The Five Elements

The Five Elements

By Inesa Pleskacheuskaya

1

The Chinese principle best known to Westerners is that of

yin

and

yang

1

,

a concept applicable to

life

throughout

the

Universe.

Linguistically,

yin

and

yang

mean,

respectively

,

shady

and

sunny

mountain

slopes.

In

a

philosophical

sense

they

constitute

a

dialectic

that

defines

the

dynamic

between a wide range of opposing pairs, for example, dark and light, wet and dry, male and female,

weak and strong, dead and alive.

2

By the 3rd Century BC the

etho

s of

yin/yang

was

perceived as

extending to all aspects of being,

and as

propagating

the concept of

wu xing

2

-- the five elements - which had even greater implications

for the Chinese world view.

3

For centuries the Chinese had believed that the universe was in

four parts

-- those of the Azure

Dragon, White Tiger, Red Bird and Black Turtle

3

; or east, west, south and north; or spring, autumn,

summer and winter. The principle of

wu xing

undoubtedly

evolved

through the addition of a fifth basic

element -- the center -- to the four other

component

s of the universe. The concept of a world governed

by the five elements of wood, fire, earth, metal and water thus

occurr

ed.

4

The five elements are

metaphor

s for

constantly

evolving energy, and in some sense symbolize the

basic characteristics of

matter

. The nature of water is to

moisten

and flow downward; that of fire is to

heat and to rise; wood

bend

s and straightens; metal is

cast

or

hammer

ed into various forms; and earth

is

fertile

. At the time of

Warring States

(475-221 BC) there arose the

premise

that the elements are

capable not only of creating but also destroying each other. On the one hand, wood creates fire, whose

ashes enrich the earth, in which can be found metal, with which to dig for water, which promotes the

growth of new wood. From the opposite point of view, water

extinguishe

s fire, which

melts

metal,

which destroys wood, which

erode

s the earth, which in turn soaks up water.

5

It was not long before every aspect of life was

conceived of in terms of

its relationship with the

five elements. It was applied to the seasons of the year, to colors,

cardinal point

s,

flavor

s, numbers

and

internal organs

.

6

The progression of the four seasons may be seen as a reflection of the interdependence of the five

1

elements.

In

spring,

trees

grow

and

their

wood

produces

fire,

the

element

of

summer,

whose

ashes

nourish

the earth, which in turn contains

ore

s of the metal needed for digging wells in autumn, which

produce the water that takes the cycle on to winter.

7

Each element has its corresponding color, flavor and cardinal point. Water is associated with the

north, the shade of black and the taste of salt;

fire with

the south, the color red and a bitter flavor;

wood

correlate

s with the east, the color green and a sour taste. Metal is the element of the west, the

shade of white and a

spicy

flavor, while earth is the center, thought of as yellow and a sweet taste.

8

When

applied

to

humans

the

five

elements

correspond

to

bodily

organs

and

their

associated

emotions. As such they are of great significance within Traditional Chinese Medicine. Wood relates to

the eyes, the

sinew

s;

the

gall

bladder

, the liver and

anger; fire to the tongue,

blood

vessel

s,

small

intestine,

heart

and

the

feeling

of

joy;

earth

represents

the

mouth,

muscles,

stomach,

pancreas

and

worry; metal refers to the nose, bodily hair, large intestine, lungs and sadness; and water governs the

ears, bones,

bladder

, kidneys and is associated with fear.

9

Within

Taoism

, numbers are

allocated

to each of the five elements: 1 and 6 to water, 2 and 7 to

fire, 3 and 8 to wood, 4 and 9 to metal and 5 and 10 to earth.

Even numbers

are regarded as earthly

and odd numbers as heavenly, because

odd number

s create the element and even numbers bring it to

perfection and

fruition

. These relationships are reflected in the famous

Book of Changes

, the

I Ching

4

.

10

The five elements theory also applies to history. The most famous representative of the

yin/yang

school(

流派

) was philosopher Zhou Yen

5

who lived in the 3rd century BC. He saw the

succession of

dynasties as reflecting the cycle of the five elements. The

legendary ancestor

of the Chinese nation

Huangdi

(the Yellow Emperor) ruled according to the Earth element, and was

conquer

ed by wood,

that

of

the

Xia

Dynasty

(2100-1600

BC).

The

Xia

was

in

turn

vanquish

ed

by

the

Shang

Dynasty

(1600-1100

BC),

whose

element

was

metal.

Zhou

Yen

believed

that

the

fire

of

the

Zhou

Dynasty

(1100-256

BC),

during

which

he

lived,

would

be

surmount

ed

by

a

water-influenced

dynasty,

signal

ing

the

start

of

a

new

historical

cycle.

Every

dynasty

adopt

ed

the

color

of

its

element,

and

adapt

ed the calendar to

accord with

its interrelation with the other four.

(Abridged from

China Today

, October 2005)

New Words

azure

天蓝色的，青色的

cardinal

主要的，基本的

component

成分

correlate

.

相关，关联

dialectic

辩证法；两种力量、因素等的对立

ethos

特质

extinguish

熄灭，消灭

fruition

结果实；实现，成就

interrelation

相互关系

intestine

肠

legendary

传说中的

linguistically

语言上地；语言学上地

metaphor

.

隐喻，暗喻

nourish

滋养

ore

矿、矿物、矿砂

2