Wuxing (Chinese:
Wuxing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Chinese | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ngũ hành | |
Vietnamese alphabet | ngũ hành |
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Chữ Hán |
The agents are Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, and Earth.[b] 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
editWuxing originally referred to the five major planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, Mars, Venus), which were with the combination of the Sun and the Moon, conceived as creating five forces of earthly life. This is why the word is composed of Chinese characters meaning "five" (
Wuxing was first translated into English as "the Five Elements", drawing deliberate parallels with the Greek arrangement 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
editIn traditional doctrine, the five phases are connected in two cycles of interactions: a generating or creation (
Inter-promoting
editThe generating cycle (
- 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
editThe reverse generating cycle (
- Wood depletes Water
- Water rusts Metal
- Metal impoverishes Earth (erosion, destructive mining of minerals)
- Earth smothers Fire
- Fire burns Wood (forest fires)
Inter-regulating
editThe destructive cycle (
- 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
editThe excessive destructive cycle (
- 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
editA reverse or deficient destructive cycle (
- 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
editMovement | Wood | Fire | Earth | Metal | Water |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Heavenly Stems | Jia Yi |
Bing Ding |
Wu Ji |
Geng Xin |
Ren Gui |
Year ends with | 4, 5 | 6, 7 | 8, 9 | 0, 1 | 2, 3 |
Ming neiyin
editIn Ziwei divination, neiyin (
Order | Ganzhi | Ming | Order | Ganzhi | Ming | Element |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jia Zi |
Sea metal |
31 | Jia Wu |
Sand metal |
Metal |
2 | Yi Chou |
32 | Yi Wei | |||
3 | Bing Yin |
Furnace fire |
33 | Bing Shen |
Forest fire |
Fire |
4 | Ding Mao |
34 | Ding You | |||
5 | Wu Chen |
Forest wood |
35 | Wu Xu |
Meadow wood |
Wood |
6 | Ji Si |
36 | Ji Hai | |||
7 | Geng Wu |
Road earth |
37 | Geng Zi |
Adobe earth |
Earth |
8 | Xin Wei |
38 | Xin Chou | |||
9 | Ren Shen |
Sword metal |
39 | Ren Yin |
Precious metal |
Metal |
10 | Gui You |
40 | Gui Mao | |||
11 | Jia Xu |
Volcanic fire |
41 | Jia Chen |
Lamp fire |
Fire |
12 | Yi Hai |
42 | Yi Si | |||
13 | Bing Zi |
Cave water |
43 | Bing Wu |
Sky water |
Water |
14 | Ding Chou |
44 | Ding Wei | |||
15 | Wu Yin |
Fortress earth |
45 | Wu Shen |
Highway earth |
Earth |
16 | Ji Mao |
46 | Ji You | |||
17 | Geng Chen |
Wax metal |
47 | Geng Xu |
Jewellery metal 釵釧 |
Metal |
18 | Xin Si |
48 | Xin Hai | |||
19 | Ren Wu |
Willow wood |
49 | Ren Zi |
Mulberry wood |
Wood |
20 | Gui Wei |
50 | Gui Chou | |||
21 | Jia Shen |
Stream water |
51 | Jia Yin |
Rapids water |
Water |
22 | Yi You |
52 | Yi Mao | |||
23 | Bing Xu |
Roof tiles earth |
53 | Bing Chen |
Desert earth |
Earth |
24 | Ding Hai |
54 | Ding Si | |||
25 | Wu Zi |
Lightning fire |
55 | Wu Wu |
Sun fire |
Fire |
26 | Ji Chou |
56 | Ji Wei | |||
27 | Geng Yin |
Conifer wood |
57 | Geng Shen |
Pomegranate wood |
Wood |
28 | Xin Mao |
58 | Xin You | |||
29 | Ren Chen |
River water |
59 | Ren Xu |
Ocean water |
Water |
30 | Gui Si |
60 | Gui Hai |
Applications
editThe wuxing schema is applied to explain phenomena in various fields.
Phases of the Year
editThe 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, expanding which generates abundant vitality, movement and wind.
- Fire/Summer: a period of swollen, flowering, expanded with heat.
- Earth can be seen as a period of stillness transitioning 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, transmuting, contracting, collecting and dryness.
- Water/Winter: a period of retreat, stillness, consolidation and coolness.
Cosmology and feng shui
editThe 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.
