Five element teaching

Five element teaching

Chinese name
Long characters	五行學
Abbreviation	五行学
Pinyin	wŭxíng xué
Jyutping	ng ⁵ slope ⁴ hok ⁶
Alternative name
Long characters	五行
Abbreviation	五行
Pinyin	wŭxíng
Jyutping	ng ⁵ slope ⁴
Long characters	五運 ^hist. ¹
Abbreviation	五运
Pinyin	wŭyùn
Jyutping	ng ⁵ wan ⁶
Long characters	五德 ^hist. ²
Abbreviation	五德
Pinyin	wŭdé
Jyutping	ng ⁵ dak ¹
Japanese name
Kanji	五行
Kana	ごぎょう
Hepburn	gogyō
Korean name
Hangeul	오행
Hanja	五行
MR	Ohaeng
RR	Ohaeng
Vietnam. designation
Chữ Quốc Ngữ	ngũ hành
Chữ Nôm	五行
Note : ¹ Historical name in TCM texts ² Historic designation in the medical magazine Wude Zhōngshǐshuō - 五德終始說 from the Warring States Period

The five-element theory ( Chinese chines 學 / 五行学 - "doctrine of the five phases of change", 五行 for short ) is a Daoist theory for describing nature . The five-element doctrine examines the laws according to which dynamic transformation processes (changes) take place in the realm of living things, thus emphasizing becoming, changing and passing away. The five elements wood , fire , metal , water and earth are directly derived from nature. From their ( abstracted ) properties, conclusions are drawn about the relationships between earth, man and heaven and within these spheres.

The long tradition of the five-element teaching has an impact on Chinese philosophy and is important in Shiatsu , Tuina , Feng Shui , Taijiquan , Xingyiquan , and Qigong . It has other effects in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), acupuncture and the holistic approaches of modern western medicine.

The Buddhism knows the elements of earth, water, air , fire and void as the Five Elements . This teaching differs from the Taoist teaching. Ancient Greek philosophy developed the four-element theory with the elements air, fire, water and earth and, in some cases, the ether as the quintessence and fifth element.

The five elements

The teaching is anchored in traditional Chinese philosophy . After that, let all the (natural phenomena through the large (assumed) conversions xíng - 行 ) ^A split. These five elements (more precisely: processes) are not static, but are subject to constant change and transformation and are in a generating and consuming relationship to one another. The environment and the laws of nature can be traced back to this. In this sense, the basic elements are to be seen as phases of change or qualities of action. In the Shang Dynasty (around 1600-1046 BC) they were assigned the five directions north, south, east, west and center. With this (assigned) all-round meaning and effect, there were increasingly five additional properties or states in which humans, nature, heaven and earth are found.

annotation

^A. In Chinese terminology, one speaks here of the transformation phenomenon xíng - 行 , a process in natural philosophy (see also Yin and Yang ), instead of using the designation of matter or element yuánsù - 元素 ‚basic substance ' , as in Western cultures .

Wood	木mù	Departure, development of an impulse to act, expansion, rise
Fire	火huǒ	Design, dynamic phase, action
earth	土tǔ	walking, transforming, changing, fruiting
metal	金jīn	Maturity, contraction, condensation, detachment, sinking
water	水shuǐ	Contemplation, situation assessment, rest

The interaction of these elements creates a process sequence that is described as a cycle and applied to a wide variety of organic processes, for example in the human body, in character studies , in astrology or in organizations such as a company or in politics .

Spiritual background

The question and methodology of the five-element theory is very similar to the I Ching , the book of changes. Both stand on the common spiritual background of Daoism .

As in the I Ching and also in the Daodejing of Laozi , in the five-element doctrine the Dao , the monistic creative function of the great one, cannot be named and appears as a principle accessible to knowledge only as a complementary dualism : as Yin and Yang . As described in the article on the I Ching, these two generate the four Hsia by doubling and the eight Gua, the eight trigrams , by doubling again . The earth as a changing quality is assigned to both dual poles (Yin and Yang; see polarity ), the four Hsia to the other four elements (see: Cosmological arrangement).

In Daoism, all statements about reality count as symbols and not as reality themselves. Therefore, there is no claim to exclusivity for their validity, different statements and theories (here the I Ching and the five-element theory) can exist side by side, and depending on the application, you can easily switch between them. This approach often appears problematic to us in Western thinking, but is still practiced: the calculation of the tide according to the position of the moon and the description of the times of day according to the course of the sun naturally place the earth as a reference point in the middle, although the geocentric view of the world has long been refuted. Classical physics , for example, has its defined area of validity and has not become obsolete due to the theory of relativity or quantum theory .

