Wuxing (Chinese philosophy)

, translated as Five Moving Ones, Five Circulations, Five Types of Energy, Five Elements, Five Transformations, Five Phases or Five Agents, is a fivefold conceptual scheme used in many traditional Chinese fields of study to explain a wide array of phenomena, including terrestrial and celestial relationships, influences, and [|cycles], that characterise the interactions and relationships within science, medicine, politics, religion and social relationships and education within Chinese culture.
The Five Moving Ones are traditionally associated with the classical planets: Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn as depicted in the etymological section below. In ancient Chinese astronomy and astrology, that spread throughout East Asia, was a reflection of the seven-day planetary order of Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, Earth. When in their "heavenly stems" generative cycle as represented in the below cycles section and depicted in the diagram above running consecutively clockwise. When in their overacting destructive arrangement of Wood, Earth, Water, Fire, Metal, natural disasters, calamity, illnesses and disease will ensue.
The wuxing system has been in use since the second or first century BCE during the Han dynasty. It appears in many seemingly disparate fields of early Chinese thought, including music, feng shui, alchemy, astrology, martial arts, military strategy, I Ching divination, religion and traditional medicine, serving as a metaphysics based on cosmic analogy.

Etymology

Wuxing originally referred to the five classical planets, which were with the combination of the Sun and the Moon, conceived as creating the five forces of earthly life. This is why the word is composed of Chinese characters meaning "five" and "moving". "Moving" is shorthand for "planets", since the word for planets in Chinese has been translated as "moving stars". Some of the Mawangdui Silk Texts also connect the wuxing to the wude, the Five Virtues and Five Emotions. Scholars believe that various predecessors to the concept of wuxing were merged into one system of many interpretations in the Han dynasty.
Wuxing was first translated into English as "the Five Elements", drawing parallels with the Greek and Indian Vedic static, solid or formative arrangement of the four elements. This translation is still in common use among practitioners of Traditional Chinese medicine, such as in the name of Five Element acupuncture and Japanese meridian therapy. However, this analogy could be misleading as the four elements are concerned with form, substance and quantity, whereas the post-heaven arrangement of the wuxing are "primarily concerned with process, change, and quality". For example, the wuxing element "Wood" is more accurately thought of as the "vital essence" and growth of trees rather than the physical innate substance wood. This led sinologist Nathan Sivin to propose the alternative translation "five phases" in 1987. But "phase" also fails to capture the full meaning of wuxing. In some contexts, the wuxing are indeed associated with physical substances. Historian of Chinese medicine Manfred Porkert proposed the term "Evolutive Phase". Perhaps the most widely accepted translation among modern scholars is the "five agents" or "five transformations".

Cycles

In traditional doctrine, the five phases are connected in two cycles of interactions: a promoting or generative cycle, also known as "mother-son"; and an overacting or destructive cycle, also known as "grandfather-grandson". Each of these cycles can be interpreted and analyzed in a forward or reversed direction. In addition to the aforementioned cycles there is also what is considered an "overacting" or excessively generating version of the destructive cycle.

Inter-promoting

The generative cycle is:

Wood feeds Fire as fuel
Fire produces Earth
Earth bears Metal
Metal collects, filters and purifies Water
Water nourishes Wood

Inter-regulating

The destructive cycle is:

Wood grasps Earth
Earth contains Water
Water dampens Fire
Fire melts Metal
Metal chops Wood

Overacting

The excessive destructive cycle is:

Wood depletes Earth
Earth obstructs Water
Water extinguishes Fire
Fire melts Metal
Metal makes Wood rigid to easily snap.

Weakening

The reverse generative cycle is:

Wood depletes Water
Water rusts Metal
Metal impoverishes Earth
Earth smothers Fire
Fire burns Wood

Counteracting

A reverse or deficient destructive cycle is:

Wood dulls Metal
Metal de-energizes Fire
Fire evaporates Water
Water muddies Earth
Earth rots Wood

Celestial stem

Movement	Wood	Fire	Earth	Metal	Water
Heavenly Stems	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 nayin

In Ziwei divination, nayin further classifies the Five Elements into 60 ming, or life orders, based on the ganzhi. Similar to the astrology zodiac, the ming is used by fortune-tellers to analyse individual personality and destiny.

