Five evils

1. The Classic of Difficult Issues (难经 nàn jīng, 49) states, There is wind stroke, summerheat damage, food, drink and taxation fatigue, cold damage, and dampness damage. These are called the five evils.

2. Vacuity evil, repletion evil, bandit evil, mild evil, regular evil. The Classic of Difficult Issues (难经 nàn jīng, 50) states, That coming from behind is vacuity evil; that coming from ahead is repletion evil; that coming from the restraining phase is bandit evil; that coming from the restrained phase is mild evil; that causing disease of self is regular evil. Behind refers to the mother organ, ahead is the child organ, and self is the affected organ itself.

3. In Essential Prescriptions of the Golden Cabinet (金匮要略 jīn guì yào lüè, zàng fǔ jīng luò xiān hòu bìng mài zhèng), wind, cold, dampness, fog, and food damage are referred to as the five evils.