Wuxing

The wuxing (五行; wǔxíng), also known as the Five Elements, Five Agents, Five Movements, Five Phases, Five Planets, Five Processes, Five Stages, Five Steps, or Five Ways, is the short form of “wǔ zhǒng liúxíng zhī qì” (五種流行之氣) or “the five types of chi dominating at different times”. It is a fivefold conceptual scheme that many traditional Chinese fields used to explain a wide array of phenomena, from cosmic cycles to the interaction between internal organs, and from the succession of political regimes to the properties of medicinal drugs. The “Five Phases” are Fire (火 huǒ), Water (水 shuǐ), Wood (木 mù), Metal (金 jīn), and Earth (土 tǔ). 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” (相剋/相克 xiāngkè), they are Wood, Earth, Water, Fire, and Metal.

The system of five phases was used for describing interactions and relationships between phenomena. After it came to maturity in the second or first century BCE during the Han dynasty, this device was employed in many fields of early Chinese thought, including seemingly disparate fields such as geomancy or feng shui, astrology, traditional Chinese medicine, music, military strategy, and martial arts. The system is still used as a reference in some forms of complementary and alternative medicine and martial arts.

Names

Xíng (行) of wǔxíng (五行) means moving; a planet is called a ‘moving star’ (行星 xíngxīng) in Chinese. Wǔxíng originally refers to the five major planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, Mars, Venus) that create five dimensions of earth life. Wǔxíng is also widely translated as “Five Elements” and this is used extensively by many including practitioners of Five Element acupuncture. This translation arose by false analogy with the Western system of the four elements. Whereas the classical Greek elements were concerned with substances or natural qualities, the Chinese xíng are “primarily concerned with process and change,” hence the common translation as “phases” or “agents”. By the same token, Mù is thought of as “Tree” rather than “Wood”. The word element is thus used within the context of Chinese medicine with a different meaning to its usual meaning.

It should be recognized that the word phase, although commonly preferred, is not perfect. Phase is a better translation for the five seasons (五運 wǔyùn) mentioned below, and so agents or processes might be preferred for the primary term xíng. Manfred Porkert attempts to resolve this by using Evolutive Phase for 五行 wǔxíng and Circuit Phase for 五運 wǔyùn, but these terms are unwieldy.

Some of the Mawangdui Silk Texts (no later than 168 BC) also present the wǔxíng as “five virtues” or types of activities. Within Chinese medicine texts the wǔxíng are also referred to as wǔyǔn (五運) or a combination of the two characters (五行運 wǔxíngyǔn) these emphasise the correspondence of five elements to five ‘seasons’ (four seasons plus one). Another tradition refers to the wǔxíng as wǔdé (五德), the Five Virtues [zh].

The phases

The five phases are around 72 days each and are usually used to describe the state in nature:

• Wood/Spring: a period of growth, which generates abundant wood and vitality
• Fire/Summer: a period of swelling, flowering, brimming with fire and energy
• Earth: the in-between transitional seasonal periods, or a separate ‘season’ known as Late Summer or Long Summer – in the latter case associated with leveling and dampening (moderation) and fruition
• Metal/Autumn: a period of harvesting and collecting
• Water/Winter: a period of retreat, where stillness and storage pervades

Cycles

The doctrine of five phases describes two cycles, a generating or creation (生 shēng) cycle, also known as “mother-son”, and an overcoming or destruction (剋/克 kè) cycle, also known as “grandfather-grandson”, of interactions between the phases. Within Chinese medicine the effects of these two main relations are further elaborated:

• Inter-promoting (相生 xiāngshēng): the effect in the generating (生 shēng) cycle
• Weakening (相洩/相泄 xiāngxiè): the effect in a deficient or reverse generating (生 shēng) cycle
• Inter-regulating (相剋/相克 xiāngkè): the effect in the overcoming (剋/克 kè) cycle
• Overacting (相乘 xiāngchéng): the effect in an excessive overcoming (剋/克 kè) cycle
• Counteracting (相侮 xiāngwǔ or 相耗 xiānghào??): the effect in a deficient or reverse overcoming (剋/克 kè) cycle

Inter-promoting

Common verbs for the shēng cycle include “generate”, “create” or “strengthens”, as well as “grow” or “promote”. The phase interactions in the shēng cycle are:

• Wood feeds Fire
• Fire produces Earth (ash, lava)
• Earth bears Metal (geological processes produces minerals)
• Metal collects Water (water vapor condenses on metal)
• Water nourishes Wood

