The Five Elements 五行

Pen to Sword

Aug 10 2023 • 45 mins

The Five Elements. In this episode we discuss the relationship with the elements and humankind, where the five elements came from, and how they are applied and integrated into Chinese life.

In traditional Chinese culture, the five elements, or five phases, theory outlines the relationship between the different elements in nature and the life force, or "qi," that flows through them.

The five elements are wood, fire, earth, metal, and water.

The five Elements theory is an ancient Chinese analogy theory, which combines philosophy, divination, fortune-telling, calendar, traditional Chinese medicine and sociology.

The essence of the Five Elements theory holds that the world is composed of five basic material substances: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. The development and cycle of changes within nature (eg.. seasons ) are the result of the continuous movement and interactions of these five different conditions.

The concept of "five elements" first appeared in Huangdi Neijing, in which the relationship between the five elements and the human body was first proposed.

The regulation of "five elements" was first observed from the movement regulation of the five planets in the Universe. Later, With the observation and study of nature by Chinese ancestors, the relationships between and within the five elements was gradually formed.

In Xunzi, Mencius 孟 子  was the earliest creator of The Five Elements theory.

In the late Zhan Guo (Dynasty) period, Zou Yan 邹 衍 was one of the main people who applied the theory of Yin-yang and the Five Elements to the calculation of national fortunes.

In order to define the five elements, the author SHANG SHU. HONGFAN 尚书.洪范 specifically puts forward the names of the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire and earth

ZUO ZHUAN-Cai Mo 左传 蔡墨 then Proposed the theory that the existence of human life depends on the Five Elements.

The Ancient Chinese holds that the nature of the universe is composed of five elements. The rise and fall of the five elements makes the universe and nature change, which not only affects the fate of people, but also tells people the law between the universe and nature.

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