Cyclical arrangement

Cyclic arrangement of the five elements

The five elements represent phases of change in processes or qualities of action. It is therefore not about elements in the sense of components, but rather aspects of a dynamic process that is experienced as cyclical and is usually represented in a five-part circle clockwise. The idea of organic processes as cyclical does not mean a constant, monotonous repetition, but also includes an evolution (in the West mostly linear): each cycle of the cyclic process changes the starting position for the following cycle.

The changing phases in the process are often illustrated by the sequence of seasons: water is at the bottom as a resting point of departure and an essential part of every dynamic and corresponds to winter. Wood follows as a preparatory, expanding phase, (pre) spring. Fire is the climax of the actual action; it stands for summer. Earth stands for the changing aspect that brings about evolution in the cyclical process (such as the metamorphosis towards fruit formation) and late summer. Metal concentrates and structures the action, this ensures the effect of the action, corresponding to the ripening in autumn. This is followed by the resting phase (water).

Approximation cycle

In the sequence discussed (clockwise cyclically) the elements nourish each other, one element gives birth to the other element, they are in the same relationship as the mother to the child.

Wood makes a fire burn.

Ash (from fire) enriches the earth with nutrients.

Earth produces ores (metal).

Trace elements (metal) invigorate water.

Water nourishes trees and plants (wood).

Weakening cycle

Each element develops through the weakening of its predecessor in the approximation cycle (cyclic relation counterclockwise). This corresponds to the grandmother-mother relationship, the mother weakening the grandmother.

Fire burns wood

Wood absorbs water,

Water corrodes metal,

Metal pulls minerals out of the earth, and

Earth suffocates fire.

Control cycle

Deficiency or excess of one of the five elements of the process under consideration would disturb the process as a whole or damage its carrier (a living organism). Control interventions cannot be arbitrary without disrupting the process. Rather, the inherent regularity should also be taken into account in external process control:

Water extinguishes fire.

Fire melts metals.

An ax (metal) splits wood.

Trees and plants (wood) extract nutrients from the earth. Roots hold the earth together.

Dams (earth) hold water back. Earth pollutes water.

The control relation is therefore a pentagram in a circle, which arises from the fact that each element acts on its successor. This corresponds to the grandmother-child relationship.

Damage cycle

The opposite relation (to the predecessor) is described as destructive, hurtful.

Water softens earth (erosion)

Earth suffocates wood,

Wood dulls metal,

Metal absorbs heat (fire),

Fire evaporates water.

This corresponds to the child-grandmother relationship.

Dynastic transitions

According to the warring states' political philosopher, Zou Yan, each of the five elements has a personified "virtue" that indicates the predetermined fate of a dynasty; accordingly, the cyclical sequence of the elements also indicates dynastic transitions. Zou Yan claims that Heaven's mandate sanctions the legitimacy of a dynasty by sending self-manifest auspicious signs in the ritual color (yellow, blue, white, red and black) associated with the element of the new dynasty (earth, wood, metal , Fire and water) applies. Since the Qin Dynasty, most Chinese dynasties have relied on the Five Elements theory to legitimize their rule.

Cosmological arrangement

An arrangement of the five elements that is less well-known in the west results when the walking principle of the earth moves into the center of the wheel and the remaining four elements are arranged on two orthogonal axes:

Vertical: water below (big yin, static) - fire above (big yang, dynamic)
Horizontal: wood left (small yang, expansion) - metal right (small yin, contraction)

This orienting quaternio focuses on the operating principle of the process instead of the process dynamics itself and thus resembles the orthogonal western conceptual systems that serve as orientation (example: four-element theory , compass rose, Cartesian coordinate system , four seasons). In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) the vertical axis is called constitutional, the horizontal axis is situational.

projection

Both representations (the cyclical and the cosmic) can be understood as two different planar projection possibilities of one and the same spatial pyramid (with the earth at the top and an apex angle of 36 degrees). This property shows that the two planar representations are not alternatively side by side, but can be (three-dimensionally) transferred constructively into one another (cf. the two arrangements of the eight trigrams "old heaven" and "new heaven" in the I Ching )

