conceptual blending theory and Chinese Yin-Yang and Five
Element theories. It is with this in mind that I present to you: Conceptual Blending Theory, Chinese Five Element Theory, and Cognitive
Coherence.

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Chinese medicine heals in a world of unceasing transformation. This condition of constant change, this fluidity
of material forms, stands in sharp contrast to a (modern Western) commonsense world of discrete entities
characterized by fixed essences, which seem to be exhaustively describable in structural terms. Theories of
relativity and indeterminacy notwithstanding, in our everyday life we still assume a Newtonian world of inertial
masses, a world in which motion and change result from causes external to entities. Events must be accounted
for in a logic of cause and effect, an ultimately mechanical relationship that requires the radical reduction of the
plenum of phenomena to its most effective or significant elements. In this process a single reality, both
universal and originary, is never (never quite completely) constructed as it is “described.” Basic changes in
object status and life and death per se remain final mysteries that seem to escape the reductionist and causal
logics of “science.” In other words, phenomena that are not easily reduced to quantifiable relations between
discrete objects or analyzed as a system of “structures” and “functions” are a problem for explanatory methods
grounded in Western materialist metaphysics.”
Farquhar 1994:25

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1. INTRODUCTION— Mapping Yin/Yang and Five Element
Theoretical Through Conceptual Blending Theory
Frameworks
1.1. Relevant Research in Conceptual Blending and
Cognitive Science
Why should Conceptual Blending Theory be applied to Chinese
medical theories of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements? Such a
question is complexly detailed below the surface, but the answer
on the very “tip of the iceberg” is quite simple. The simple
answer: Because these theories obviously create complex systems
of conceptual integration. While the employed metaphoric
extensions of Chinese medical theories are blatantly obvious, it is
their cognitive structure—the complexities involved in their global
coherence—that remains a mystery to the Western mind. While
the intricacies below the surface have remained largely
inaccessible to the Western analytic mind, recent advances in the
field of cognitive science and linguistics provide the potential for
modeling this seemingly distant structure. Studying such
theoretical frameworks from a cognitive perspective allows for
structured mapping of the theories themselves, creating avenues of
grounded communication between both theoretical perspectives
and allowing for “levels of truth.” Varela, Thompson, and Rosch
have been successful in developing such a “dialogue” between
cognitive science and the Buddhist tradition in order to further
understanding the embodied mind (1993). Lakoff and Johnson, in
their seminal work Metaphors We Live By, illustrate the critical
role of metaphor as a fundamental mechanism utilized by the mind
to align all aspects of our embodied experience as human beings
(1980). While many have followed suit and utilized this key
insight to understand varying levels of knowledge and information
systems, of high relevance is work done on Chinese language and
philosophical ideas. Yu Ning has done much research into the
nature of metaphor usage in Mandarin—also providing supporting
evidence for the existence of metaphorical universals like
“ANGER IS HEAT” and “TIME AS SPACE” (1998). In
researching the role of language in shaping thought Boroditsky
utilized cognitive theories to reveal key differences in
conceptualization across languages. While these studies have all
utilized key insights from cognitive science and linguistics to look
at the nature of the embodied mind, conceptual structure, and
metaphoric extension, of higher relevance is work done utilizing
the specific theory considered in this study: conceptual blending.
Conceptual blending theory has been applied to everything from
cartoons and humour (Coulson 2005), to math (Lakoff and Nunez
2000), to magic, ritual, and religion (Sorensen; Sweetser 2000) to
molecular genetics (John Sung In prep.) and even Chinese
philosophy (Slingerland 2005). But no attempts are known of that
apply conceptual blending theory to theories of Yin-Yang and Five
Elements in Chinese medical science. The only work possibly
alluding to such an endeavour is a study that came into light during
the very last steps of this work. Yu Ning wrote a little known
article in 1995 analyzing the role of metaphoric extension in the
conceptualization of emotions in English and Chinese. In this
article Yu looks at conceptualizations of emotion in both languages
as culturally situated embodied experience. He considers the
tendency of Chinese—over English to express emotion in terms of
metaphoric extensions of human body parts. Of high relevance to
this study is the fact that he gives special attention to the role of
Yin-Yang and Five Elements theories in conceptualizing emotions
as metaphorical extensions of human body parts, especially
internal organs. Yu states that “these theories form a cognitive or
cultural model underlying the metaphorical conceptualization in
Chinese” (Yu 1995:59). It is upon such a realization that we set
forth to model these theories—Yin-Yang and Five Elements—as
metaphorically extended systems of embodied understanding.

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1.2. Toward Mapping Cognitive Network Constructs of
Chinese Medicine
1.2.1. Embodied Conceptual Structure and
Categorization
Now that we have introduced relevant work in cognitive
linguistics—in metaphor theory and conceptual blending—we
should establish some key insights in the field of cognitive science
and linguistics that lay the groundwork for application of these
theories to Chinese medicine. Following in the footsteps of
Varela—as he began to lay the foundation for lines of
communication between the Buddhist tradition and cognitive
science—our first consideration is cognitive understanding of the
embodied mind. Lakoff and Johnson have also provided key
insights into this area in their extensive work Philosophy in the
Flesh (1999). This work provided key insights for this study and
serves as a basis for much of the following information provided in
this work on the key insights of cognitive science. In explaining
the human mind, they assert that as neural beings we are subject to
our embodied minds. The nature of our neurological structure
leads to categorization—all living things categorize. This
categorization is organized according to the types of bodies we
have, not conscious reasoning. These categories are linked to
concepts and embodied experience according to our neurological
structures. “We divide the world up into entities at human scale so
that we can manipulate them in human lives, and this division of
the world is an imaginative achievement” (Fauconnier and Turner
2002:8). In fact all living creatures divide the world up into
categories based on the types of biological and neurological
structures that we possess. They also point out the role of
categories in language: “In other words, according to the cognitive
framework, the same principles that hold for categorization in
general also hold for linguistic categorization” (2006:43). So, as
neural beings we are subject to categorization and this
categorization is present in every single bit of our neurological
structure—our embodied mind if you will. Along with
categorization, concepts are also neurological structures and “any
mental construct is realized neurally (Lakoff and Johnson
1999:19,20). Our neurologically based conceptual structures serve
as a rich framework by which everyday embodied experience is
structured and connected to our sensorimotor system. This
correlation of our sensorimotor system to embodied
conceptualization works to serve our functioning within our
physical environment (Lakoff and Johnson 1999:43,44). Abstract
subjective experience is then conceptualized through metaphoric
extension of sensorimotor experience. Domains of subjective
experience are therefore understood using conventional mental
imagery from sensorimotor domains. Common subjective
experience is also conceptualized through metaphor and is
extremely evident in thought and language. All of this information
is structured according to our neurological structures and is linked
to encyclopaedic networks of knowledge.
1.2.2. Structured Encyclopaedic Knowledge—
Building Metaphors and Establishing Networks
Evans and Green provide a two-part thesis of encyclopaedic
knowledge: 1) semantic structure “provides access to a large
inventory of structured knowledge (the conceptual system)” and
“word meaning cannot be understood independently of the vast
repository of encyclopaedic knowledge to which it is linked.” 2)
“this encyclopaedic knowledge is grounded in human interaction
with others and the world around us (physical experience)”
(2006:206). They go on to consider language as accessing
encyclopaedic knowledge to provide simulations of perceptual
experience. This structured knowledge system is external to
linguistic knowledge, “falling within the domain of ‘world

