The constitutional chart in Eight Constitution Medicine (ECM) lists more than foods: it also covers exercise, and even beneficial and harmful colours. What do the colours on the constitution chart actually mean? An account written by Korean physician Dowon Kuon, who developed ECM in the latter half of the twentieth century, helps explain the idea — and I will add my own view of how much weight it deserves.
In Summary
- Kuon described a young paediatrician who found that coloured kinesiology tape worked for some people and caused side effects in others — and that the pattern matched ECM’s basic acupuncture formulas.
- Blue-green (靑) belongs to Wood, the same phase as the liver. Hepatonia and Pulmotonia, opposite constitutions, share the same basic liver formula and both responded to blue-green tape.
- In my reading, a colour’s energy draws qi toward the liver, which helps Pulmotonia, whose liver is the most recessive organ.
- But colour carries far less energy than food. Taping works because it acts on a sensitised spot for a long time.
- In daily life, paying attention to the colours you live with constantly — wallpaper, glasses — is plenty. Even a “harmful” colour can do you good.
The Tape Story
In an essay on ECM, Kuon recounted the experience of a young paediatrician who was looking for ways to treat illness without drugs and had been studying rehabilitation medicine, traditional acupuncture and kinesiology taping. In the course of that work, he found that the colour of the tape changed its effect: black tape, for instance, helped some people and caused side effects in others.
Searching for the reason, he came across ECM and tested coloured tapes against constitution in many people. At first the results looked like nonsense — blue-green tape worked well for Hepatonia but caused side effects in Cholecystonia; it worked for Pulmotonia, the opposite constitution to Hepatonia, but caused side effects in Colonotonia. He concluded for a time that tape colour and constitution were unrelated.
What surprised him was discovering that the tape colours matched ECM’s basic acupuncture formulas for each constitution. Hepatonia and Pulmotonia, both helped by blue-green tape, share the same basic formula — a liver formula — and the other six constitutions matched in the same way.
Kuon’s explanation, in summary: the liver and the colour blue-green carry the same sign, Wood. In Hepatonia, blue-green tape absorbs the excess liver toxin spread through the body, so the person feels relief. In Pulmotonia, worn down by a strong lung, the same tape supplements a tired liver, so the person revives. The two constitutions’ shared basic formula works on the same principle.
Opposites That Connect
Hepatonia and Pulmotonia sit at opposite ends of the ECM system. Hepatonia’s hierarchy runs liver > kidney > heart > pancreas > lung; Pulmotonia’s runs lung > pancreas > heart > kidney > liver. In ECM, “strong” does not mean “safe” — each one’s dominant axis carries the most qi and tips most easily into excess. Kuon contrasted them at length: Hepatonia does well on meat and poorly on fish; Pulmotonia does well on fish and vegetables and is harmed by meat. Hepatonia benefits from a hot, sweating bath; Pulmotonia should bathe in lukewarm water without sweating. Yet the same liver formula, and the same blue-green tape, suit them both.
My Reading: Colour Is Real, but Small
A colour is the energy — the wavelength — an object sends outward, which our eyes perceive. In my reading, the energy of green works to gather qi toward the liver, which is why it is a good colour for Pulmotonia, whose liver’s gathering function is the weakest.
But colour has much less influence than food. The density and magnitude of the energy a colour carries are different, so its effect on the body is smaller. Taping, the example Kuon gave, can show a colour effect because it acts for a long time on a painful spot — a place where qi is already sensitised.
One more detail is worth noticing: blue-green tape helped Hepatonia, for whom blue-green is listed as a harmful colour. I see two reasons a harmful colour could act beneficially:
- It is possible within ECM’s treatment principles.
- Colour is not as strong as food.
How Much Attention to Pay
So with colour, it is enough to think about the things you have with you all the time — wallpaper, the colour of your glasses frames. The effect is slight, and even a harmful colour can work in your favour, so it is not something to worry about in daily life.
For what it is worth, I like yellow, a beneficial colour for my constitution, because it gives me a sense of stability and energy; and black, a harmful one, because it calms me. I seem to get something good from both.
Summary
The colours on the constitution chart come from the same Five Phases logic as ECM’s acupuncture formulas — illustrated by Kuon’s account of coloured tape that matched each constitution’s basic formula. Colour does carry energy, but much less than food. Pay attention to the colours you live with constantly if you like, and otherwise do not let them worry you.
Related reading: Constitutional Acupuncture: A Guided Missile Rather Than a Large Bomb · How ECM Decides Which Foods Are Beneficial or Harmful
