This is a short novel to discover Wu Xing - the five movements concept one of the pillars of traditional chinese medicine TCM.

1. The Empire of Emotions
One day the Emperor of Courage and Happiness summoned his court.
T h e f i r s t t o
arrive was the
G e n e r a l o f
Defense,
They were asked to sit in a circle where the
Emperor had placed five pillows at equal
distance.
followed by
the General of
Conquests,
then the white
haired Minister
of Experienceand lastly the
young Minister
of Initiatives.
A novel by Fausto Bastianello

2. The Emperor spoke to his court:
“Dear counselors, I have thoroughly observed your endeavors and capacities and long
reflected on the harmony of our empire. The qualities that each of you possesses greatly
surpass those of all the others combined, therefore you are all indispensable to the
wellbeing of our great empire...”
“... I have often noticed how your
different natures have caused strong
conflicts which have resulted in
illnesses and suffering in all the
regions. It is my wish that none of you
ever prevail over the others. To that
end I have assigned to each of you two
rules.”
After a long pause he declared:
“You will give the fruits of your virtue
to the one sitting at your left and you
will control who sits at his left”
The Empire of Emotions

3. He then addressed the General of
Conquests sitting at his left:
“You honor my courage with your
endeavors, your ambition surpasses
all fear and your gifts fill the treasure
chests of the Minister of Knowledge.
You will watch over the Minister of
Initiatives. Your virtue is desire.”
He then looked at his right and started addressing the General of Defense:
“You are our best defender, your virtue is your steadfastness. You will protect your
Emperor and will watch over the General of Conquests.”
The Empire of Emotions

4. He then spoke to the Minister of Knowledge:
“You will receive the goods of the conquests and
you will keep our history as its true
understanding soothes pain; you will watch over
the General of Defense, your virtue is clear
sightedness.”
When it was time to address the Minister of
Initiatives, he explained:
In so doing he gave a different power to each counselor instructing him to serve another
counselor and watch over his work.
The Empire of Emotions
“You will consult Experience and you will give events a new impetus. You will treasure
past mistakes in order to intuit future successes. You are to supply the plans to the
General of Defense and to counsel the Emperor. Your virtue is Intuition.”

5. In fact he knew that:
Remembering pain engenders fear.
The right amount of fear creates a defensive reaction, rage.
Being able to defend one self engenders courage.
Courage produces desire of conquests.
Failed conquests cause pain.
Without fear courage would lead us to recklessness and death.
Without desire fear would paralyze us.
Without pain rage would blind us.
Without rage desire would lead us to destruction.
Without courage pain would prevail.
He himself sat at the table, not as a sign of humility, rather as a mother nourishes her child
and the father teaches him, so that passion and discipline may support each other.
He was the first to understand (see) that attending to the wellbeing of one part only leads to
the death of all, including the part itself, and that healing only derives from the harmony of
different natures. Each power would oversee and each treasure would be nourished so that
this harmonious cycle might prosper without end, because each part was contributing to the
whole and was receiving from it. After one thousand years his example has still not been
understood. This is the law of the five movements.
The Empire of Emotions