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knowledge’” (2006:208). The concepts contained in this vast
network of encyclopaedic information shape our views of reality
and every aspect of our embodied experience. “The concepts we
have access to and the nature of the ‘reality’ we think and talk
about are a function of our embodiment: we can only talk about
what we can perceive and conceive, and the things that we can
perceive and conceive derive from embodied experience (Evans
and Green 2006:46). We must therefore conclude that the human
mind is shaped by embodied experience. This embodied
experience give rise to image schemas around which details can be
filled in. “If image schemas arise from bodily experience, then we
may be able to explain conceptual metaphor on the basis that it
maps rich and detailed structure from concrete domains of
experience onto more abstract and conceptual domains” (Evans
and Green 2006:164). Mapping across the domains of
sensorimotor and subjective experience are therefore experientially
grounded. Subjective judgment is conceptualized in terms of
sensorimotor experience—i.e. More is Up/Less is Down (Lakoff
and Johnson 1999:47,48). These experientially correlated
conceptualizations are conflated early in life and the coactive
domains are not experienced as separate, but the associations
remain after being later differentiated via cross-space mapping.
Such conflated associations serve as the basis for learning primary
conceptual metaphors. These primary metaphors are not only
linguistic in nature, but can also be found in grammar, gesture, art,
ritual, etc. Complex metaphors are then built upon long-term
coactive primary metaphors with the simple primary metaphors
understood as being atomic components of “the molecular
structure of complex metaphors” (Lakoff and Johnson 1999:49).
In summary we will consider the key points of second generation
cognitive science as provided by Lakoff and Johnson: Conceptual
structure arises from sensorimoror experience,” mental structures
have meaning because of embodied experience, basic level
concepts arise from motor schemas, “our brains are structured so
as to project activations patterns (primary metaphors) from
sensorimotor areas to higher cortical areas,” reason is embodied by
virtue of having arisen from sensorimotor experience, “reason is
imaginative in that bodily inference forms are mapped onto
abstract modes of inference by metaphor,” and “conceptual
systems are pluralistic in nature” with abstract concepts being
defined by multiple conceptual metaphors (1999:77, 78).
1.2.3. How do Chinese Medical Theories of Yin-
Yang and Five Elements fit into the Overall
Network?
Now that cognitive principles of experientially motivated metaphor
extension and neural network organization have been established,
it is now necessary to illustrate how Chinese medical theories are
organized into this network. As one of the very first students of
Western medicine to be allowed into China, David Eisenberg
reports that Chinese medicine is “based on three thousand years of
observation and philosophy, not on the scientific method of my
Harvard medical instructors. My Western training relied heavily
on causal relations, structure, and quantitative changes. The
Chinese, by contrast, recognized patterns defined by a circular
system of logic” (1995:34). Chinese medicine works to understand
patterns of interaction based upon “the link among apparently
unrelated phenomena as a kind of “resonance” among them”
(Maciocia 1989:20). Based upon this understanding they work to
understand the resonance of the human body with all patterns in
nature. This relationship is established through an elaborate
system of correspondences that are established by rote learning and
then verified in practice. Maciocia also states that while this may
seem far-fetched “some of these correspondences are commonly
verified and experienced all the time in clinical practice”
(1989:20). Yu illustrates how “resonance” can be conceptualized

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through metaphor—i.e. GALLBLADDER IS CONTAINER OF
COURAGE and COURAGE IS QI (GASEOUS VITAL ENERGY)
IN GALLBLADDER (2003b). Maciocia goes on to explain that
this theoretical framework is a model, so it is subject to
inconsistencies and one must be careful not to loose sight of other
aspects of human body function when used in practice. One must
be careful not to overextend the symbols in ways that supersede
what they are representing. But “when properly used, however,
the symbols can provide a quick and effective model to refer to in
clinical practice and a guideline for diagnosis and treatment”
(Maciocia 1989:22). Yin-Yang and Five Element theories
represent two foundational theories of this symbolic representation.
The symbolic systems utilized by these theories hold true on
varying levels. Not every metaphorical extension is equally
meaningful—some relationships have very deep implications,
while others are not as useful. The system of metaphoric
extensions—or correspondences as they are referred to within the
theories—have “wide applications in human physiology” and other
areas of practice. It is important to note that, while these
extensions are cognitively metaphoric they are conceptualized
within Chinese medicine as resonating, even outside of human
conceptualization. “It could be said that these phenomena
‘resonate’ at a particular frequency and have particular qualities
which respond to a certain Element,” and various different
phenomena are “unified by an indefinable common quality, much
as two strings would vibrate in unison” (1989:20,24). These
theories are most obviously applied in clinical treatment to
physiology and human organs where “each organ is seen as a
sphere of influence which encompasses many functions and
phenomena beyond the organ itself” (Maciocia 1989:24). As
mentioned previously, Yu illustrates emotional expression in
Chinese by metaphoric extension of body-parts. He notices two
major types of idiomatic expressions of body terms. The first is
external body parts, which are almost always metonymic.
Emotions are described in terms of their observably correlated
bodily movements and processes—though they become extended
metaphorically—independent of “emotional symptoms or
gestures”—once they are conventionalized. The second is internal
body parts, which are metaphorically extended to provide a frame
of imaginary bodily images. While based in metaphor, it can be
seen that these “metaphoric” extensions of bodily organs, “though
imaginary in nature, are not really all arbitrary. They seem to have
a bodily or psychological basis” (Yu 2002). Yin-Yang and Five
Element theories create an intricate system of cognitively extended
metaphors that “provide a comprehensive and clinically useful
model of relationships” the human body and our environment
(Maciocia 1989:25).
1.3. Cognitive Understanding of Systems
1.3.1. Systems of Knowledge in “The Age of Form”
Having given an overview of how cognitive networks are
established, and having also provided evidence that Chinese
medical theories can be represented by such networks, our next
step is look at how individual knowledge systems are created
within this vast network. In order to do this we must first look into
nature of knowledge structures and conceptual systems and how
they are situated in the cognitive unconscious. Fauconnier and
Turner have pointed out—contrary to the views of analytic
philosophers—that systems of form and meaning are so deeply
intertwined that it is not possible to separate the two (2002:11).
Analytical philosophers have distanced themselves from analogy
and become blind to the complex imaginative operations of
meaning to the extent that figurative thought has been excluded
from “core meaning.” Given such a blinded view, systematic
exploration of the cognitive unconscious has been avoided. So

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profound is this realization of the interconnectedness of form and
meaning that they state: “In the evolutionary descent of our
species, in the history of science, and in the developmental history
of an individual person, systems of form and systems of meaning
construction intertwine, so that it is not possible to view them as
separable” (11). While systems of form and meaning are not the
same, they are so deeply connected and mutually grounded that it
is impossible to have one without the other. Formal approaches
over-emphasize the identity and form by assuming that behind
every form is yet another form. This leaves a lack of interest in
analogy, which is seen as lacking precision and accuracy. This
ignores the profound role of analogy as “a powerful engine of
discovery” (14). Analogy became regarded as a vague form of
thinking and only mere intuition. What was lacking for
understanding of the role of analogical thinking was formal
mechanisms for representation of analogy as a cognitive operation.
It was not until after the discovery of the cognitive basis of
metaphors that analogical thinking began to gain respect again
from Western philosophical perspectives. Now, “work in a
number of fields is converging toward the rehabilitation of
imagination as a fundamental scientific topic, since it is the central
engine of meaning behind the most ordinary mental events” (15).
Having recognized the cognitive reality of analogical thinking, a
framework can be created for modeling its structure. What we
consciously have access to is only “the tip of the iceberg,” below
which lies the immense cognitive unconscious structure where
these analogical systems exist. Fauconnier and Turner recognize
that it seems “strange that the systematicity and intricacy of some
of our most basic and common mental abilities could go
unrecognized for so long” (2002:18). Modern science has been
very skeptical of such systems and has avoided systematically
investigating them altogether. Framing, analogy, metaphor,
grammar and commonsense reasoning are all involved in creating
cognitive structure and must necessarily be considered in modeling
its complexity. They therefore present conceptual blending as
“another basic mental operation, highly imaginative but crucial to
even the simplest kinds of thought (2002:18).
1.3.2. Application of Conceptual Blending to
Systems of Knowledge
As mentioned earlier, cognitive theories of metaphoric extension
and conceptual blending have been applied to many things—from
math, to magic, ritual, and religion, to cartoons, etc. Of particular
interest is Yu’s work on conceptual metaphors in Mandarin. In
one particular study on the metaphor THE MIND IS A BODY he
reports that “It is found that, while the Chinese expressions under
analysis largely conform to the conceptual mappings originally
derived from linguistic evidence in English (Lakoff and Johnson
1999), there exists a difference between these two languages that
reflects a significant difference between the related cultures. That
is Western culture’s binary contrast between the heart, the seat of
emotions, and the mind, the locus of thoughts, does not exist in
traditional Chinese culture, where the heart is conceptualized as
housing both emotions and thoughts. It is a case in which different
cultural models interpret the functioning of the mind and the body
differently.” (Yu 2003a:1) In another study he considers the use of
metaphor in Chinese medicine where he reports “The study
presents a case in which an abstract concept (courage) is
understood in part via a conceptual metaphor grounded in the
body, but shaped by a culture-specific metaphorical understanding
of an internal organ (gallbladder) inside the body” (Yu 2003b:13).
It is upon this evidence that it is reaffirmed that Chinese medicine
and theories of Yin-Yang and Five Elements represent cognitive
systems that can be conceptually modeled.

