Diagram of the interactions between the wuxing. The "generative" cycle is illustrated by grey arrows running clockwise on the outside of the circle, while the "destructive" or "conquering" cycle is represented by red arrows inside the circle.
Wuxing
Chinese五行
Tablet in the Temple of Heaven of Beijing, written in Chinese and Manchu, dedicated to the gods of the Five Movements. The Manchu word usiha, meaning "star", explains that this tablet is dedicated to the five planets: Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus and Mercury and the movements which they govern.

Wuxing (Chinese: 五行; pinyin: wǔxíng),[lower-alpha 1] usually translated as Five Phases or Five Agents,[2] is a fivefold conceptual scheme used in many traditional Chinese fields of study to explain a wide array of phenomena, including cosmic cycles, the interactions between internal organs, the succession of political regimes, and the properties of herbal medicines.

The agents are Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, and Earth.[lower-alpha 2] The wuxing system has been in use since it was formulated in the second or first century BCE during the Han dynasty. It appears in many seemingly disparate fields of early Chinese thought, including music, feng shui, alchemy, astrology, martial arts, military strategy, I Ching divination, and traditional medicine, serving as a metaphysics based on cosmic analogy.

Etymology

Taijitu diagram featuring the wuxing in the center (from the Complete Classics Collection of Ancient China by Chen Menglei)

Wuxing originally referred to the five major planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, Mars, Venus), which were conceived as creating five forces of earthly life. This is why the word is composed of Chinese characters meaning "five" (五; wǔ) and "moving" (行; xíng). "Moving" is shorthand for "planets", since the word for planets in Chinese literally translates as "moving stars" (行星; xíngxīng).[6] Some of the Mawangdui Silk Texts (before 168 BC) also connect the wuxing to the wude (五德; wǔdé), the Five Virtues and Five Emotions.[7][8] Scholars believe that various predecessors to the concept of wuxing were merged into one system with many interpretations during the Han dynasty.[9]

Wuxing was first translated into English as "the Five Elements", drawing deliberate parallels with the Western idea of the four elements.[10][8] This translation is still in common use among practitioners of Traditional Chinese medicine, such as in the name of Five Element acupuncture.[11] However, this analogy is misleading. The four elements are concerned with form, substance and quantity, whereas wuxing are "primarily concerned with process, change, and quality".[12] For example, the wuxing element "Wood" is more accurately thought of as the "vital essence" of trees rather than the physical substance wood.[13] This led sinologist Nathan Sivin to propose the alternative translation "five phases" in 1987.[14] But "phase" also fails to capture the full meaning of wuxing. In some contexts, the wuxing are indeed associated with physical substances.[15] Historian of Chinese medicine Manfred Porkert proposed the (somewhat unwieldy) term "Evolutive Phase".[15] Perhaps the most widely accepted translation among modern scholars is "the five agents", proposed by Marc Kalinowski.[16]

Cycles

In traditional doctrine, the five phases are connected in two cycles of interactions: a generating or creation (生 shēng) cycle, also known as "mother-son"; and an overcoming or destructive (克 kè) cycle, also known as "grandfather-grandson" (see diagram). Each of the two cycles can be analyzed going forward or reversed. There is also an "overacting" or excessive version of the destructive cycle.

Inter-promoting

The generating cycle (相生 xiāngshēng) is:

  • Wood feeds Fire
  • Fire produces Earth (ash, lava)
  • Earth bears Metal (geological processes produce minerals)
  • Metal collects Water (water vapor condenses on metal, for example)
  • Water nourishes Wood (Water flowers, plants and other changes in forest)

Weakening

The reverse generating cycle (相洩/相泄 xiāngxiè) is:

  • Wood depletes Water
  • Water rusts Metal
  • Metal impoverishes Earth (erosion, destructive mining of minerals)
  • Earth smothers Fire
  • Fire burns Wood (forest fires)

Inter-regulating

The destructive cycle (相克 xiāngkè) is:

  • Wood grasps (or stabilizes) Earth (roots of trees can prevent soil erosion)
  • Earth contains (or directs) Water (dams or river banks)
  • Water dampens (or regulates) Fire
  • Fire melts (or refines or shapes) Metal
  • Metal chops (or carves) Wood

Overacting

The excessive destructive cycle (相乘 xiāngchéng) is:

  • Wood depletes Earth (depletion of nutrients in soil, over-farming, overcultivation)
  • Earth obstructs Water (over-damming)
  • Water extinguishes Fire
  • Fire melts Metal (affecting its integrity)
  • Metal makes Wood rigid to easily snap.