Weakening

A deficient shēng cycle is called the xiè cycle and is the reverse of the shēng cycle. Common verbs for the xiè include “weaken”, “drain”, “diminish” or “exhaust”. The phase interactions in the xiè cycle are:

• Wood depletes Water
• Water rusts Metal
• Metal impoverishes Earth (overmining or over-extraction of the earth’s minerals)
• Earth smothers Fire
• Fire burns Wood (forest fires)

Inter-regulating

Common verbs for the kè cycle include “controls”, “restrains” and “fathers”, as well as “overcome” or “regulate”. The phase interactions in the kè cycle are:

• Wood parts (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

An excessive kè cycle is called the chéng cycle. Common verbs for the chéng cycle include “restrict”, “overwhelm”, “dominate” or “destroy”. The phase interactions in the chéng cycle are:

• Wood depletes Earth (depletion of nutrients in soil, overfarming, overcultivation)
• Earth obstructs Water (over-damming)
• Water extinguishes Fire
• Fire vaporizes Metal
• Metal overharvests Wood (deforestation)

Counteracting

A deficient kè cycle is called the wǔ cycle and is the reverse of the kè cycle. Common verbs for the wǔ cycle can include “insult” or “harm”. The phase interactions in the wǔ cycle are:

• Wood dulls Metal
• Metal de-energizes Fire (metals conduct heat away)
• Fire evaporates Water
• Water muddies (or destabilizes) Earth
• Earth rots Wood (overpiling soil on wood can rot the wood)

Cosmology and feng shui

Main article: Feng shui

According to wuxing 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 (wuxing). All of these phases are represented within the trigrams. Associated with these phases are colors, seasons and shapes; all of which are interacting with each other.

Based on a particular directional energy flow from one phase to the next, the interaction can be expansive, destructive, or exhaustive. A proper knowledge of each 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.

Movement	Metal	Metal	Fire	Wood	Wood	Water	Earth	Earth
Trigram hanzi	乾	兌	離	震	巽	坎	艮	坤
Trigram pinyin	qián	duì	lí	zhèn	xùn	kǎn	gèn	kūn
Trigrams	☰	☱	☲	☳	☴	☵	☶	☷
I Ching	Heaven	Lake	Fire	Thunder	Wind	Water	Mountain	Field
Planet (Celestial Body)	Neptune	Venus	Mars	Jupiter	Pluto	Mercury	Uranus	Saturn
Color	Indigo	White	Crimson	Green	Scarlet	Black	Purple	Yellow
Day	Friday	Friday	Tuesday	Thursday	Thursday	Wednesday	Saturday	Saturday
Season	Autumn	Autumn	Summer	Spring	Spring	Winter	Intermediate	Intermediate
Cardinal direction	West	West	South	East	East	North	Center	Center

Dynastic transitions

According to the Warring States period political philosopher Zou Yan 鄒衍 (c. 305–240 BCE), each of the five elements possesses a personified “virtue” (de 德), which indicates the foreordained destiny (yun 運) of a dynasty; accordingly, the cyclic succession of the elements also indicates dynastic transitions. Zou Yan claims that the Mandate of Heaven sanctions the legitimacy of a dynasty by sending self-manifesting auspicious signs in the ritual color (yellow, blue, white, red, and black) that matches the element of the new dynasty (Earth, Wood, Metal, Fire, and Water). From the Qin dynasty onward, most Chinese dynasties invoked the theory of the Five Elements to legitimize their reign.

Chinese medicine

Main article: Traditional Chinese medicine

The interdependence of zang-fu networks in the body was said to be a circle of five things, and so mapped by the Chinese doctors onto the five phases.

In order to explain the integrity and complexity of the human body, Chinese medical scientists used the Five Elements theory to classify the human body’s organs, physiological activities, and pathological reactions.

Celestial stem

Main article: Celestial stem

Movement	Wood	Fire	Earth	Metal	Water
Heavenly Stem	Jia 甲 Yi 乙	Bing 丙 Ding 丁	Wu 戊 Ji 己	Geng 庚 Xin 辛	Ren 壬 Gui 癸
Year ends with	4, 5	6, 7	8, 9	0, 1	2, 3

Ming neiyin

In Ziwei, neiyin (纳音) or the method of divination is the further classification of the Five Elements into 60 ming (命), or life orders, based on the ganzhi. Similar to the astrology zodiac, the ming is used by fortune-tellers to analyse a person’s personality and future fate.