16
1.3.3. Chinese Medical Theories of Yin-Yang and
The Five Elements as Knowledge Systems
Systematic conceptual networks are present in Chinese cultural
understanding as reported by Yu: “A description and analysis of
the data from the Chinese language show that numerous
conventional expressions are systematically tied to each other and
contributive to the underlying conceptual metaphors” (2003b:13).
Volker Sheid also recognizes that Chinese medicine “can be
modeled as a dynamic process of simultaneous emergence and
disappearance” (2002:13). It is upon such ideas of non-reducible
pluralities and the possibility of modeling the Chinese medical
theories of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements as systems of
simultaneous emergence and disappearance that we continue on
toward our analysis of conceptual blending.
1.4. A Case Study of Conceptual Blending in Chinese
Medical Theories of Yin-Yang and The Five Elements
We should note here briefly that our primary goal is to conduct a
case study of Chinese medical theories of Yin-Yang and Five
Elements as an illustrated complex knowledge system within the
larger human cognitive framework. We will be utilizing key
insights and models provided by conceptual blending theory to
look at specific mechanisms involved in the creation of these
elaborate knowledge systems.
2. OVERVIEW— A Brief History of Both Sets of Theories:
Conceptual Blending and Chinese Medical Theories
2.1. A Brief History of Yin-Yang and the Five Element
Interactions
Chinese Yin-Yang and Five Element theories have been applied to
various aspects of life and philosophy and have fluctuated in
popularity and usage over the years. Its immense popularity
during times like the Warring States period can be seen by its use
from everything from medicine, to astrology, to the calendar, to
music, to science, and even politics (Maciocia 1989:16). As
pointed out by Sivin: “As in Europe before modern science, much
Chinese medical language was borrowed from common speech”
(1987:43). Yin-Yang arose earlier, with references dating back to
the Zhou dynasty (circ. 100-770 BC), with the Five Element
coming later—still dating back as far as the Warring States Period
(476-221 BC). The emergence of these theories marks a transition
in medical philosophy as he “beginning of what one might call
“scientific” medicine and a departure from Shamanism” (Maciocia
1989:16). Healing was no longer conceptualized as purely
supernatural but reasoned. Healers no longer looked for a
supernatural cause of disease as “they now observe Nature and,
with a combination of inductive and deductive method, they set out
to find patterns within it and, by extension, apply these in the
interpretation of disease” (1989:16). The significance of the
theories is embedded in their representation of different qualities of
natural phenomena. Maciocia cautions that the theories do have
their limitations. “The basic limitation lies in the fact that the 5-
Element model of correspondences became a rigid model of
relationships between individual parts, and, in the process of fitting
everything into a 5-fold classification, many assumptions and far-
fetched correlations had to be made” (1989:26). The Five
Elements create a one-to-one system of correlations between
phenomena—i.e. Liver-eyes, Kidney-ears, and Spleen-muscles.
While useful, it must be utilized with recognition of its limitations.
While such correlations are useful in clinical practice, the essence
of CM “is to see the whole disharmony and weave a pattern of
various signs and symptoms” (1989:26). Maciocia again notes that
there are contrasts in the patterns of various theories within
Chinese medicine in that “one part could be related to a certain
organ in the presence of a certain pattern, but to another organ in

17
the presence of a different pattern” (1989:26). Some
characterization therefore lies outside of these models.
2.2. Establishing Chinese Medicine as a System of
Knowledge—A Detailed Orientation to Relevant
Medical Theories
With Yin-Yang and Five Element theories established as
knowledge systems and functional models of human body
interaction—limitations an all—we now set forth to give a detailed
overview of each theory. Liu beautifully summarizes the
complexity of the Chinese medical understanding of human health:
“Traditional Chinese medicine has a
way of thinking called ‘one dividing
into two.’ The human body can be
divided into two without end—into
pairs of opposing forces, functions,
or parts… These pairs, in opposition
to each other, each explain the
functioning of the whole organism.
If one pair were separated from the
whole, it would no longer possess its
original functional properties (Liu
1995:9)
While complete formal assessment of every intricate detail of such
an infinitely complex system of interactions is equally as
impossible, achieving global understanding of the unified whole by
metaphoric extension is not only possible it’s very evident in
Chinese medicine. Eisenberg strengthens this assertion with his
statement about Chinese eight parameters theory: “A patient’s
symptoms and physical examination (tongue, pulse, etc.) enable
the traditional doctor to recognize a pattern of illness in terms of
‘the eight parameters.’ This then becomes a diagnosis.
Pneumonia might be called ‘an excess of heat in the ‘lung’ with a
deficiency of Qi.’ Subsequent treatment with herbs or needles or
diet would aim to correct this imbalance” (1995:56). Sivin refers
to an ancient Chinese medical entitled Mental Dharmas of Eruptive
Disorders to illustrate the understanding of Chinese Medicine as a
system of pattern representation: Medicine” [yi] means “meaning”
[yi]. [The inner meanings of medicine, the patterns of vital
processes] may be apprehended by the mind, but cannot be
transmitted in words. Because these inherent patterns attain such
arcane subtlety [weiao], even though the mind may achieve great
constancy [in contemplating them], in [therapeutic] doctrine there
can be no fixed rules. The interaction of hot and moist as governed
by yin and yang, the relations of mutual production and
overcoming among the Five Phases [Five Elements], change from
one moment to the next…” (1995:181). While it is noted that
these patterns may not be capable of being solely “transmitted”
through language, it is their linguistic—and ultimately cognitive—
modelling that makes them accessible to representation and global
understanding by the embodied mind. It is through linguistically
manifest conceptual structure that these patterns are understood
and transmitted between individuals. It is upon the recognition of
these linguistic manifestations of cognitive models that we set
forth to analyze the complex conceptual networks created in
Chinese medicine to represent universal patterns of interaction.
2.2.1. A Brief Note on Translations
In speaking of Chinese medicine, it is necessary to note that all
information comes originally from the Chinese. This poses big
challenges and dilemmas when choosing the most appropriate
representation for different Chinese characters. Special
consideration must be given to both how each lexical item is

18
spelled and also to how each item provides access to the
knowledge network.
2.2.2. Qi
Qi—also sometimes ch’i— is a vast subject in and of itself. This is
a foundational concept in the understanding the complex
interactions involved in the Yin-Yang and Five Element patterns of
interaction. It is roughly comparable to Western understanding of
energy or other “forces,” and is often translated as “vital energy.”
It is something that has no direct counterpart in everyday Western
understanding. An entire book was written on the dilemma of
translating this word into English—where it has no solid
counterpart (Yu, Zhang, Rose 2001). Fortunately, Yu briefly
illustrates metaphoric extension of the concept qi in Chinese. He
Shows that the abstract concept of courage is structured in part by
the conceptual metaphor “COURAGE IS QI (GASEOUS VITAL
ENERGY) IN GALLBLADDER,” where the metaphor is motivated
by a culturally situated concept of human body organs that posits
“GALLBLADDER IS CONTAINER OF COURAGE” (2003b:14).
He further asserts the deep-seated, experientially motivated
concepts of human body function—“Linguistic evidence suggests
that both of these conceptual metaphors exist in the core of the
Chinese cultural model for the concept of courage. Both of them
can be traced down to their deeper roots in the theory of internal
organs of traditional Chinese medicine that offers a unique
perspective of the functions of the gallbladder.” (Yu 2003b:14).
Sivin points out that until recently there was no separation
conceptions of energy and matter: “This is not a sign of deficient
curiosity, but of a tendency (like that of the Stoics of the West) to
think of stuff and its transformations in a unitary way” and qi may
be defined as “‘what makes things happen’ or ‘stuff’ in which
things happen” (Sivin 1987:47). It is both substance and activity:
“Qi has many faces in traditional Chinese medicine. The
predominant one is a rarefied substance that is constantly in
motion. The movement of qi is literally the activity of life. At the
same time, because it is a substance, qi is also viewed as one of the
fundamental materials for the construction of the body.” (Liu
1995:69). It is this “vital substance” or “activity of life” that is
understood to represent all material substance and patterns of
interaction—including the Yin-Yang Cycle and the Five Element
sequences.
2.2.3. Yin-Yang
Yin-Yang can most basically understood as the two extremes
involved in a dialectic system of complementary opposites, in
which opposite forces are both unified and the underlying cause of
change (Liu 1995:32). Obvious examples of Yang and Yin are:
light/dark; hot/cold; sun/moon; up/down; activity/rest; left/right;
time/space; South/North. Yin and Yang also represent aspects of
natural movement between opposing complements—of both
objects and phenomena. They can be two separate opposing
objects or phenomena, or they can be poles of opposition within a
single unitary object or phenomena. They are also mutually
dependent in that you can’t have one without the other, and
together they create unity. This interaction is characterized by a
constant state of motion as Yin and Yang are not static, but
dynamic aspects of every object and natural phenomena. “The
consumption of yang leads to a supporting (or gaining) of yin,
while the consumption of yin results in a supporting (or gaining) of
yang.” (Liu 1995:35). Sivin compares this system of
correspondences to Western views of physics as follows:
Any number of paired qualities or opposed
functions could be applied to almost any continuum
in Nature to demarcate significant aspects and
explore their interaction. We might think of all