Counteracting

A reverse or deficient destructive cycle (相侮 xiāngwǔ or 相耗 xiānghào) is:

  • Wood dulls Metal
  • Metal de-energizes Fire (conducting heat away)
  • Fire evaporates Water
  • Water muddies (or destabilizes) Earth
  • Earth rots Wood (buried wood rots)

Celestial stem

MovementWoodFireEarthMetalWater
Heavenly Stems Jia 甲
Yi 乙		Bing 丙
Ding 丁		Wu 戊
Ji 己		Geng 庚
Xin 辛		Ren 壬
Gui 癸
Year ends with 4, 56, 78, 90, 12, 3

Ming neiyin

In Ziwei divination, neiyin (纳音) further classifies the Five Elements into 60 ming (命), or life orders, based on the ganzhi. Similar to the astrology zodiac, the ming is used by fortune-tellers to analyse individual personality and destiny.

Order Ganzhi Ming Order Ganzhi Ming Element
1Jia Zi 甲子Sea metal 海中金31Jia Wu 甲午Sand metal 沙中金Metal
2Yi Chou 乙丑32Yi Wei 乙未
3Bing Yin 丙寅Furnace fire 炉中火33Bing Shen 丙申Forest fire 山下火Fire
4Ding Mao 丁卯34Ding You 丁酉
5Wu Chen 戊辰Forest wood 大林木35Wu Xu 戊戌Meadow wood 平地木Wood
6Ji Si 己巳36Ji Hai 己亥
7Geng Wu 庚午Road earth 路旁土37Geng Zi 庚子Adobe earth 壁上土Earth
8Xin Wei 辛未38Xin Chou 辛丑
9Ren Shen 壬申Sword metal 剑锋金39Ren Yin 壬寅Precious metal 金白金Metal
10Gui You 癸酉40Gui Mao 癸卯
11Jia Xu 甲戌Volcanic fire 山头火41Jia Chen 甲辰Lamp fire 佛灯火Fire
12Yi Hai 乙亥42Yi Si 乙巳
13Bing Zi 丙子Cave water 洞下水43Bing Wu 丙午Sky water 天河水Water
14Ding Chou 丁丑44Ding Wei 丁未
15Wu Yin 戊寅Fortress earth 城头土45Wu Shen 戊申Highway earth 大驿土Earth
16Ji Mao 己卯46Ji You 己酉
17Geng Chen 庚辰Wax metal 白腊金47Geng Xu 庚戌Jewellery metal 钗钏金Metal
18Xin Si 辛巳48Xin Hai 辛亥
19Ren Wu 壬午Willow wood 杨柳木49Ren Zi 壬子Mulberry wood 桑柘木Wood
20Gui Wei 癸未50Gui Chou 癸丑
21Jia Shen 甲申Stream water 泉中水51Jia Yin 甲寅Rapids water 大溪水Water
22Yi You 乙酉52Yi Mao 乙卯
23Bing Xu 丙戌Roof tiles earth 屋上土53Bing Chen 丙辰Desert earth 沙中土Earth
24Ding Hai 丁亥54Ding Si 丁巳
25Wu Zi 戊子Lightning fire 霹雳火55Wu Wu 戊午Sun fire 天上火Fire
26Ji Chou 己丑56Ji Wei 己未
27Geng Yin 庚寅Conifer wood 松柏木57Geng Shen 庚申Pomegranate wood 石榴木Wood
28Xin Mao 辛卯58Xin You 辛酉
29Ren Chen 壬辰River water 长流水59Ren Xu 壬戌Ocean water 大海水Water
30Gui Si 癸巳60Gui Hai 癸亥

Applications

The wuxing schema is applied to explain phenomena in various fields.

Phases of the Year

The five phases are around 73 days each and are usually used to describe the transformations of nature rather than their formative states.