Assignments, analogies

A large number of other terms are assigned to the five elements, some of which can only be understood in their specific experience. The best known is probably the assignment to shapes and colors:

Wood	木 mù	(green Blue	Cylindrical shapes
Fire	火 huǒ	red	Pyramid shapes
earth	土 tǔ	yellow	Cuboid shapes
metal	金 jīn	white (gray)	Dome shapes
water	水 shuǐ	black	irregular shapes

The list of other analogies is practically unlimited. The formation always takes place with five directions, the (basic) elements are assigned to five seasons , five directions , five flavors , five emotions , five weather conditions , five landscape forms , five planets , five relationships , five tones in music ( pentatonic ). A comparable analogy is also the basis of Chinese medicine. With the Fuwa ( 福娃 , fúwá ), the mascots of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing , the range of analogies has been expanded.

Applications and interpretations of the *five elements*
Categories	木 wood	火 fire	土 earth	金 metal	水 water
The natural world
Five directions	east	south	center	west	North
Five flavors	angry	bitter	sweet	sharp	salty
Five seasons	spring	summer	Midsummer	autumn	winter
Five conversions	Procreation	growth	Maturity	harvest	storage
Five times of the day	tomorrow	Noon	afternoon	Eve	night
Double hours (organ clock)	11 p.m. to 1 a.m. Gallbladder Meridian (Yang) wood	11 am to 1 pm Heart Meridian (Yin) Imperial Fire 7 to 9 pm Pericardial Meridian (Yin) Ministerial Fire	7 to 9 a.m. Stomach Meridian (Yang) Earth	3 to 5 o'clock lung meridian (yin) metal	3 p.m. to 5 p.m. bubble meridian (yang) water
Double hours (organ clock)	1 to 3 o'clock liver meridian (yin) wood	1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Small Intestine Meridian (Yang) Imperial Fire 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Triple Heater Meridian (Yang) Ministerial Fire	9 to 11 a.m. Spleen Meridian (Yin) Earth	5 to 7 a.m. Colon Meridian (Yang) Metal	5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Kidney Meridian (Yin) water
Five weather conditions	wind	heat	humidity	dryness	cold
Five phases of change	weak yang	strong yang	Balance	weak yin	strong yin
Five geometric shapes	cylinder	pyramid	Cuboid	dome	irregular
Five notes	third	Fifth	Prime	second	Sixth
Five planets	Jupiter	Mars	Saturn	Venus	Mercury
Five animals	Dragon	Feng Huang	Qilin	tiger	turtle
Man (human body) - TCM
Five Zang (Yin) organs	liver	heart	spleen	lung	kidney
Five Fu (Yang) organs	Gallbladder	Small intestine	stomach	Large intestine	bladder
Five senses	see	speak	taste	smell	Listen
Five sense organs	eye	tongue	Mouth / lips	nose	ear
Five body tissues	tendon	Blood vessels	Muscles	Skin and hair	bone
Five feelings	anger	joy	Desire	Sadness	fear
Five vocalizations	shouting	laughter	singing	cry	sigh
Five body fluids	tears	Sweat	saliva	mucus	urine
Overarching
Five ages	Birth and growth	Training and development	Maturity and transition	Post-ripening and harvest	Breaking down and enjoying the harvest
Twelve branches of the earth zodiac	Tiger rabbit	Snake horse	Dragon sheep dog ox	Monkey rooster	Pig rat
Ten (= 2 · 5) heavenly tribes	甲jiǎ 乙yǐ	丙bǐng 丁dīng	戊wù 己jǐ	庚gēng 辛xīn	壬rén 癸guǐ
Eight trigrams	☴ 巽xùn ☳ 震zhèn	☲ 離lí	☷ 坤kūn ☶ 艮gèn	☰ 乾qián ☱ 兌duì	☵ 坎can
CJK days of the week	Thursday	Tuesday	Saturday	Friday	Wednesday

Wu Xing assignment according to Grand Master Wu Gong Jue

The country of origin - After a very ancient Chinese tradition of the "five elements" are China "five phases - Wu Xing" called - sometimes assigned different and very much more extensive correspondences ( "Overview of Phases -" five elements "," Wu Xing "- after Grand Master Wu Gong Jue ” ). A distinction is made here according to the knowledge or tradition of the “Old Heaven” and the “New Heaven”. The old knowledge about man, earth and cosmos was therefore falsified as a result of the transition and could only be preserved in a holy place to this day.