19
these pairs as instances of a completely general pair,
an opposed but complementary x and y for which
any pair could be substituted in its appropriate
concrete situation. Yang and yin as scientific and
medical concepts were precisely that x and y. They
were the abstract foundation upon which a
metaphysics could be distilled out of the
multiplicity of physical situations, a metaphysics
that remained applicable to all of them… Any
statement that involves complementary opposites
can be translated into the language of yin and yang.
(Sivin
1987:61)
Sivin also suggests that Yin and Yang are best understood as
latent and active phases of any process in space and time. It is
interesting to point out here the blended conceptualization of “real”
and “imaginary” numbers utilized by modern mathematical
theory—as described by Fauconnier.
An extended cross-space mapping links real and
imaginary numbers to points in two-dimensional
space. The seed for this mapping is the pre-existing
projection of numbers onto one-dimensional space
(the “line” going from - ∞ to + ∞ [negative infinity
to positive infinity]. A generic space contains the
more abstract structure common to the domains of
space and numbers. In the language of twentieth-
century mathematics, this generic space is a
communicative ring. Selective projection operates
from the inputs into the blend, which inherits both
spatial and arithmetic structure.
(Fauconnier 1997:167)
While such a mathematical model may not be exactly similar to
Chinese medicine, it is suggested that such a model of “formal”
analysis—based on conceptual blending of infinite extremes—is
not so different from the vastly complex system of metaphoric
extensions which Chinese Yin-Yang theory accepts as a valid
“level of truth.” Such a correlation might also provide further
insight into modelling the Yin-Yang cycle as a fundamental system
of patterned interaction. This metaphorically extended model of
cosmological patterns has ancient roots. Yin and Yang were first
mentioned in the I Ching, which dates back to around 700BC. A
recent conversation with Gilles Fauconnier reaffirmed my belief in
the relevance of applying conceptual blending theory to these
Chinese theories. He told me that someone at the cognitive
linguistics conference in Nanjing, China just a few months ago—
where the Chinese Cognitive Linguistics association was
established—suggested that he look into the Book of Changes.
The relevance—and irony—is that the Book of Changes is the
English translation of the I Ching. In this ancient document, Yin
and Yang are represented by broken and unbroken lines
respectively (see Fig. Y). The pattern of their continual
intertransformation is represented most basically by a circle with
four pairs of broken and unbroken lines arranged at four points. It
is according to this simple arrangement in a cyclic pattern that they
are most typically conceptualized. Characteristic examples are the
cyclic day and the seasonal year. As can be seen from figure Y,
both the cyclic day and the seasonal year correspond conceptually
in each phase of their transition between extremes. Sunrise and
spring are representative of increasing Yang on the midpoint
between Yin and Yang. Each of these phases is characterized by
increasing activity and movement, rising temperatures, and
increasing sunlight. Then, during the extreme Yang phase of the
cycle, summer and mid-day (noon) represent maximum light, peak

20
temperatures and high levels of activity and movement. Each
phase of the cycle also represents a vast category of additional
correspondences. While these prototypical cycles are the most
manifestly observable patterns of the Yin-Yang cycle, their system
of interactions goes far beyond such surface level representations.
The Yin-Yang cycle represents all patterns of interaction involved
in the intertransformation of complementary extremes. This cycle
has normal conditions of balance and restraint. The Yin-Yang
pattern of interaction and change continues harmoniously when in
balance, but once out of balance it can cause excess or
insufficiency of either force. Balance within this system is
represented more intricately by the Five Element patterns of
interaction. While all systems are seen as arising from the
interaction between Yin-Yang, the Five Element sequences are
used as a means of modelling the intricate details of patterned
interaction within these created systems.

22
2.2.4. The Five Elements
The “Five Elements” are wu xing—or hsing—in Chinese. These
“wu xing” are a subdivision of the same patterns of interaction that
Yin-Yang characterize. Sivin points out that “yin-yang and the
Five Phases [Elements] are not two kinds of activity, but two ways
of thinking about the same process and the vitality or force that
drives it.” (Sivin 1987:78). “The ch’i of sky and earth unite to
become one. Divided they become yin and yang; subdivided, the
four seasons; set out in order (lieh), the Five Phases [Elements].”
The Five Elements are therefore utilized as a way to set up the
correspondences within the systematic patterns of interaction—as
set up by Yin-Yang intertransformation—“set out in order.” The
Five Elements are: water, fire, wood, metal, and earth. Their
qualities and the states of natural phenomena of which they are
representative are listed as follows:
Qualities Inherent Qualities and States of
Natural Phenomena
Water moistens downward Wood represents expansive,
outward movement in all
directions
Fire flares upward Metal represents contractive,
inward movement
Wood can be bent and
straightened
Water represents downward
movement
Metal can be moulded and can
harden
Fire represents upward
movement
Earth permits sowing, growing,
and reaping
Earth represents neutrality or
stability
(direct quotes Maciocia
1998:17)
However, while the Five Element interactions represent observable
characteristics of natural phenomena they are not as obviously
manifest in the natural environment as the Yin-Yang cycle. “In
contrast to the dualism underlying the yin-yang doctrine, the pentic
numerology of the five-agents doctrine lacks an obvious
antecedent in man’s natural environment” (Unschuld 2003:99).
The most common correspondences are morphological entities of
man (the organs and orifices), characteristics of living or dead
substances (colors, flavors, tones, and odors), and man’s
geographic and temporal environment (cardinal directions and
seasons) (Unschuld 2003:106). What the Five Elements provide is
a more detailed model of analyzing the intricate patterns of
interaction, processes, and functioning within the more obvious
system. “In analyzing processes or configurations into five
aspects—particularly when reflecting on sequences of change—the
names of the Five Phases [Elements] are more common than
mature yang, “central house,” and the other yin-yang terms” (Sivin
1987:78). In the few preceding quotes by Sivin, it can be seen that
the “Five Elements”—or wu xing—are not always termed such by
Chinese scholars and doctors. An in-depth discussion of the
translational issues behind the Chinese “wu xing” should provide a
detailed overview of the concepts underlying the systems theory to
which this lexical item provides access in Chinese medicine.
While “wu” very obviously means five, “xing” cannot be directly
translated as “element.” Xing in Chinese implies action and
movement, and may be better translated as a “phase” of a cycle.
Because of this difficulty various scholars and doctors feel it is
more appropriate to translate the Chinese wu xing either as “Five
Phases” (Sivin) or “Five Agents” (Unschuld). Though, the term
“Five Elements” remains perhaps the most commonly used—and
most widely entrenched—translation of the Chinese “wu xing.”
Though, even when utilizing the term “element,” the xing are never
thought of as actual material substance or “elements” on a periodic

