Chinese five phase theory

The Wu Xing, also known as the Five Phases, the Five Agents, the Five Movements, and the Five Steps/Stages, are chiefly an ancient mnemonic device, in many traditional Chinese fields. It is sometimes translated as Five Elements, but the Wu Xing are chiefly an ancient mnemonic device, hence the preferred translation of "movements", "phases" or "steps" over "elements". By the same token, Mu is thought of as "Tree" rather than "Wood".[1] The five elements are: Wood (Chinese: , pinyin: m) Fire (Chinese: , pinyin: hu) Earth (Chinese: , pinyin: t) Metal (Chinese: , pinyin: jn) Water (Chinese: , pinyin: shu)

The system of five phases was used for describing interactions and relationships between phenomena. It was employed as a device in many fields of early Chinese thought, including seemingly disparate fields such as geomancy or Feng shui, astrology, traditional Chinese medicine, music, military strategy andmartial arts. The system is still used as a reference in some forms of complementary and alternative medicine and martial arts. Some[who?] claim the original foundation of these are the concept of the Five Cardinal Points.

Cycles

The Interactions of Wu Xing: The creation cycle (black, circle shaped arrows) and the overcoming cycle (white, star shaped arrows).

The doctrine of five phases describes two cycles, a generating or creation (, shng) cycle, also known as "mother-son", and an overcoming or destruction (/, k) cycle, also known as "grandfather-nephew", of interactions between the phases. [edit]Generating The common memory jogs, which help to remind in what order the phases are: Wood feeds Fire; Fire creates Earth (ash); Earth bears Metal; Metal carries Water (as in a bucket or tap, or water condenses on metal); Water nourishes Wood.

Other common words for this cycle include "begets", "engenders" and "mothers." [edit]Overcoming Wood parts Earth (such as roots; or, Trees can prevent soil erosion); Earth absorbs (or muddies) Water (or an Earth dam can control water); Water quenches Fire; Fire melts Metal; Metal chops Wood.

This cycle might also be called "controls", "restrains" or "fathers". [edit]Cosmology

and feng shui

Another illustration of the cycle.

Main article: Feng shui

According to Wu Xing theory, the structure of the cosmos mirrors the five phases. Each phase has a complex series of associations with different aspects of nature, as can be seen in the following table. In the ancient Chinese form of geomancy known as Feng Shui practitioners all based their art and system on the five phases (Wu Xing). All of these phases are represented within the Ba gua. Associated with these phases are colors, seasons and shapes; all of which are interacting with each other.[2] Based on a particular directional energy flow from one phase 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 way they believe to be beneficial for the receiver of the Feng Shui "Treatment". El e m en t

Wood

Fire

Earth

Metal

Water

M at er ial

Wind, Moisture, Air, Heat, Light, Lava,R Clay, Rock, Dust,S Minerals, Mana, Ink, adiation, Sparks,Pla and, Mud, Crystal, Mind, Rubber, Pape sma, Explosions,Bu Powder, Shadow,S r,Plants, Poison, Wa rn, Blaze, Oil, Ash,S pace, Darkness,Gr x,Dissolve, Carbon, moke, Glass,Napal avity, Bone, Quake Clouds m, Sun ,Silicon

Lightning, Magnetism,El ectric, Rust, Gold,Silver, Steel, Iron,Platinum, Tita nium,Copper, Bronze, Br ass,Blood, Forge, Stars, Diamond

Sea, Ice, Storms, Rain, Steam, Flui d,Sound, Mist, A cid,Slime, Salt, T ime,Pressure, M oon

C ol Green or

Red

Yellow

White

Black

S ha Rectangular pe

Triangle

Square

Round

Curve

C ar di na East l P oi nt

South

Center

West

North

Pl an Jupiter et

Mars

Saturn

Venus

Mercury

H ea ve nl Azure Dragon y cr ea tu re

Vermilion Bird

Yellow Dragon /Qilin

White Tiger

Black Tortoise

H ea ve nl y , St e m s

P ha New Yang se

Full Yang

Yin/Yang balance

New Yin

Full Yin

Di Expansive and re exterior (in all cti directions) o n an d N at ur al p

Ascending

Stabilizing (representing harmony)

