Wu Xing

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In traditional Chinese philosophy, natural phenomena can be classified into the Wu Xing (Chinese: 五行; pinyin: wǔxíng), or the Five Elements: metal (Chinese: 金; pinyin: jīn), wood (Chinese: 木; pinyin: mù), water (Chinese: 水; pinyin: shuǐ), fire (Chinese: 火; pinyin: huǒ), and earth (Chinese: 土; pinyin: tǔ). 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". The original foundation is based on the concept of the Five Cardinal Points.

Cycles

Interactions of Five Chinese Elements - Cycles of Balance and Cycles of Imbalance

The doctrine of five phases describes two Cycles of Balance, a generating or creation (生, shēng) cycle and an overcoming or destruction (克, kè) cycle of interactions between the phases.

Generating

• Wood feeds Fire;
• Fire creates Earth (ash);
• Earth bears Metal;
• Metal collects Water and
• Water nourishes Wood.

Overcoming

• wood parts earth;
• earth absorbs water;
• water quenches fire;
• fire melts metal and
• metal chops wood

There are also two Cycles of Imbalance, an overacting cycle (cheng) and an insulting cycle (wu).

Five Chinese Elements - Diurnal Cycle

Circadian or Diurnal Cycle and other cycles

According to Chinese medical theory, each organ is associated with one of the Five Phases. It is believed to be more efficacious to treat an organ during a particular time period appropriate to it. The citation order of the Five Phases, i.e., the order in which they are cited in the Bo Hu Tong and other Han dynasty texts, is Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. The organs are most effectively treated, according to theory, in the following four-hour periods throughout the day, beginning with the 3 a.m. to 7 a. m. period: Metal organs (see the list below), Earth organs, Fire₁ organs, Water organs, Fire₂ (the "non-empirical" Pericardium and Triple Burner organs), and Wood organs, which is the reverse of the citation order (plus an extra use of Fire and the non-empirical organs to take care of the sixth four-hour period of the day). These two orders are further related to the sequence of the planets going outward from the sun (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, or Water, Metal, Fire, Wood, and Earth) by a star diagram similar to the one shown above. ^[1]

Correlations between the five elements and other categories

Five Elements Meridians

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.

Chinese astrology

For example, assume someone is born in the year 1953, the year of the Snake. Because her birth year ends with 3, her element is Water; therefore, she was born in the year of the Water Snake.

Music

Main article: Chinese music

The Yuèlìng chapter (月令篇) of the Lǐjì (禮記) and the Huáinánzǐ (淮南子) make the following correlations:

(Notes:

• 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.)
• In modern Western music, various seven note or five note scales (e.g., the major scale) are defined by selecting seven or five frequencies from the set of twelve semi-tones in the Equal tempered tuning. The Chinese "lǜ" tuning is closest to the ancient Greek tuning of Pythagoras. See Chinese musicology.)

Chinese medicine and cosmology

Chinese Five Elements ChartInformation on the Chinese Five Elements from Northern Shaolin Academy in Microsoft Excel 2003 Format

Bagua

Main article: Bagua (concept)

The elements have also been correlated to the eight trigrams of the I Ching:

Feng Shui

Main article: Feng Shui

Ancient Feng Shui practitioners all based their art and system on the five elements (Wu Xing). These elements are: Water, Earth, Metal, Wood, and Fire. All of these elements are represented within the Bagua. Associated with these elements are colors, seasons and shapes; all of which are interacting with each other.

Based on a particular directional energy flow from one element to the next, the interaction can be expansive, destructive, or exhaustive. With proper knowledge of such aspect of energy flow will enable the Feng Shui practitioner to apply certain cures or rearrangement of energy in a beneficial way.

Martial arts

Xingyi

Main article: Xingyi

Xingyiquan uses the five elements to metaphorically represent five different states of combat.

See also

• Pushing hands
• Qi
• Qigong
• Taijitu
• Tao
• Zang Fu theory

Bibliography

• 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
• Maciocia, G. 2005, The Foundations of Chinese Medicine, 2nd edn, Elsevier Ltd., London

References

1. ^ See 5 Xing in Citation Order.

External links

• Acupuncture Text Book Corrections Corrections to english translation errors in textbooks
• Five ElementsMalaysia I Ching Net
• 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 of Feng ShuiThe Five Elements of Feng Shui and Their Interactions
• Five Elements in Society
• Chinese Five ElementsInformation on the Chinese Five Elements from Northern Shaolin Academyzh-classical:陰陽五行

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