23
table. Even when referred to as elements, they still refer to parts of
organized patterns of interaction. Confusion arose in the 1600’s
when Jesuit missionaries realized the vague similarity between the
Chinese xing and the Greek elements and sought to prove the
scientific superiority of the later. The xing were mistakenly
thought to represent “an element, perfectly pure” (Sivin
1989:73,74). This crude translation was hugely mistaken as
Chinese philosophers had never claimed “that hsing are pure
substances,” or that they were responsible for the production of all
material things and phenomena (Siving 1989:73,74). “Thus Matteo
Ricci, in the first Jesuit treatise on cosmology (1608), argued that
“since a hsing is what produces all things and phenomena, it must
be an element, perfectly pure. It must be that nothing is mixed
with it, nothing contained in it except itself.” He proceeded to
demonstrate that by this definition the Chinese Five Elements are
inconsistent, illogical, and inferior to the European four elements
(Sivin 1989:73,74). This conception of the wu xing was completely
mistaken, as the Chinese xing “do not extend past the surface of
the ideas” in relation to the Greek elements (Sivin 1987:73). As
noted by Sivin, Joseph Needham also recognized this translational
issue almost half a century ago. Needham explains that the xing
was not as five variations of fundamental matter, but as five parts
of fundamental processes (Needham et al. 1954:II 243-44). The
key idea is relations, not substance. Though, after about 400 years
of usage, the term “Five Elements” has become so widely used and
entrenched that it is hard to change. Xing actually means “to do, to
act, to move on, to set in motion; action, activity, motion,” etc.
(Sivin 1987:74). Sivin looks to an important document—dating
back to around 80 A.D.—where xing is understood as representing
the ordered natural activity of qi, and another source—the Shin
ming (Explanation of Names)—that provides a clear definition on
the matter: “Wu hsing means what is carried out by the five ch’i,
each in its own domain.” (Sivin 1987:74-75). So, according to such
an understanding the five xing are labels for five types of activity.
Sivin refers to the philologist Ch’en Meng-chia’s recognition of
the role of Wu Xing— almost one hundred years ago now—not as
five static material substances, but as representative of the cyclic
flow within a system. Sivin also notes that “The wu hsing name
five types of ch’i that interact in an ordered way to make up spatial
or temporal configurations (that is, complex phenomena extended
in space or time). The process to which they are most usually
applied is, as Ch’en’s emphasis indicates, the temporal cycle,
whether of body functions, celestial motions, or political changes”
(Sivin 1987:75). Sivin refers once more to one of the leading
contemporary authors on traditional medical theories—Jen Ying-
ch’iu—as stating: “Wu hsing simply means the cyclical activity
(yun-hsing…) of five ch’i.” (as cited in Sivin 1987:75). These five
“qi” are then not chemical or physical substances, but five
activities or processes that drive a process or substances that
change in character. Most basically, they characterize the cyclic
activity within a system. Again Sivin says it best: “To sum up, wu
hsing theory provides a language for analysis of configurations
into five functionally distinct parts or aspects. The names of the
phases refer both to these spatial and cyclic relations and to the
energies, the ch’i, that make them possible, maintain them and
guide their change. In other words, the Five Phases do what yin-
yang does, but with finer divisions, analyzing into five aspects
instead of two. Both are sets of labels for ch’i” (Sivin 1987:75).
2.2.5. The Importance of Motion Conceptualization
in Chinese Medicine
Levinson—in his extensive work on human cognitive functions
and conceptualization of spatial orientation and movement—notes
the importance of frames in conceptualizing motion. “Although
direction of motion can thus be described without recourse to
frames of reference, in fact frames of reference are frequently

24
employed in motion description.” (2003:97). An example of this
would be route descriptions utilizing descriptions like take your
first left, then turn right at the light—where the frame of reference
is based on the intrinsic reference of the one following the
directions. The theories of Yin-Yang and Five Elements within
Chinese medicine act in a similar manner to frame patterns of
motion—while also employing the elaborate tool of metaphorical
extension.
2.2.6. Reaffirming Yin-Yang and Five-Element
patterns of interaction as Systems Theories
So, what these models represent are systems theories of universal
structural qualities inherent in all patterns of interaction. All
systems within all objects and phenomena throughout the universe
are understood as possessing structural qualities and patterns of
interaction. These interactions produce continual states of internal
motion, with predictable patterns of interaction. “Hence, it is
possible to use analogy to understand any system; that is, it is
possible to use the obvious qualities of one system to describe the
less obvious or hidden qualities of another” (Liu 1995:48). In
using such systems of analogical—and metaphorical—extension,
“…the ancient Chinese used the five basic materials familiar in
everyday life to symbolize the behavior of all objects and
phenomena in nature” (Liu 1995:48). Each of the elements
represents a particular pattern of motion within the system. “By
analogy to one of these elements, the characteristic movement of
any object of phenomena can be identified” (Liu 1995:48). They
also describe patterns of interaction within the system—both
balanced and imbalanced. “The theory of the five elements is thus,
above all, a study of motion” (Liu 1995:49).
2.2.7. Recognition of Metaphoric Extension
These ways of characterizing patterned systems of motion and
interaction are obviously complex systems of metaphorical
extension. Whether or not such systems really exist exactly as is
claimed or not is of little concern in this study. Arguments on the
verifiable “reality” of such knowledge systems is not extremely
relevant, except to say that modelling such systems should show
that they represent a consistent “level of reality” consistent with
cognitive theories. As pointed out by Lakoff and Johnson,
cognitive science is physicalist—ascribing to an ultimate material
basis in the body and brain for the scientifically real conceptual
entities themselves—, but it is not eliminitavist—assuming that the
only things that are “real” are physically existing entities. As
alluded to with Fauconnier’s example of numeric representation of
“real” and “imaginary” numbers, computational numbers don’t
have to be individually “real” in order to represent a relative value
in physical reality—i.e. -2 may not actually “exist” in physical
reality, but it represents a very “real,” and necessary,
conceptualization of certain values that can be consistently
represented in equations. Other conceptual entities—like the
element correspondences—are just as neurally “real” from a
physicalist perspective. So what counts as real…? According to
Lakoff and Johnson, “[t]he only kinds of nonphysical entities and
structures taken as ‘real are those that are hypothesized on the
basis of convergent evidence and that are required for scientific
explanation” (1999:114-115). Conceptual entities utilized for
systematic representation of natural patterns are therefore just as
“real.” Conceptual integration networks and metaphors are also
just as “real.” Cognitive science understands everyday subjective
embodied experience as automatically and unconsciously linked to
our abstract conceptual system through primary metaphor—as
mentioned earlier. This abstract conceptual system has an
inherent literal skeleton that gets “fleshed out” through

25
metaphorical extensions of embodied experience. The primary
function of metaphor then is to project patterns of inference from
the source domain of embodied experience to the target domain of
the abstract conceptual system. Cognitive science also recognizes
that it is through such metaphorical thought that scientific
theorizing is even possible, as both our reason and our conceptual
structure are shaped by embodied experience of the world.
According to Lakoff and Johnson: “Reason and concepts are
therefore not transcendent, that is, not utterly independent of the
body” (1999:128). This singles out the fact that all scientific
reasoning is shaped by our embodied experience and relies upon
such experience to frame abstract concepts. Chinese medical
theories are part of a complex system of such scientific reasoning.
One major difference is that Chinese philosophy openly embraces,
and relies upon, this realization. What metaphoric extensions of
Chinese scientific philosophy represent are systems of events,
motion, and forces.
2.3. Causation—Self-Limiting Western Perspectives
Before moving on toward mapping the cognitive framework of the
Chinese medical theories at hand it is highly relevant to point out a
key difference in how the patterns of interaction which Chinese
philosophy observe are different from those of Western medical
philosophy. While Western medicine seeks to pinpoint precise
causal chains, Chinese medicine is more concerned with the
balance of infinite systems of causal relations. “In the early
Chinese sciences, by contrast, where generation and transformation
are intrinsic to existence, fixity and stasis occur only as a result of
concerted action and therefore demand explanation; motion and
change are a given and seldom need be explained with reference to
their causes” (Farquhar 1994:25). Appropriately, the views of
cognitive science seem more in line with Chinese philosophy in
many ways than with Western objectivist views. Lakoff and
Johnson point out that the traditional objectivist view is that
causation is usually assumed to be something in the objective
world that exists independent of our conceptualization. In the view
of traditional objectivism, causes are causes—no matter how we
conceptualize them—and “conceptualizing something as a cause
doesn’t make it one” (Lakoff and Johnson 1999:170). Events,
causes, changes, states, actions, and purposes are seen as existing
objectively independent from subjective judgment—taken to be
literally real, not metaphorical. The embodied view, on the other
hand, is that causal conceptualization arises from human biology.
Event structures are conceptualized through metaphoric extension
of embodied experience—e.g. self-propelled motion and force.
Abstract patterns of interaction are understood through extension
of body-based patterns of interaction. There is therefore no single
literal concept of causation that is representative of all causal
inferences. Lakoff and Johnson recognize that causal reasoning
absolutely depends upon extended causal metaphors (1999:171-
73). They also note that Narayanan found that all events—both
concrete and abstract; bodily and external world events—are
structured in terms of embodied motion and interaction
(1999:176). A cause is therefore understood as being “a
determining factor for a situation” (Lakoff and Johnson 1999:177).
Each situation is representative of a state, a change, a process, or
an action. If we can’t point to a “cause” or any other necessary
information we have no way of actually concluding that a given
situation even happened or existed. Lakoff and Johnson also point
out that causation, then, cannot be captured through a single logic
or taken as an objectively independent feature of the world
(1999:226). However, causation is understood to exist—it’s just
situated, with determining factors only asserted as “real” within
certain situational contexts. Determining factors of causation can
be conceptualized either literally or through metaphorical
extension. Metaphorical conceptualizations are usually chosen