Movement | Metal | Fire | Wood | Water | Earth | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Trigram hanzi | 兌 | 坎 | ||||||
Trigram pinyin | qián | duì | lí | zhèn | xùn | kǎn | gèn | kūn |
Trigrams | ☰ | ☱ | ☲ | ☳ | ☴ | ☵ | ☶ | ☷ |
I Ching | Heaven | Lake | Fire | Thunder | Wind | Water | Mountain | Field |
Planet (Celestial Body) | Venus | Mars | Jupiter | Mercury | Saturn | |||
Color | White | Red | Green | Black | Yellow | |||
Day | Friday | Tuesday | Thursday | Wednesday | Saturday | |||
Season | Autumn | Summer | Spring | Winter | Intermediate | |||
Cardinal direction | West | South | East | North | Center |
Dynastic transitions
editAccording to the Warring States period political philosopher Zou Yan (c. 305–240 BCE), each of the five elements possesses a personified virtue (
Chinese medicine
editThe 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 (external, environmental) influences. This diagnostic capacity is extensively used in traditional five phase acupuncture today, as opposed to the modern Confucian styled eight principles based Traditional Chinese medicine. Furthermore, in combination the two systems are a formative and functional study of postnatal and prenatal influencing on genetics, psychology, sociology and ecology.[21][22][23]
Music
editThe Huainanzi and the Yueling chapter (
Movement | Wood | Fire | Earth | Metal | Water |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Color | Qing (green and blue) | Red | Yellow | White | Black |
Arctic Direction | east | south | center | west | north |
Basic Pentatonic Scale pitch | |||||
Basic Pentatonic Scale pitch pinyin | jué | zhǐ | gōng | shāng | yǔ |
solfege | mi or E | sol or G | do or C | re or D | la 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.[25]
- 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.[26]
Martial arts
editTai 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 (
- 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 | Bēng | To collapse, as a building collapsing in on itself | |
Fire | Pounding | 炮 | Pào | Exploding outward like a cannon while blocking |
Earth | Crossing | Héng | Crossing across the line of attack while turning over |
Wuxing heqidao, Gogyo Aikido (
Gogyo
editThe Japanese term is gogyo (Japanese:
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ Japanese: gogyō (
五 行 );[1] Korean: ohaeng (오행); Vietnamese: ngũ hành (五 行 ) - ^ 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
edit- ^ 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.
- ^ Theobald, Ulrich (2011) "Yin-Yang and Five Agents Theory, Correlative Thinking" in ChinaKnowledge.de - An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History, Literature and Art
- ^ 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.
- ^ Deng Yu et al; Fresh Translator of Zang Xiang Fractal five System,Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine; 1999
- ^ Deng Yu et al,TCM Fractal Sets
中 医 分 形 集 ,Journal of Mathematical Medicine ,1999,12(3),264-265 - ^ Dr Zai, J. Taoism and Science: Cosmology, Evolution, Morality, Health and more. Ultravisum, 2015.
- ^ Nathan Sivin (1987), Traditional Medicine in Contemporary China, p. 72.
- ^ a b Dechar, Lorie (2006). Five Spirits: Alchemical Acupuncture for Psychological and Spiritual Healing. New York: Lantern Books. pp. 20–360. ISBN 1590560922.
- ^ Littlejohn, Ronnie. "Wuxing (Wu-hsing)". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 2023-04-30.
- ^ Nathan Sivin (1987), Traditional Medicine in Contemporary China, p. 73.
- ^ Hicks, Angela; Hicks, John; Mole, Peter (2010). Five Element Constitutional Acupuncture (Second ed.). Elsevier Health Sciences. ISBN 978-0-7020-4448-9. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
- ^ Nathan Sivin (1995), "Science and Medicine in Chinese History", in his Science in Ancient China (Aldershot, England: Variorum), text VI, p. 179.
- ^ 千古中医之张仲景 [Wood and Metal were often replaced with air]. Lecture Room, CCTV-10.
- ^ Nathan Sivin (1987), Traditional Medicine in Contemporary China (Ann Arbor: Center for Chinese Studies, The University of Michigan) p. 73.
- ^ a b Nappi, Carla (2009). The Monkey and the Inkpot: Natural History and Its Transformations in Early Modern China. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 172. ISBN 978-0-674-03529-4. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
- ^ 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. ISBN 978-0-520-23322-5. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c 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.
- ^ "Traditional Chinese Medicine: In Depth". National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Archived from the original on 4 April 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
- ^ Hafner, Christopher. "The TCM Organ Systems (Zang Fu)". University of Minnesota. Archived from the original on 6 April 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ^ "Five Elements Theory (Wu Xing)". Chinese Herbs Info. 2019-10-27. Archived from the original on 2019-12-17. Retrieved 2019-12-17.
- ^ "five element acupuncture". www.cancer.gov. 2011-02-02. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
- ^ Penoyer, Justin (5 October 2020). The Roots of Accordance On the Unity of Biological, Ecological, and Sociopolitical Systems in the Huangdi Neijing. Rainbow Toad Publishing House. ISBN 9781735666419.
- ^ Eberhard, Wolfram (December 1965). "Chinese Regional Stereotypes". Asian Survey. 5 (12). University of California Press: 596–608. doi:10.2307/2642652. JSTOR 2642652.
- ^ Mair, Victor (4 October 2019). "Grue and bleen: the blue-green distinction and its implications". Language Log. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Origins of the Godai Myо̄о̄". Buddhistdoor Global. Retrieved 2024-06-17.
- ^ Baracco, Luciano (2011-01-01). National Integration and Contested Autonomy: The Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua. Algora Publishing. ISBN 978-0-87586-823-3.
- ^ "《赵城
金藏 》研究 " (in Chinese).[permanent dead link]
Further reading
edit- 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 ed.). London: Elsevier Ltd.
- Chen, Yuan (2014). "Legitimation Discourse and the Theory of the Five Elements in Imperial China". Journal of Song-Yuan Studies. 44: 325–364. doi:10.1353/sys.2014.0000. S2CID 147099574.
External links
edit- Wuxing (Wu-hsing). The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ISSN 2161-0002.