  • Wood/Spring: a period of growth, which generates abundant vitality, movement and wind.
  • Fire/Summer: a period of swelling, flowering, expanding with heat.
  • Earth can be seen as a transitional period between the other phases or seasons or when relating to transformative seasonal periods it can be seen as late Summer. This period is associated with stability, leveling and dampness.
  • Metal/Autumn: a period of harvesting, collecting and dryness.
  • Water/Winter: a period of retreat, stillness, contracting and coolness.

Cosmology and feng shui

Another illustration of the cycle

The art of feng shui (Chinese geomancy) is based on wuxing, with the structure of the cosmos mirroring the five phases, as well as the eight trigrams. Each phase has a complex network of associations with different aspects of nature (see table): colors, seasons and shapes all interact according to the cycles.[17]

An interaction or energy flow can be expansive, destructive, or exhaustive, depending on the cycle to which it belongs. By understanding these energy flows, a feng shui practitioner attempts to rearrange energy to benefit the client.

MovementMetalMetalFireWoodWoodWaterEarthEarth
Trigram hanzi 乾 兌 離 震 巽 坎 艮 坤
Trigram pinyin qiánduìlízhènxùnkǎngènkūn
Trigrams ☰☱☲☳☴☵☶☷
I Ching HeavenLakeFireThunderWindWaterMountainField
Planet (Celestial Body) NeptuneVenusMarsJupiterPlutoMercuryUranusSaturn
Color GreyWhiteRedGreenPurpleBlackBlueYellow
Day FridayFridayTuesdayThursdayThursdayWednesdaySaturdaySaturday
Season AutumnAutumnSummerSpringSpringWinterIntermediateIntermediate
Cardinal direction WestWestSouthEastEastNorthCenterCenter

Dynastic transitions

According to the Warring States period political philosopher Zou Yan (c. 305–240 BCE), each of the five elements possesses a personified virtue (德; dé), which indicates the foreordained destiny (運; yùn) of a dynasty; hence the cyclic succession of the elements also indicates dynastic transitions. Zou Yan claims that the Mandate of Heaven sanctions the legitimacy of a dynasty by sending self-manifesting auspicious signs in the ritual color (yellow, blue, white, red, and black) that matches the element of the new dynasty (Earth, Wood, Metal, Fire, and Water). From the Qin dynasty onward, most Chinese dynasties invoked the theory of the Five Elements to legitimize their reign.[18]

Chinese medicine

Five Elements – diurnal cycle

The interdependence of zangfu networks in the body was said to be a circle of five things, and so mapped by the Chinese doctors onto the five phases.[19][20]

In order to explain the integrity and complexity of the human body, Chinese medical scientists and physicians use the Five Elements theory to classify the human body's endogenous influences on organs, physiological activities, pathological reactions, and environmental or exogenous influences. This diagnostic capacity is extensively used in traditional five phase acupuncture today, as opposed to the modern eight principles based Traditional Chinese medicine. Furthermore in combination the two systems are the study of postnatal and prenatal influencing on genetics, psychology and sociology.[21][22]

MovementWoodFireEarthMetalWater
Planet JupiterMarsSaturnVenusMercury
Mental Quality idealism, spontaneity, curiositypassion, intensityagreeableness, honestyintuition, rationality, minderudition, resourcefulness, wit
Emotion anger, kindnesshate, resolveanxiety, joygrief, braveryfear, passion
Virtue BenevolenceProprietyFidelityRighteousnessWisdom
Zang (yin organs) liverheart/pericardiumspleen/pancreaslungkidney
Fu (yang organs) gall bladdersmall intestine/San Jiaostomachlarge intestineurinary bladder
Sensory Organ eyestonguemouthnoseears
Body Part tendonspulsemusclesskinbones
Body Fluid tearssweatsalivamucusurine
Finger index fingermiddle fingerthumbring fingerpinky finger
Sense sighttastetouchsmellhearing
Taste[23] sourbittersweetpungent, umamisalty
Smell rancidscorchedfragrantrottenputrid
Life early childhoodpre-pubertyadolescence/intermediateadulthoodold age, conception
Covering scalyfeatherednaked humanfurredshelled
Hour 3–99–15change15–2121–3
Year Spring EquinoxSummer SolsticeSummer FinalFall EquinoxWinter Solstice
360° 45–135°135–225°Change225–315°315–45°