26
with situationally appropriate logic—with the metaphor being
utilized to make claims about such determining factors. Each
causal “truth” is also relative. Claims of causation are only “true”
relative to our understanding of the situation—whether literal or
metaphorical. Forces are equally as metaphorically
conceptualized. According to scientific realism force—“which is
equal to mass times acceleration”—is taken to be mere
mathematical fiction, not a physical entity that literally “exists”
(Lakoff and Johnson 1999:227). According to Einstein’s theory of
relativity—which challenged Newtonian calculations of gravity—
conceptualizes gravitational “force” as actually being a space-time
curvature upon which objects move along a geodesic and there is
no actual “pull” of gravity (Lakoff and Johnson 1999:228). The
literalist view poses that holding to literal existence of gravity is
like denying that the earth turns around the sun, but rather that the
sun “literally” rises and sets around the earth (Lakoff and Johnson
1999:229). So, the big question: Is gravity a “force” that actually
“exists” or is it really just a matter of space-time curvature? Such
seemingly opposing views are not mutually exclusive alternative
views. These theories are all metaphorically extended. Taken
literally, each theory poses the non-existence of force and
causation. Though, taken metaphorically they allow for causation
and force to “exist” from an everyday perspective. The “truth” is
therefore situational, and an embodied approach allows for various
perspectives to hold as “true.” These forces are conceptualized in
terms of direct human agency (Lakoff and Johnson 1999:230,231).
Our conceptual system is organized around this human agency and
function within our environment. Elements of direct human
agency serve to ground our conceptualization of causal concepts
and interactions. Characteristic examples of such human agency
are: “pushing, pulling, hitting, throwing, lifting, giving, taking, and
so on—” (Lakoff and Johnson 1999:231). So, does causation
exist? Lakoff and Johnson also point out that there is no single
unified objective phenomenon of “causation” existing in the mind-
independent world (1999:232-233). Our world is not “mind-
independent,” as both language and thought are intertwined with
embodied experience of the “objective” world. Even Western
physics utilizes embodied human concepts and human language in
order to conceptualize the “mind-independent world” which it
holds to exist. So again, does causation exist? Well—e.g.—“He
punched me in the arm. He caused me pain.” On a direct physical
level, “Yes, causation exists” (1999:232,233). Beyond the directly
observable world of physical interactions, further correspondence
and causal relations becomes infinitely more complex. This
difficulty extends toward both extremes of the spectrum—both the
microuniverse (e.g. elementary particles) and the macrouniverse
(e.g. black holes). Basic-level concepts of middle-level physical
experience fail us in attempting to conceptualize opposite infinites.
The extension of conceptual metaphor is absolutely necessary in
conceptualizing both extremes of the infinite spectrum. Literal
notions of causation fail in conceptualization at the micro and
macro levels and rely upon extension of conceptual metaphor. “In
short, the question ‘Does causation exist?’ is not a simpleminded
yes-or-no question. It drastically oversimplifies something that we
have seen is massively complex” (Lakoff and Johnson 1999:234).
Chinese realizes the infinitely complex nature of “causation” and
seeks not to isolate individual causes, but to achieve global
understanding the whole system.

27
2.4. Toward Mapping the Cognitive Framework of Chinese
Medical Philosophies of Yin-Yang and the Five
Elements through Conceptual Blending Networks
2.4.1. System Applications within Chinese
Medicine
As mentioned earlier, the Five Elements are applied to a vast range
of correspondences in Chinese Medicine. Five major areas to
which they are applied are: physiology, pathology, diagnosis,
treatment, and dietary and herbal therapy. We only mention these
here briefly due to the relatively small size of the case study at
hand—which allows only for modelling the core of the theories
themselves and situating them for future extension to the
correspondences. There are numerous patterns of interaction
between the Five Elements—Generating Sequence, Controlling
Sequence, Cosmological Sequence, Overacting Sequence, and
Insulting Sequence—but we are going to be primarily concerned
with the first two, as they outline the primary pattern of
interactions within the system. The Cosmological sequence is also
of some significance in that it provides key insights into the
extension of Yin-Yang to the Five Elements, and also numerical
ordering. The last two—Overacting and Insulting—are patterns of
imbalance that contradict the normally balanced patterns
established by the Generating and Controlling sequences and will
not modeled in this study, except that they follow the same patterns
respectively. Each of these correspondences are compressed into
these patterns of interaction according to their associated element,
and therefore interacts with the other correspondences accordingly.
Due to the relatively small scope of this case study we will only be
extending these patterns to one prototypical category—the Zhang
Organs—and one open variable space—X—by which other
correspondence categories can be aligned with the Five Element
patterns of interaction and compressed into a functional blend.
2.4.2. “Levels of Truth” and Chinese Medicine
Lakoff and Johnson explain that embodied understanding is central
in all aspects of meaning and the structure of thought (1999:78).
They go on to assert that evidence shows that systematic
correlations are made across conceptual domains and that
conventional mappings are alive—not dead! These systematically
established mappings “are psychologically real… and we think
using them” (1999:86-87). It is upon such evidence that they build
a case for the “reality” of conceptual structures and the nature of
our embodied shaping of the “objective world.” They also “reject
the simpleminded ideas that all science is purely objective” and
also “the myths that science provides the ultimate means of
understanding everything and that humanistic knowledge has no
standing relative to anything that calls itself science” (1999:89).
All knowledge structures are inevitably influenced and shaped by
interactions with our surroundings. They do, however, point out
that the view of embodied scientific realism is that a world does
exist independently of our understanding of it, and we can have a
stable knowledge of it, but this it is inevitably shaped by the types
of bodies and biological constructs that we possess. (1999:89).
They also point out that Descartes posed a gap between the mind
and the brain—with the mind not in touch with the world
(1999:94,95,99). This perspective situated ideas as internal
representations of external reality and maximized the mind-world
gap through “maximally arbitrary” symbol-system realism—
correlation between things in the world and the symbols that
represent them. Embodied realism provides the means by which
the gap between the mind and reality can be closed. This approach
is closer to the realism of ancient Greek philosophy and is
distinctly different from “the disembodied representational realism
of Cartesian and analytic philosophy, which is fundamentally
separated from the world” (1999:95). Based upon such a system of

