Five elements (Chinese philosophy)
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Template:Classic elementIn traditional Chinese philosophy, natural phenomena can be classified into the Five Elements (Template:Zh-cp): wood, fire, earth, metal, and water(木, 火, 土, 金, 水; mù, huǒ, tǔ, jīn, shǔi). These elements were used for describing interactions and relationships between phenomena. Five phases is the more appropriate way of translating wǔxíng — literally, "five goings". Traditional Taijiquan schools relate them to footwork and refer to them as five "steps".
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[edit] Cycles
The doctrine of five phases describes both a generating (生, shēng) cycle and an overcoming or restraining (克, kè) cycle of interactions between the phases.
[edit] Generating
- wood feeds fire;
- fire creates earth (ash);
- earth bears metal;
- metal collects water and
- water nourishes wood.
[edit] Overcoming
- wood parts earth;
- earth absorbs water;
- water quenches fire;
- fire melts metal and
- metal chops wood.
[edit] Correlations between the five elements and other categories
The doctrine of five phases was employed in many fields of early Chinese philosophy, including seemingly disparate fields such as music, traditional Chinese medicine, military strategy and martial arts.
[edit] Music
The Yuèlìng chapter (月令篇) of the Lǐjì (禮記) and the Huáinánzǐ (淮南子) make the following correlations:
!Colour! Direction! Pentatonic scale (approximate)
| Element | Wood | Fire | Earth | Metal | Water |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Azure | Vermilion | Yellow | White | Black | |
| east | south | center | west | north | |
| jué 角 (mi) | zhǐ 徵 (so) | gōng 宮 (do) | shāng 商 (re) | yǔ 羽 (la) |
(note: The Chinese word 青 qīng, traditionally translated as azure in this context, includes the range in the spectrum from green to blue, with shades down to black.)
[edit] Chinese medicine and cosmology
! Direction! Planet! Viscera (yin)! Viscera (yang)! Emotion ! Finger! Sense! Taste! Heavenly creature ! Livestock ! Fruit! Grain! Heavenly Stems! Season ! Life
| Element | Wood | Fire | Earth | Metal | Water |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| east | south | center | west | north | |
| Jupiter | Mars | Saturn | Venus | Mercury | |
| liver | heart | spleen/pancreas | lung | kidney | |
| gall bladder | small intestine | stomach | large intestine | urinary bladder | |
| content | jealous | desire | angry | sad | |
| index finger | middle finger | thumb | ring finger | little finger | |
| Sensory organ | eye | tongue | mouth | nose | ears |
| sight | speech | taste | smell | hearing | |
| sour | bitter | sweet | spicy | salty | |
| Azure Dragon 青龙 or 青龍 |
Vermilion Bird 朱雀 |
Qilin 麒麟 or 黃麟 |
White Tiger 白虎 |
Black Tortoise 玄武 |
|
| dog | sheep/goat | cattle | chicken | pig | |
| plum | apricot | jujube | peach | chestnut | |
| cannabis | wheat | rice | millet | bean | |
| 甲, 乙 | 丙, 丁 | 戊, 己 | 庚, 辛 | 壬, 癸 | |
| Spring | Summer | Change of seasons (Every third month) |
Autumn | Winter | |
| birth | youth | adulthood | old age | death |
[edit] Bagua
The elements have also been correlated to the eight trigrams of the I Ching:
| Element | Wood | Fire | Earth | Metal | Water |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I Ching | Wind, thunder | Fire | Earth, mountain | Sky, lake | Water |
| Trigrams | :|| (☴ 巽 xùn) |:: (☳ 震 zhèn) | |:| (☲ 離 lí) | ::: (☷ 坤 kūn) ::| (☶ 艮 gèn) | ||| (☰ 乾 qián) ||: (☱ 兌 duì) | :|: (☵ 坎 kǎn) |
[edit] Martial arts
[edit] Xingyi
Xingyiquan uses the five elements to metaphorically represent five different states of combat.
| Element | Fist | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wood | Crushing | 崩 | Bēng | Arrows constantly exploding forward. |
| Fire | Pounding | 炮 | Pào | Exploding outward like a cannon while blocking. |
| Earth | Crossing | 橫 | Héng | Crossing across the line of attack while turning over. |
| Metal | Splitting | 劈 | Pī | Like an axe chopping up and over. |
| Water | Drilling | 鑽 | Zuān | Drilling forward horizontally like a geyser. |
[edit] See also
- Chinese music
- Five elements (Japanese)
- Four elements
- Xingyiquan
- Pushing hands
- Qi
- Qigong
- Taijitu
- Tao
- Zang Fu theory
- Feng Shui
[edit] References
- Feng Youlan (Yu-lan Fung), A History of Chinese Philosophy, volume 2, p. 13
- Joseph Needham, Science and Civilization in China, volume 2, pp. 262-23
[edit] External links
- Chinese Medicine/Acupuncture Five Element Theory and Applications
- Five Element Information Five Element interrelationships, concordances and causative factors.
- Chinese Zodiac Chart Find your Chinese Zodiac sign based on your date of birth.
- Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) - A model of transition from the traditional elements
- The American School of Classical Feng Shui
- Five Elements in Society
de:Fünf-Elemente-Lehrees:Cinco Elementosfr:Cinq éléments (Chine)he:חמשת האלמנטיםja:五行思想pt:Cinco elementos (filosofia chinesa)ru:Ба-гуа и у-синsv:Fem elementenvi:Ngũ hànhzh:五行