Contracting and interior Descending

he n o m en a

S ea Spring so n

Summer

Change of seasons (Every third month) Autumn

[citation needed]

Winter

Cl im Windy[citation needed] at e

Hot

Damp[citation needed]

Dry[citation needed]

Cold[citation needed]

D ev el o Sprouting p m en t

Blooming[citation needed] Ripening[citation needed] Withering

Dormant[citation
needed]

Li ve st sheep oc k

chicken[citation needed]

cattle

dog[citation needed]

pig[citation needed]

Fr ui plum t

apricot

jujube

peach

chestnut[citation
needed]

Gr wheat

millet[citation needed]

hemp[citation needed]

rice

beans[citation needed]

ai n

R eli gi Shinto o n [edit]Ba

Taoism

Jahiliyyah

Hindu

Buddha

gua

Main article: Ba gua The movements have also been correlated to the eight trigrams of the I Ching: Movement Metal Earth Wood Wood Water Fire Earth Metal

I Ching

Heaven

Earth

Thunder

Wind

Water

Fire

Mountain Lake

Trigrams qin kn zhn xn kn l gn du [edit]Chinese

[1]

medicine

Five Chinese Elements - Diurnal Cycle

Main article: Traditional Chinese medicine

The interdependence of Zang Fu networks in the body was noted to be a circle of five things, and so mapped by the Chinese doctors onto the five phases. For instance, the Liver (Wood phase) is said to be the "mother" of the heart (Fire phase), and the Kidneys (Water phase) the mother of the Liver. The key observation was things like kidney deficiency affecting the function of the liver. In this case, the "mother" is weak, and cannot support the child. However, the Kidneys control the heart along the Ke cycle, so the Kidneys are said to restrain the heart. Many of these interactions can nowadays be linked to Western physiological pathways (such as Kidney pH affecting heart activity).[clarification needed] The key thing to keep in mind with the Chinese medical application of the five elements is that it is only a model, and it is known to have exceptions. 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 "nonempirical" 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.[3] The sequence of the five elements (Traditional Chinese medicine)promotion, inhibition, Cheng (bullying), Wu (insult).
[4]

Movement

Wood

Fire

Earth

Metal

Water

Planet

Jupiter

Mars

Saturn

Venus

Mercury

Mental Quality Sensitivity Creativity

Clarity[disambiguation
needed ]

Intuition

Spontaneity[disambiguation
needed ]

Emotion

anger

happiness

love

grief,sadness fear, scare

Zang (yin organs)

liver

heart/pericardium

spleen/pancreas lung

kidney

Fu (yang organs)

gall bladder

small intestine/San Jiao

stomach

large intestine urinary bladder

Sensoryorgan eyes

tongue

mouth

nose

ears

Body Part

Tendons

Pulse

Muscle

Skin

Bones

Body Fluid

Tears

Sweat

Saliva

Mucus

Urine

Finger

index finger

middle finger

thumb

ring finger

little finger

Sense

sight

speech

taste

smell

hearing

Taste[5]

sour

bitter

sweet

pungent

salt

Smell

Rancid

Scorched[disambiguation
needed ]

Fragrant

Rotten

Putrid

Life

birth

youth

adulthood

old age

death

Animal

scaly

feathered

human

furred

shelled

[edit]Celestial

stem

Main article: Celestial stem Movement Wood Fire Earth Metal Water

Heavenly Stem

Jia Bing Wu Geng Ren Yi Ding Ji Xin Gui

Year ends with 2, 7 [edit]Music

3, 8

4, 9

0, 5

1, 6

Main article: Chinese music The Yulng chapter () of the Lj () and the Huinnz () make the following correlations: Movement Wood Fire Earth Metal Water

Colour

Green or Blue Red

Yellow

White

Black

Direction

east

south

center

west

north

The Basic Pentatonic Scale ju (mi) (Notes:

zh (so) gng (do) shng (re) y (la)