28
understanding, we evolve bodily to integrate and function within
our environment—denying the philosophy of only one “true”
description of the world. This establishes a philosophy of
embodied realism through which directly embodied concepts are
extended to abstract theoretical domains to provide “an account of
how real, stable knowledge, both in science and the everyday
world, is possible” (1999:96). A key insight of embodied
relativism is that concepts change over time, and it provides the
mechanisms for characterizing such change, variation, and
multiplicity. A key mechanism for modelling such change and
patterns of interaction and activity are conceptual blends. “Truth,”
therefore, is absolutely dependent upon embodiment. Our bodies
shape our understanding of the world on multiple levels. The first
is the neural level, in which conceptual structure is directly
dependent upon the types of biological structures we have
biologically. The phenomenological level is the level of
appearance and “feel” of experience and “consists of everything
we can be aware of,” whether or not it is accessible to our
conscious (Lakoff and Johnson 1999:102-103). Such an
understanding poses a dilemma regarding “levels of truth.” The
classical correspondence theory of truth claims that truth at
different levels may contradict each other. The obvious examples
are color and the pattern of sunrise/sunset. On the
phenomenological level color is perceived as being “in” objects,
whereas on a neurophysiological level scientists would explain that
color is actually a reflection perceived by color cones and neural
circuitry and not actually “in” the cup. Sunrise/ sunset is different
in that we perceive the sun as actually “rising” and “setting”
around the earth, whereas we scientifically know that it is actually
the earth actually rotates around the sun. These seemingly
contradictory explanations represent “levels of truth” according to
embodied scientific realism and show that what is “true” on one
level may contradict a fundamental “truth” on another level
(Lakoff and Johnson 1999:104-105). Truth is ultimately
dependent upon framing and is therefore of special interest to
cognitive science. “The question of what we take truth to be is
therefore a matter for cognitive science because it depends on the
nature of human understanding” (Lakoff and Johnson 1999:108).
“One single truth” is understood to be an illusion from the
perspective of embodied realism and “truths” are accepted as being
valid on multiple levels—allowing for many correct descriptions
based on level of embodiment. Understanding of is situated and
“real” constructs are taken to be “an ontological commitment to a
scientific theory and therefore can be used to make predictions and
can function in explanations” (1999:109). Of high relevance here
is the stance on the conceptualization of “energy” and “charge”
from the perspective of Western physics where “[n]either can be
directly observed, but both play a crucial role in explanation and
prediction” (1999:109). Neural computation and conceptual
structures are just as real. Conceptualization of interaction patterns
in Chinese medicine seems to be just as “real” as any of the
aforementioned. Medical systems are also compressed models of
understanding universal objective patterns of interaction and have
access to varying “levels of truth”. David Eisenberg points out
different medical systems vary in structure, they all work to
understand the same objectively independent patterns of
universally consistent interaction. “The Chinese and Western
medical models are like two frames of reference in which identical
phenomena are studied. Neither frame of reference provides an
unobstructed view of health and illness. Each is incomplete and in
need of refinement” (Eisenberg 1995:237). Sivin goes on to assert
“[t]he pattern one discerns may or may not be objectively there,
but that is no more than to say that one may be empirically right or
wrong” (Sivin 1995:185).

29
2.5. Introduction to Conceptual Blending Theory
2.5.1. Basic Principles
In his work Mental Spaces, Fauconnier highlights the function of
mental spaces in reference to one level of scientific inquiry. “At
one level of scientific inquiry, ‘mental spaces’ and related notions
examined in our work are clearly theoretical constructs devised to
model high-level cognitive organization” (1994:xxxii). It is these
mental spaces that make conceptual blending between dissonant
ideas possible. These mental spaces are “small conceptual packets
[of information] constructed as we think and talk, for purposes of
local understanding and action” (Fauconnier and Turner 2002:40).
Each of these spaces is connected to frames from long-term
schematic knowledge. An example of this would be the outline of
what deems an action “walking on a path.” These spaces are also
connected to specific long-term knowledge—i.e. a memory of a
specific time that you climbed Camelback Mountain five years
ago. The elements of specific interest in this mental space are you,
Camelback Mountain, and the time frame of five years ago. This
is just an example of one mental space. A conceptual blend
incorporates several mental spaces and results in a new emergent
structure that is not present in any of the spaces individually. An
example provided by Fauconnier and Turner is the riddle of the
Buddhist monk from Arthur Koestler’s The Act of Creation. This
riddle poses a scenario of a Buddhist monk who walks to the top of
a mountain, meditates for several days, then walks back down.
The riddle: “Is there a place on the path that the monk occupies at
the same hour of the day on the two separate journeys?” (as cited
in Fauconnier and Turner 2002:39). In an analysis of the complex
blending involved in solving this riddle, we can see two separate
input spaces. The first space contains the first day with the monk
going up the mountain, while the second space contains the
descent of the monk on the second day. All the spaces are framed
as the action of walking up and down a mountain. The blend
contains the monk meeting himself in the same space on the same
mountain in a hypothetical time frame. Such a blend is not
possible in the material world, but our imaginative processes allow
us to create a conceptual blend that allows for such a scenario in
our minds. Mental spaces involved in such a blend are represented
by circle and is framed according to relevant structural qualities—
like the scene of a man on a mountain. Inside these mental spaces
are individual highlighted elements of information that are
necessary to connect the spaces—i.e. the monk, the mountain, the
space(s) occupied each day, etc. These elements are represented
by dots, icons, or lexical items in the blend. Connections between
elements are represented by lines. There are three primary types of
spaces involved in conceptual blends: input, generic, and blend.
The input spaces represent framed spaces for each counterfactual
by which information is brought into the blend—i.e. day 1, day 2.
Individual elements—counterparts—in these input spaces are
connected via cross-space mappings. The generic space maps
what the inputs have in common. In the Buddhist monk blend the
generic space contains “a moving individual,” “his position, a path
linking foot and summit of the mountain, a day of travel, and
motion in an unspecified direction” (Fauconnier and Turner
2002:40). Relevant information from the input spaces gets
projected into the blend, creating an emergent structure that is not
in either of the inputs—i.e. the monk meeting himself. Several
factors govern this emergent structure. The first is composition.
“[C]omposition of elements from the inputs makes relations
available in the blend that do not exist in the separate inputs”
(Fauconnier and Turner 2002:40). Completion then brings in
additional familiar structure into the blend and the blend itself can
then become “a salient part of the background frame”—i.e. “two
people starting a journey at the same time from opposite ends of a
path” (Fauconnier and Turner 2002:40). This blend is now

30
integrated in that it has become “an instance of a particular
frame”—i.e. “the frame of two people walking on a path in
opposite directions.” These complete, integrated blends are then
available for imaginative elaboration. While the operations of the
blend are principled and limited, they allow for an infinite range of
creative simulations. These infinitely possible imaginative blends
operate throughout all aspects of our lives—both mental operations
and physical interaction. They are subject to continual
modification and often become entrenched, “giving rise to
conceptual and formal structures shared throughout the
community” (Fauconnier and Turner 2002:49,50). Other
characteristic examples are the “desktop computer” and “computer
virus.” Each example blends concepts from the domain of
computers with experiential knowledge of our environment.
Desktop computers are a blend of computer operations with
functional knowledge about desktops—i.e. putting files in the
trash. The computer virus is a blend of issues with computer
dysfunction and biological viruses—i.e. they are relatively small in
comparison with the overall system, and cause disruption of
normal function.
2.5.2. Ultimate Goal of Conceptual Blending:
Achieve Human Scale
The ultimate goal of conceptual blending is to achieve human
scale—as humans are evolved to deal with reality at human scale.
“The human scale is the level at which it is natural for us to have
the impression that we have direct, reliable, and comprehensive
understanding” (Fauconnier and Turner 2002:322-324).
Conceptual blends serve to compress diffuse information from
many spaces into one by strengthening key relations and creating
one complete story and direction for all spaces involved. This
creates a comfortable level of understanding and makes it easier to
deal with. Blending conceptual information at human scale is what
makes the feeling of global insight possible.
2.5.3. Visibility of Blending and Global
Understanding
One very powerful benefit of the creation of conceptual blends is
global understanding. Fauconnier and Turner explain that “[t]he
moment of tangible, global understanding comes when a network
has been elaborated in such a way that it contains a solution that is
delivered to consciousness” (2002:57). This moment of tangible
global understanding is known as the “Eureka!” or “aha!” effect—
the moment when global understanding of a complete
unconsciously active system comes to conscious awareness. This is
completely different from formal systems of analysis carried out
step-by-step. In step-by-step analysis each step is done
consciously, with no feeling of deep understanding of truth and
most of the structure being lost at the moment of solution. Such a
system concludes that the solution must be true because each step
was carried out correctly, “even if we do not actually grasp why”
(Fauconnier and Turner 2002:57). Fauconnier and Turner suggest,
“in the case of blending, at the moment of solution, the entire
integration network is still active in the brain, even if

