Five elements (Chinese philosophy)
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| Classical Elements | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Western
Chinese Wood (木) | Fire (火) | Earth (土) | Metal (金) | Water (水) Hinduism and Buddhism The Pancha Mahabhuta ("The Five Great Elements") Vayu/Pavan (Air/Wind) Agni/Tejas (Fire) Akasha (Aether) Prithvi/Bhumi (Earth) Ap/Jala (Water) | |||||||||
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. In the generating cycle, wood generates fire; fire generates earth; earth generates metal; metal generates water; water generates wood. In the overcoming cycle, wood overcomes earth; earth overcomes water; water overcomes fire; fire overcomes metal; metal overcomes wood.
The doctrine of five phases was employed in many fields of early Chinese philosophy, including seemingly disparate fields such as music, traditional Chinese medicine, and military strategy.
Correlations between the five elements and other categories
The Yuèlìng chapter (月令篇) of the Lǐjì (禮記) and the Huáinánzǐ (淮南子) make the following correlations:
| Element | Direction | Color | Musical Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wood | east | green or blue | jué 角 (mi) |
| Fire | south | red | zhǐ 徵 (sol) |
| Earth | center | yellow | gōng 宮 (do) |
| Metal | west | white | shāng 商 (re) |
| Water | north | black | yǔ 羽 (la) |
(see also pentatonic scale)
(note: The Chinese word 青 includes the range in the spectrum from green to blue, with shades down to black.)
Some other correspondences are shown below:
| Element | Heavenly creature | Season | Direction | Planet | Tastes | Sense | Viscera (yin) | Viscera (yang) | Finger |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wood | Qīng-lóng (青龍) the Green Dragon | Spring | east | Jupiter | sour | sight | liver | gall bladder | ring finger |
| Fire | Zhū-què (朱雀) the Red Phoenix | Summer | south | Mars | bitter | sound | heart | small intestine | middle finger |
| Earth | Huáng-lóng (黃龍)* the Yellow Dragon | Change of seasons (four times a year) | center | Saturn | sweet | smell | spleen/pancreas | stomach | index finger |
| Metal | Bái-hǔ (白虎) the White Tiger | Autumn | west | Venus | spicy | taste | lung | large intestine | thumb |
| Water | Xuán-wǔ (玄武) the Black Tortoise-Serpent | Winter | north | Mercury | salty | touch | kidney | urinary bladder | little finger |
The elements have also been correlated to the eight trigrams of the I Ching:
| Element | I Ching | Trigrams | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wood | Wind, thunder | | (☴ 巽 xùn) | |
| Fire | Fire | >:| (☲ 離 lí) | ||
| Earth | Earth, mountain | ::: (☷ 坤 kūn) | ||
| Metal | Sky, lake | | (☰ 乾 qián) | : (☱ 兌 duì) |
| Water | Water | :>: (☵ 坎 kǎn) | ||
See also
- Chinese music
- Five elements (Japanese)
- Four elements
- Xingyiquan
- Pushing hands
- Qi
- Qigong
- Taijitu
- Tao
- Zang Fu theory
- Feng Shui
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
External links
- [Five Elements in Feng Shui]
- [Five Element Information] Five Element interrelationships, concordances and causative factors.
- [Chinese Zodiac Chart] Find your Chinese Zodiac sign based on your date of birth.
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