Music

The Huainanzi and the Yueling chapter (月令; Yuèlìng) of the Book of Rites make the following correlations:

MovementWoodFireEarthMetalWater
Color Qing (green and blue)RedYellowWhiteBlack
Arctic Direction eastsouthcenterwestnorth
Basic Pentatonic Scale pitch 角徵宮商羽
Basic Pentatonic Scale pitch pinyin juézhǐgōngshāngyǔ
solfege mi or Esol or Gdo or Cre or Dla or A
  • Qing is a Chinese color word used for both green and blue. Modern Mandarin has separate words for each, but like many other languages, older forms of Chinese did not distinguish between green and blue.[24]
  • In most modern music, various five note or seven note scales (e.g., the major scale) are defined by selecting five or seven frequencies from the set of twelve semi-tones in the Equal tempered tuning. The Chinese shi'er lü system of tuning is closest to the ancient Greek tuning of Pythagoras.[25]

Martial arts

Tai chi uses the five elements to designate different directions, positions or footwork patterns: forward, backward, left, right and centre, or three steps forward (attack) and two steps back (retreat).[18]

The Five Steps (五步; wǔ bù):

  • Jinbu (进步; 進步; jìnbù) – forward step
  • Tuibu (退步; tùibù) – backward step
  • Zuogu (左顾; 左顧; zǔogù) – left step
  • Youpan (右盼; yòupàn) – right step
  • Zhongding (中定; zhōngdìng) – central position, balance, equilibrium

The martial art of xingyiquan uses the five elements metaphorically to represent five different states of combat.

Movement Fist Chinese Pinyin Description
Metal Splitting 劈 Pī To split like an axe chopping up and over
Water Drilling 鑽 / 钻 Zuān Drilling forward horizontally like a geyser
Wood Crushing 崩 Bēng To collapse, as a building collapsing in on itself
Fire Pounding 炮 Pào Exploding outward like a cannon while blocking
Earth Crossing 橫 / 横 Héng Crossing across the line of attack while turning over

Wuxing heqidao, Gogyo Aikido (五行合气道) is a life art with roots in Confucian, Taoists and Buddhist theory. It centers around applied peace and health studies rather than defence or physical action. It emphasizes the unification of mind, body and environment using the physiological theory of yin, yang and five-element Traditional Chinese medicine. Its movements, exercises, and teachings cultivate, direct, and harmonise the qi.[18]

Gogyo

The Japanese term is gogyo (Japanese:五行, romanized: gogyō). During the 5th and 6th centuries (Kofun period),[26] Japan adopted various philosophical disciplines such as Taoism, Chinese Buddhism and Confucianism through monks and physicians from China. In particular, wuxing was adapted into gogyo. These theories have been extensively practiced in Japanese acupuncture and traditional Kampo medicine.[27][28]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Japanese: gogyō (五行);[1] Korean: ohaeng (오행); Vietnamese: ngũ hành (五行)
  2. ↑ This order of presentation is known as the "Days of the Week" sequence. In the order of "mutual generation" (相生; xiāngshēng), they are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. In the order of "mutual overcoming" (相克; xiāngkè), they are Wood, Earth, Water, Fire, and Metal.[3][4][5]