Five Element Teaching in Japan

In Japan there is an alternative version of the five-element theory, which uses the four "western" elements "earth", "water", "fire" and "wind / air" and adds "emptiness / ether" as the fifth . This form of the five-element teaching also appears in Tibetan medicine .

This five-element teaching is used by Miyamoto Musashi in Gorin no Sho , the book of the five rings. It is important for the Japanese martial arts , especially the art of fencing.

"Five-element teaching" in the West

In antiquity, a similarly structured doctrine developed that continues to have an impact in the West today. Aristotle added ether to the four elements water, fire, earth and air, which were common in ancient Greece , which was later called quintessence (from Latin quinta essentia , lit. "fifth being") and played a special role in alchemy played.

Trivia

Chinese native speakers usually remember the five elements and their order in relation to one another as a list of " 金 jīn , 木 mù , 水 shuǐ , 火 huǒ , 土 tǔ ".

In the fun religion of Discordianism , the five-element teaching is parodied. The five Discordian "elements" are called sweet (sweet), boom ( boom ), pungent (piercing), prickle (tingling) and orange (orange). In the Discordian calendar , the five days of the week are called Sweetmorn , Boomtime , Pungenday , Prickle-Prickle and Setting Orange .

literature

Frank Behrendt, Yun Yi Na: Overview of the phases of change (5 elements - Wu Xing) - according to Grand Master Wu Gong Jue . Specialized publisher for Traditional Chinese Medicine & Eastern Sciences, Stralsund 2009, ISBN 978-3-941814-00-4 .
Yu Youhua, Lin Qian, Ministry of Culture of the PR China (Ed.): Traditional Chinese Medicine in Chinese Culture . CAV Production Co., Beijing 2008.
Chen Yuan, "Legitimation Discourse and the Theory of the Five Elements in Imperial China," Journal of Song-Yuan Studies (2014): 325–364.

Web links

Commons : Wu Xing - Graphic representations for Wu Xing

Individual evidence

↑ Chen, Yuan: Legitimation Discourse and the Theory of the Five Elements in Imperial China . In: Journal of Song-Yuan Studies . tape 44 , no. 1 , ISSN 2154-6665 ( academia.edu [accessed April 16, 2018]).
↑ Yu Youhua, Lin Qian, Ministry of Culture of the PR China (Ed.): Traditional Chinese Medicine in Chinese Culture . CAV Production Co., Beijing 2008.
↑ The Yellow Emperor: The Yellow Emperor - The Chinese Organ Clock (Part 1) - Quote: "Yang is the (ascending) first half, Yin is the (descending) second half of the double hour." ( Memento from August 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive ). In: www.dergelbekaiser.de, accessed February 18, 2020
↑ The Korean and Japanese days of the week are named after the five elements as well as the sun and moon (Sunday and Monday) .
↑ Frank Behrendt & Yun Yi Na: Overview of the phases of change - "5 elements", "Wu Xing" - according to Grand Master Wu Gong Jue . Specialized publisher for Traditional Chinese Medicine & Eastern Sciences, Stralsund 2009, ISBN 978-3-941814-00-4 .

[1] Chen, Yuan: Legitimation Discourse and the Theory of the Five Elements in Imperial China . In: Journal of Song-Yuan Studies . tape 44 , no. 1 , ISSN 2154-6665 ( academia.edu [accessed April 16, 2018]).

[2] Yu Youhua, Lin Qian, Ministry of Culture of the PR China (Ed.): Traditional Chinese Medicine in Chinese Culture . CAV Production Co., Beijing 2008.

[3] The Yellow Emperor: The Yellow Emperor - The Chinese Organ Clock (Part 1) - Quote: "Yang is the (ascending) first half, Yin is the (descending) second half of the double hour." ( Memento from August 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive ). In: www.dergelbekaiser.de, accessed February 18, 2020

[4] The Korean and Japanese days of the week are named after the five elements as well as the sun and moon (Sunday and Monday) .

[5] Frank Behrendt & Yun Yi Na: Overview of the phases of change - "5 elements", "Wu Xing" - according to Grand Master Wu Gong Jue . Specialized publisher for Traditional Chinese Medicine & Eastern Sciences, Stralsund 2009, ISBN 978-3-941814-00-4 .