The Chinese word qng, has many meanings, including green, azure, cyan, and black. It refers to green in Wu Xing. In most modern 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 "l" tuning is closest to the ancient Greek tuning of Pythagoras. See Chinese musicology.) [edit]Martial

arts

[edit]Taijiquan Main article: T'ai chi ch'uan Taijiquan uses the five elements to designate different directions, positions or footwork patterns. Either forward, backward, left, right and centre, or three steps forward (attack) and two steps back (retreat).[6] The Five Steps ( w b): Chin Pu ( jn b) - Forward step. T'ui Pu ( ti b) - Backward step. Tsuo Ku ( (simpl.: ) zo g) - Left step. You P'an ( yu pn) - Right step. Chung Ting ( zhng dng) - The central position, balance, equilibrium. [edit]Xingyiquan Main article: Xingyiquan Xingyiquan uses the five elements to metaphorically represent five different states of combat.

Movement

Fist

Chinese Pinyin

Description

Metal

Splitting

To split like an axe chopping up and over.

Water

Drilling

Zun

Drilling forward horizontally like a geyser.

Wood

Crushing

Bng

To collapse, as a building collapsing in on itself.

Fire

Pounding

Po

Exploding outward like a cannon while blocking.

Earth [edit]Tea

Crossing

Hng

Crossing across the line of attack while turning over.

ceremony

There are spring, summer, fall, and winter teas. The perennial tea ceremony ("perennial", literally means four steps or sequences that are linked together, each representing a season of the year) includes four tea settings() and a tea master(). The tea settings are: earth, center incense, yellow, up and down wood, (Spring Wind), green, east fire, (Summer Dew), red, south metal, (Fall Sounds), white, west water, (Winter Sunshine) black, north

Each tea setting is arranged and stands for the four directions (north, south, east, and west). A vase of the seasons' flowers is put on tea table. Sometimes if four tea masters are included then five chairs are arranged per tea setting, making a total of twenty plus the 4 tea masters equalling 24, which symbolizes the 24 solar terms of the Chinese calendar, and represents that nature continues or is perennial.

Cardinal directions in world cultures

Many cultures not descended from European traditions use cardinal directions, but have a number other than four. Typically, a center direction is added, for a total of five. Rather than the Western use of direction letters, properties such as colors are often associated with the various cardinal directionsthese are typically the natural colors of human perception rather than optical primary colors. Some examples are shown here; In many regions of the world, prevalent winds change direction seasonally, and consequently many cultures associate specific named winds with cardinal and ordinal directions. The classical Greeks personified these winds as Anemoi. The article on boxing the compass contains a more recent list of directional winds from the Mediterranean Sea. [edit]Far

East

Dynastic Chinese culture and some other Central Asian cultures view the center as a fifth principal direction hence the English translated term "Five Cardinal Points". Where it is different than the west, is that the term is used as a foundation for I Ching, the Wu Xing and the five Naked-eye planets. In traditional Chinese astronomy, the zodiacal belt is divided into the four constellation groups corresponding to the four cardinal directions. Each direction is often identified with a color, and (at least in China) with amythological creature of that color. Geographical or ethnic terms may contain the name of the color instead of the name of the corresponding direction.[9][10] These traditions were also carried west by the westward migration of the Turkic peoples. East: Green ( "qng" corresponds to green); Spring; Wood Qingdao (Tsingtao) "Green Island": a city on the east coast of China South: Red; Summer; Fire Red River (Asia): south of China West: White; Autumn; Metal White Sheep Turkmen Belarus (literally "White Russia"), according to one of the theories is the name given to the Western Rus by the Mongols North: Black; Winter; Water Heilongjiang "Black Dragon River" province in Northeast China, also the Amur River Kara-Khitan Khanate "Black Khitans" who originated in Northern China Center: Yellow; Earth Huangshan "Yellow Mountain" in central China Golden Horde: "Central Army" of the Mongols [edit]Americas In Mesoamerica and North America, many traditional indigenous beliefs include four cardinal directions and a center. Each direction was associated with a color, which varied between groups but which

generally corresponded to the hues of corn (green, black, red, white, and yellow). There seems to be no preferred way of assigning these colors; as shown in the table, great variety in color symbolism occurs even among cultures that are close neighbors geographically.