References

  1. ↑ Hayashi, Makoto; Hayek, Matthias (2013). "Editors' Introduction: Onmyodo in Japanese History". Japanese Journal of Religious Studies: 3. doi:10.18874/jjrs.40.1.2013.1-18. ISSN 0304-1042.
  2. ↑ Theobald, Ulrich (2011) "Yin-Yang and Five Agents Theory, Correlative Thinking" in ChinaKnowledge.de - An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History, Literature and Art
  3. ↑ Deng Yu; Zhu Shuanli; Xu Peng; Deng Hai (2000). "五行阴阳的特征与新英译" [Characteristics and a New English Translation of Wu Xing and Yin-Yang]. Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine. 20 (12): 937. Archived from the original on 2015-07-16.
  4. ↑ Deng Yu et al; Fresh Translator of Zang Xiang Fractal five System，Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine; 1999
  5. ↑ Deng Yu et al，TCM Fractal Sets 中医分形集，Journal of Mathematical Medicine ，1999，12（3），264-265
  6. ↑ Dr Zai, J. Taoism and Science: Cosmology, Evolution, Morality, Health and more. Ultravisum, 2015.
  7. ↑ Nathan Sivin (1987), Traditional Medicine in Contemporary China, p. 72.
  8. 1 2 Dechar, Lorie (2006). Five Spirits: Alchemical Acupuncture for Psychological and Spiritual Healing. New York: Lantern Books. pp. 20–360. ISBN 1590560922.
  9. ↑ Littlejohn, Ronnie. "Wuxing (Wu-hsing)". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 2023-04-30.
  10. ↑ Nathan Sivin (1987), Traditional Medicine in Contemporary China, p. 73.
  11. ↑ Hicks, Angela; Hicks, John; Mole, Peter (2010). Five Element Constitutional Acupuncture (Second ed.). Elsevier Health Sciences. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  12. ↑ Nathan Sivin (1995), "Science and Medicine in Chinese History", in his Science in Ancient China (Aldershot, England: Variorum), text VI, p. 179.
  13. ↑ 千古中医之张仲景 [Wood and Metal were often replaced with air]. Lecture Room, CCTV-10.
  14. ↑ Nathan Sivin (1987), Traditional Medicine in Contemporary China (Ann Arbor: Center for Chinese Studies, The University of Michigan) p. 73.
  15. 1 2 Nappi, Carla (2009). The Monkey and the Inkpot: Natural History and Its Transformations in Early Modern China. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 172. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  16. ↑ Unschuld, Paul N. (2003). Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen: Nature, Knowledge, and Imagery in an Ancient Chinese Medical Text. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 84. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  17. ↑ Chinese Five Elements Chart Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine Information on the Chinese Five Elements from Northern Shaolin Academy in Microsoft Excel 2003 Format
  18. 1 2 3 Chen, Yuan (2014). "Legitimation Discourse and the Theory of the Five Elements in Imperial China". Journal of Song-Yuan Studies. 44 (1): 325–364. doi:10.1353/sys.2014.0000. S2CID 147099574.
  19. ↑ "Traditional Chinese Medicine: In Depth". National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Archived from the original on 4 April 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  20. ↑ Hafner, Christopher. "The TCM Organ Systems (Zang Fu)". University of Minnesota. Archived from the original on 6 April 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  21. ↑ "Five Elements Theory (Wu Xing)". Chinese Herbs Info. 2019-10-27. Archived from the original on 2019-12-17. Retrieved 2019-12-17.
  22. ↑ "five element acupuncture". www.cancer.gov. 2011-02-02. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  23. ↑ Eberhard, Wolfram (December 1965). "Chinese Regional Stereotypes". Asian Survey. University of California Press. 5 (12): 596–608. doi:10.2307/2642652. JSTOR 2642652.
  24. ↑ Mair, Victor (4 October 2019). "Grue and bleen: the blue-green distinction and its implications". Language Log. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  25. ↑ Joseph C.Y. Chen (1996). Early Chinese Work in Natural Science: A Re-examination of the Physics of Motion, Acoustics, Astronomy and Scientific Thoughts, pp.96-97. ISBN 962-209-385-X.
  26. ↑ Watanabe, Kenji; Matsuura, Keiko; Gao, Pengfei; Hottenbacher, Lydia; Tokunaga, Hideaki; Nishimura, Ko; Imazu, Yoshihiro; Reissenweber, Heidrun; Witt, Claudia M. (2011). "Traditional Japanese Kampo Medicine: Clinical Research between Modernity and Traditional Medicine—The State of Research and Methodological Suggestions for the Future". Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2011: 513842. doi:10.1093/ecam/neq067. ISSN 1741-427X. PMC 3114407. PMID 21687585.
  27. ↑ Baracco, Luciano (2011-01-01). National Integration and Contested Autonomy: The Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua. Algora Publishing. ISBN 978-0-87586-823-3.
  28. ↑ "《赵城金藏》研究" (in Chinese).

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