Order	Ganzhi	Ming	Order	Ganzhi	Ming	Element
1	Jia Zi 甲子	Sea metal 海中金	31	Jia Wu 甲午	Sand metal 沙中金	Metal
2	Yi Chou 乙丑		32	Yi Wei 乙未
3	Bing Yin 丙寅	Furnace fire 炉中火	33	Bing Shen 丙申	Forest fire 山下火	Fire
4	Ding Mao 丁卯		34	Ding You 丁酉
5	Wu Chen 戊辰	Forest wood 大林木	35	Wu Xu 戊戌	Meadow wood 平地木	Wood
6	Ji Si 己巳		36	Ji Hai 己亥
7	Geng Wu 庚午	Road earth 路旁土	37	Geng Zi 庚子	Adobe earth 壁上土	Earth
8	Xin Wei 辛未		38	Xin Chou 辛丑
9	Ren Shen 壬申	Sword metal 剑锋金	39	Ren Yin 壬寅	Precious metal 金白金	Metal
10	Gui You 癸酉		40	Gui Mao 癸卯
11	Jia Xu 甲戌	Volcanic fire 山头火	41	Jia Chen 甲辰	Lamp fire 佛灯火	Fire
12	Yi Hai 乙亥		42	Yi Si 乙巳
13	Bing Zi 丙子	Cave water 洞下水	43	Bing Wu 丙午	Sky water 天河水	Water
14	Ding Chou 丁丑		44	Ding Wei 丁未
15	Wu Yin 戊寅	Fortress earth 城头土	45	Wu Shen 戊申	Highway earth 大驿土	Earth
16	Ji Mao 己卯		46	Ji You 己酉
17	Geng Chen 庚辰	Wax metal 白腊金	47	Geng Xu 庚戌	Jewellery metal 钗钏金	Metal
18	Xin Si 辛巳		48	Xin Hai 辛亥
19	Ren Wu 壬午	Willow wood 杨柳木	49	Ren Zi 壬子	Mulberry wood 桑柘木	Wood
20	Gui Wei 癸未		50	Gui Chou 癸丑
21	Jia Shen 甲申	Stream water 泉中水	51	Jia Yin 甲寅	Rapids water 大溪水	Water
22	Yi You 乙酉		52	Yi Mao 乙卯
23	Bing Xu 丙戌	Roof tiles earth 屋上土	53	Bing Chen 丙辰	Desert earth 沙中土	Earth
24	Ding Hai 丁亥		54	Ding Si 丁巳
25	Wu Zi 戊子	Lightning fire 霹雳火	55	Wu Wu 戊午	Sun fire 天上火	Fire
26	Ji Chou 己丑		56	Ji Wei 己未
27	Geng Yin 庚寅	Conifer wood 松柏木	57	Geng Shen 庚申	Pomegranate wood 石榴木	Wood
28	Xin Mao 辛卯		58	Xin You 辛酉
29	Ren Chen 壬辰	River water 长流水	59	Ren Xu 壬戌	Ocean water 大海水	Water
30	Gui Si 癸巳		60	Gui Hai 癸亥

Music

Main articles: Chinese music and Chinese musicology

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

Movement	Wood	Fire	Earth	Metal	Water
Colour	Green	Red	Yellow	White	Black
Arctic Direction	east	south	center	west	north
Basic Pentatonic Scale pitch	角	徵	宮	商	羽
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

• The Chinese word 青 qīng, has many meanings, including green, azure, cyan, and black. It refers to green in wuxing.
• 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 “lǜ” tuning is closest to the ancient Greek tuning of Pythagoras.

Martial arts

T’ai chi ch’uan 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).

The Five Steps (五步 wǔ bù):

• Jìn bù (進步, in simplified characters 进步) – forward step
• Tùi bù (退步) – backward step
• Zǔo gù (左顧, in simplified characters 左顾) – left step
• Yòu pàn (右盼) – right step
• Zhōng dìng (中定) – central position, balance, equilibrium

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	崩	Bēng	To collapse, as a building collapsing in on itself
Fire	Pounding	炮	Pào	Exploding outward like a cannon while blocking
Earth	Crossing	橫 / 横	Héng	Crossing across the line of attack while turning over

Tea ceremony

There are spring, summer, fall, and winter teas. The perennial tea ceremony includes four tea settings (茶席) and a tea master (司茶). 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 the tea table. The tea settings are:

• Earth, 香 (Incense), yellow, center, up and down
• Wood, 春風 (Spring Wind), green, east
• Fire, 夏露 (Summer Dew), red, south
• Metal, 秋籟 (Fall Sounds), white, west
• Water, 冬陽 (Winter Sunshine) black/blue, north

Adapted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia