Last week, I shared about how sadness emotion can overcome anger. This week, let’s take a closer look at the emotion, joy.
In TCM (five elements), the heart is linked to the joy emotion.
Keep in mind that no matter what emotion, it is never a good thing to stay in one emotion for a prolonged period of time, or experience a great amount of that emotion in a short period of time.
For example, there is a Chinese saying, “乐极生悲”, which means when one is overtaken by extreme joy, it can lead to tragedy. You might relate to this when you hear stories of people fainting or even losing their lives after suddenly winning the jackpot.
In TCM, the heart represents the mental and mind (心主神明) of a person. Thus, excessive joy can lead a person to lose his mind (laughing or crying uncontrollably), and in extreme cases—to the extent of losing his life (as described in the above scenario) .
Let’s learn what is the emotion that can counter joy in this simple summary:
- In TCM five elements, the heart is represented by the fire element.
- The only element that can counter fire is water.
- The water element is represented by the kidney organ.
- Kidney is associated with the emotion of fear.
- This means fear can counter joy.
There is a well-known story called Fan Jin Passes the Imperial Examination (范进中举), which tells of how fear was used to treat a person who lost his mind as a result of sudden, extreme joy. Below is an English translation of this story for reference:
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Fan Jin was a poor scholar who devoted most of his life to preparing for the imperial examinations. Despite years of hard work, Fan Jin repeatedly failed the exams (20 times), living a life of poverty and mockery from those around him.
Fan Jin’s in-laws constantly berated him for his failures. Even his wife–who has always been supportive–was deeply worried about their future. Despite the challenges, Fan Jin remained determined, believing that success in the imperial exams would bring honor to his family eventually.
In his old age, Fan Jin traveled to the provincial capital once more and at last, he succeeded in passing the imperial exams with flying colors. However upon receiving the news, Fan Jin was so overwhelmed with joy and disbelief that he lost his sanity. He ran through the city, laughing and shouting uncontrollably.
His family got worried, realizing that Fan Jin had lost his mind. But they were at a loss of what to do.
At this time, someone suggested bringing in the person Fan Jin feared most—which happens to be his father-in-law, Mr Hu—to startle him and give him a slap. Though Mr Hu was reluctant, he had to do it for the sake of his son-in-law’s family’s future.
When Mr Hu found Fan Jin sitting on the floor and mumbling to himself, his anger grew. He shouted at Fan Jin and gave him a hard slap on his face. Fan Jin fainted on the spot.
After Fan Jin regained consciousness, he asked his family where he was and they told him that he had passed the imperial exam. After recalling the incident, Fan Jin coughed up phlegm and went back to his normal self thereafter.
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Have you encountered any situation before where fear overcame joy?
Hope you find this information useful!