According to the theory of traditional Chinese medicine, there are some patterns of syndrome that lead to cholecystitis.
1. Stagnation of Liver Qi and Gallbladder Qi  
2. Qi Stagnation and Blood Stasis 
3. Heat Accumulation in the Gallbladder
4. Damp Heat in the Liver and Gallbladder
5. Yin Deficiency and Liver-qi Stagnation
6. Yang Deficiency and Liver-qi Stagnation

In TCM, cholecystitis belongs to the categories of "xie tong" (hypochondriac pain), "dan zhang" (biliary distension) and "huang dan" (jaundice). It is chiefly induced by disorder of qi in ascending and descending. The causes of this disease may be prolonged stagnation of liver qi due to worry, pensiveness and anger; disorder of the gallbladder due to stagnation of damp heat; deficiency with impairment and overstrain followed by cold invasion; stagnant qi causing blood stagnation that further blocks the meridians. It is closely related to the liver, spleen and stomach; and its location is in the gallbladder.

As for its pathogenesis, qi stagnation, heat accumulation, blood stasis, gallstones and dampness retention cause stagnation of liver qi and gallbladder qi and failure of gallbladder qi to ascend and descend; prolonged qi stagnation causes blood stagnation or transforms into fire. Furthermore, recurrence of the disease leads to deficiency of healthy qi, and retained phlegm and damp heat in the gallbladder eventually result in the formation of gallstones. In this case, the ability of the gallbladder to promote the flow of qi is impaired and disorder of the spleen and stomach further consumes healthy qi, consequently deficiency of liver yin and kidney yin or deficiency of spleen yang and kidney yang ensues.