31
unconsciously” (2002:57). It is such a global system of
understanding that Chinese medicine is based. While Chinese
medicine may seem to be contradictory because of the elaborate
system of metaphorical extensions, the most important thing to the
Chinese medical doctor is the “Eureka!” effect—global
understanding of the complete system. Chinese doctors “pride
themselves” on their individuality of style and their ability to
achieve global coherence (Scheid 2002:13). Farquhar faced a
dilemma when first experiencing this system firsthand while
conducting her research in China. She noticed that the Chinese
doctors placed more importance on global understanding of the
complete system rather than lining up every single detail through
step-by-step analysis. When observing contradictions between
textbook examples and clinical scenarios she would ask how
doctors know which statement or explanation is correct. The
response that she repeatedly received: “We take experience to be
our guide”—therefore being rebuked for her “literal-mindedness”
(Farquhar 1994). This is because the ultimate goal of Chinese
medicine is global understanding of the system as a whole—not
getting caught up on the seemingly contradictory details of a step-
by-step analysis. Scheid explains that “Chinese medicine and the
heterogeneous elements that constitute it are best described as
emergent global states, or synthesis, that are produced by local
interactions of human and nonhuman elements, or infrastructures”
(2002:13).
2.6. Accessing Belief Systems Through Language
2.6.1. Accessing Conceptual Structure Through
Language
While the patterns of interaction conceptualized by systems of
knowledge are not purely “linguistic” in nature, it is the
manifestation of such systems through language that they can be
accessed, modeled, and analyzed. Chinese medicine is such a
knowledge system that can be accessed linguistically. Hsu points
out how Chinese medicine as a system is shaped through its social
interaction and transmission as well. In doing so, she refers to the
socialization of concepts in which such concepts are understood in
different ways with varying levels of significance depending on the
social contexts in which they are learned “Concepts become
‘socialised,’” being understood in different ways, with “different
meanings, uses, and ‘performative significances’,” depending on
the social contexts in which they are learned (1999:225). While the
transmission of knowledge in Chinese Medicine—as in all
academic and scientific contexts—relies on lexical information, the
main objective is “non-verbal knowing” and rote learning. But
again, specific concepts depend upon the way in which they are
learned, and this learning relies heavily on linguistic transference
of information. Chinese medicine also very openly asserts the
authority of written texts. Scheid mentions: “My teachers in China
never failed to impress on me that reading, writing, and
memorizing are intrinsic aspects of medical practice” (2002:14).
Systems of conceptualization can be accessed through language
because language both encodes and reflects their structure.
“According to cognitive linguists, language not only reflects
conceptual structure, but can also give rise to conceptualization,”
and “… the linguistic system both reflects the conceptualizing
capacity, and in turn influences the nature of knowledge by virtue
of the language-specific categories it derives” (Fauconnier and

32
Turner 2002:101,102). It is the linguistic manifestation of such
systems of knowledge and conceptualization that allows them to be
modeled and available to conscious awareness.
2.6.2. The Cognitive Reality of Conceptual
Blending and Chinese Medicine
Conceptual blending in Chinese medicine—as in any complex
system—is organized by different aspects of experience and spatial
and temporal cognition. The blends have to be set up to draw upon
analogues from the mental spaces to yield an integrated blend that
contains more than the sum of its parts. Such blends make it
possible to create matches that would not typically be made
between items in the everyday world and give rise to new meaning
and creative realizations. These blends can’t be run “in just any
way, but must somehow run it in the way that is relevant to the
purpose at hand” (Fauconnier and Turner 2002:20). This purpose
must allow for utilizing information available in the blend to
access inferences outside of the blend. This alignment of
seemingly contradictory analogues within, and beyond, the blend
may seem far-fetched when analyzed consciously, but this does not
prevent their use as a means of conceptualizing complex ideas and
scenarios unconsciously. Fauconnier and Turner point out that it
doesn’t matter whether or not the blend is actually a possible
scenario in the “real world,” as this very impossibility is what
seems to give blends their vast potential for imaginative creativity.
“Many blends are not only possible but also so compelling that
they come to represent, mentally, a new reality, in culture, action,
and science” (2002:21). These blends—whether real in the
objective world or not—are neurologically real. Connection and
activation of neurons in the brain allows concepts to be joined on a
neurologically real level. These neurological connections create
the potential for vast networks of imaginative integration. The
information passed through these networks is what manifests
consciously and is accessible as functional knowledge for
interaction with the physical world and linguistic expression of
conceptualization. “Words themselves are part of activation
patterns” and serve as points of access to this vast network of
embodied conceptual structure.
2.7. Why Apply Conceptual Blending Theory to Chinese
Medical Philosophy
So, why apply conceptual blending theory to Chinese medical
philosophy? As mentioned before, conceptual blending theory has
been applied to everything from cartoons and humour (Coulson
2005), to math (Lakoff and Nunez 2000), to magic, ritual, and
religion (Sorensen; Sweetser 2000) to molecular genetics (John
Sung In prep.) and even Chinese philosophy (Slingerland 2005).
But no attempts are known of that apply conceptual blending
theory to theories of Yin-Yang and Five Elements in Chinese
medical science. The only work that has even briefly touched on
the subject is Yu Ning’s utilization of conceptual metaphor theory
to look as ideas of emotion and qi conceptualization in Chinese—
with special attention to Yin-Yang and Five Elements. Again we
point out that Yu asserts that “these theories form a cognitive or
cultural model underlying the metaphorical conceptualization in
Chinese” (1995:59). Such a recognition of the theories of Yin-
Yang and Five Elements in Chinese medicine as metaphorically
extended systems of embodied understanding establishes the
relevance of case study that models the complex blending involved
in their operation and application.

33
3. ANALYSIS
3.1. The Integration Network in Chinese Medical Theory—
Yin-Yang and the Five Element Patterns of Interaction
In keeping with the principles of cognitive science and embodied
realism, this case study is not an assertion of the absolute nature of
one individual way to represent the cognitive framework
underlying the vast networks of encyclopaedic information
established by Chinese medical philosophy, but rather to begin
work toward laying a foundation for a solid representative model
of such systems of information from the perspective of conceptual
blending theory and cognitive science. As outlined previously, this
system is characterized not by reductionist step-by-step process
analysis, but rather by global access to the entire system. It is upon
this realization that we set forth to gain key insights into how this
system of “global insight” is achieved at human scale, by
compression of infinitely complex systems of interactions into
human scale.
3.2. The Foundation: Yin-Yang Cycle—Creation of
Cosmological Systems (Figs. 1-2b)
As explained previously, the Yin-Yang Cycle is understood in
Chinese philosophy as a continuous universal pattern of the
intertransformation between complementary dualities. This cycle
is present everywhere throughout the universe, from the most
observably understood to the most abstractly complex. While this
process is present in everything, it is most directly understood in
reference to embodied experience. It is the metaphoric extension
of embodied concepts that make the Yin-Yang accessible to global
coherence at human scale. There are a few characteristic cycles
understood through embodied experience that provide the means
by which the Yin-Yang cycle can be globally understood on
human scale. The two most readily understood cycles that we will
look at are the cyclic day and seasonal year. Each of these cycles
provides a characteristic example with key insights into the Yin-
Yang cycle of intertransformation. The two other cycles of change
that will provide further insight are the cardinal directions and
phenomenological motion. The cardinal directions provide a way
to project the Yin-Yang cycle onto spatial orientation. The
phenomenological motion cycle of transition is a very crucial
pattern of interaction for extension of the Yin-Yang cycle to the
Five Element patterns and beyond. The following figures provide
a blending analysis of how these four patterns of interaction are
compressed into the Yin-Yang cycle. Figure 1 provides a network
blend of the various spaces, while figures 1a and 1b provide more
specific information on content between the closely connected
spaces, and figure 1c elaborates the network blend by connecting
lexical information from each space.
3.2.1. Figure 1—Blend 1: Yin-Yang Network
Figure 1 establishes the link between embodied experience and the
Yin-Yang cycle by modelling the network between the Yin-Yang
cycle, cyclic day, seasonal year, cardinal directions, and
phenomenological motion. Each of these cycles are compressed to
fit the representative Yin-Yang cycle as illustrated by the diagram
of broken and unbroken lines—the Yin-Yang cycle outlined
previously. Elements of both time and space are compressed in
order to represent all potential cosmological cycles. The cyclic
day and cardinal directions are aligned with the Yin-Yang cycle in
generic space 124 and the seasons and cardinal directions are
aligned with the Yin-Yang cycle in generic space 235, with both
being compressed into Blend 1—generic spaces are elaborated in
Figures 1a and 1b respectively. All spaces are compressed into the
Yin-Yang cycle and the diagram of broken and unbroken lines,
which is understood as being representative of all relevant
cosmological cycles. This Yin-Yang cycle—Input space 2—

Conceptual Blending, Chinese Five Element Theory and Cognitive Coherence

Conceptual Blending, Chinese Five Element Theory and Cognitive Coherence

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