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Earth likes warmth and dryness
土喜温燥 〔土喜溫燥〕 tǔ xǐ wēn zào
Earth needs fresh water to produce crops, but if inadequately drained, it remains permanently damp and soggy, and therefore less productive. Its production is greatly increased by warmth. Similarly, the spleen, the viscus that corresponds to earth in the body, needs liquid as well as solid food (water and grain) to supply the body with nutrients (essence of grain and water). However, impairment of the splenic movement and transformation can give rise to water-damp in the body with inhibited urination, water swelling, and phlegm-rheum; conversely, exuberant water-damp and ingestion of raw and cold food places an added burden on the spleen’s movement and transformation function. Through five-phase correspondences, earth likes warmth and dryness
sums up these physiological and pathological characteristics.