Wu-hsing Chin., lit. “five movers,” also known as wu-te (lit. “five virtues”); the five elements. Five phases of transformation, or five energies, that determine the course of natural phenomena. These five elements-water, fire, wood, metal, and earth are not to be understood as real substances but rather as abstract forces and symbols for certain basic characteristics of matter: e.g., it lies in the nature of water to moisten and to flow downward; of fire to heat and to rise; of wood to bend and straighten again; of metal to be cast or hammered into various forms; and of earth to be fertile. At the time of the Warring States Period, the notion arose that the elements not only give rise to each other but also may help conquer or destroy each other (hsiang-sheng hsiang-k’o): wood can give rise to fire, fire to earth, earth to metal, metal to water, and water to wood. At the same time water will conquer fire, fire vanquishes metal, metal can destroy wood, wood can conquer the earth, and earth overcomes water. This theory, furthermore, is of relevance in Chinese medicine.
Within a more complicated system of correspondence, the five elements are related to the seasons of the year, the cardinal points, colors, flavors, numbers, internal organs, and other groupings.
During the 4th and 3d centuries B.C.E., the doctrine of the five elements constituted an independent school. The most important repre sentative of this school was Tsou Yen (3d century B.C.E.), who applied the theory of the five elements to the area of politics by relating the course of history to their interdependence and succession. At the time of the Han Dynasty the Five Elements School combined with the Yin Yang School (yin-yang chia) and has since been considered part of the latter.
The succession of the four seasons is reflected by the interdependence of the five elements: in spring, wood is dominant and gives rise to fire, the element of summer. Fire gives rise to earth, which is characteristic of the center, i.e., the third month of summer. Earth, in turn, gives rise to metal which dominates autumn, and metal to the water of winter.
Furthermore, each element has its corresponding color, flavor, and cardinal point: the north and that which is black and salty correspond to water. Fire is related to the south, the color red, and to that which tastes bitter. The east, the color green, and that which tastes sour correspond to wood. The qualities of metal are related to the west, the color white, and that which tastes sharp; and water corresponds to the color yellow, that which tastes sweet, and to the center, which, in the Chinese view of the world, is the fifth cardinal point.
In the microcosmic realm, the five elements are connected with various organs of the body and with certain emotions. These correspondences are of great importance in Chinese medicine. Wood is related to the eyes, the sinews, the gall bladder, the liver, and anger; fire to the tongue, the blood vessels, the small intestine, the heart, and the feeling of joy; earth to the mouth, the muscles, the stomach, the pancreas, and worrying; metal to the nose, the hairs of the body, the large intestine, the lungs, and sadness; and water to the ears, the bones, the bladder, the kidneys, and fear.
In addition, the five elements are said to be connected with the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn as well as the signs of the Chinese lunar calendar.
The Yin-Yang School allocated numbers to the five elements: one and six to water, two and seven to fire, three and eight to wood, four and nine to metal, and five and ten to earth. Even numbers are said to be Earth numbers and odd numbers Heaven numbers. In this sense the odd numbers are characteristic of what gives rise to an element, and the even numbers of what brings it to fruition or perfection. These relationships are also of significance in connection with the Book of Change(s) (I-ching).
According to the historical view of Tsou Yen, the succession of the various dynasties imitates that of the elements: Earth, under whose sign the legendary Yellow Emperor (Huang-ti) ruled, was conquered by the wood of the Hsia Dynasty; this in turn was vanquished by the metal of the Shang Dynasty; and Tsou Yen was of the opinion that the fire of the Chou Dynasty, during which he lived, would be conquered by the water of the next dynasty and that by the earth of a further dynasty, thereby initiating a new cycle. Each ruler of a dynasty adopted the color of, and ruled in accordance with, the quality of its corresponding element and furthermore adapted the calendar, the color of fabrics, etc. to it.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen. Shambhala Publications, Inc.
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