Order	Ganzhi	Ming	Order	Ganzhi	Ming	Element
1	Wood Rat 甲子	Sea metal 海中金	31	Wood Horse 甲午	Sand metal 沙中金	Metal
2	Wood Ox 乙丑	Sea metal 海中金	32	Wood Goat 乙未	Sand metal 沙中金	Metal
3	Fire Tiger 丙寅	Furnace fire 爐中火	33	Fire Monkey 丙申	Forest fire 山下火	Fire
4	Fire Rabbit 丁卯	Furnace fire 爐中火	34	Fire Rooster 丁酉	Forest fire 山下火	Fire
5	Earth Dragon 戊辰	Forest wood 大林木	35	Earth Dog 戊戌	Meadow wood 平地木	Wood
6	Earth Snake 己巳	Forest wood 大林木	36	Earth Pig 己亥	Meadow wood 平地木	Wood
7	Metal Horse 庚午	Road earth 路旁土	37	Metal Rat 庚子	Adobe earth 壁上土	Earth
8	Metal Goat 辛未	Road earth 路旁土	38	Metal Ox 辛丑	Adobe earth 壁上土	Earth
9	Water Monkey 壬申	Sword metal 劍鋒金	39	Water Tiger 壬寅	Foil metal 金箔金	Metal
10	Water Rooster 癸酉	Sword metal 劍鋒金	40	Water Rabbit 癸卯	Foil metal 金箔金	Metal
11	Wood Dog 甲戌	Volcanic fire 山頭火	41	Wood Dragon 甲辰	Lamp fire 覆燈火	Fire
12	Wood Pig 乙亥	Volcanic fire 山頭火	42	Wood Snake 乙巳	Lamp fire 覆燈火	Fire
13	Fire Rat 丙子	Creek water 澗下水	43	Fire Horse 丙午	Sky water 天河水	Water
14	Fire Ox 丁丑	Creek water 澗下水	44	Fire Goat 丁未	Sky water 天河水	Water
15	Earth Tiger 戊寅	Fortress earth 城頭土	45	Earth Monkey 戊申	Stage station earth 大驛土	Earth
16	Earth Rabbit 己卯	Fortress earth 城頭土	46	Earth Rooster 己酉	Stage station earth 大驛土	Earth
17	Metal Dragon 庚辰	Pewter metal 白镴金	47	Metal Dog 庚戌	Jewellery metal 釵釧金	Metal
18	Metal Snake 辛巳	Pewter metal 白镴金	48	Metal Pig 辛亥	Jewellery metal 釵釧金	Metal
19	Water Horse 壬午	Willow wood 楊柳木	49	Water Rat 壬子	Mulberry wood 桑柘木	Wood
20	Water Goat 癸未	Willow wood 楊柳木	50	Water Ox 癸丑	Mulberry wood 桑柘木	Wood
21	Wood Monkey 甲申	Stream water 泉中水	51	Wood Tiger 甲寅	Rapids water 大溪水	Water
22	Wood Rooster 乙酉	Stream water 泉中水	52	Wood Rabbit 乙卯	Rapids water 大溪水	Water
23	Fire Dog 丙戌	Roof tiles earth 屋上土	53	Fire Dragon 丙辰	Desert earth 沙中土	Earth
24	Fire Pig 丁亥	Roof tiles earth 屋上土	54	Fire Snake 丁巳	Desert earth 沙中土	Earth
25	Earth Rat 戊子	Lightning fire 霹靂火	55	Earth Horse 戊午	Sun fire 天上火	Fire
26	Earth Ox 己丑	Lightning fire 霹靂火	56	Earth Goat 己未	Sun fire 天上火	Fire
27	Metal Tiger 庚寅	Conifer wood 松柏木	57	Metal Monkey 庚申	Pomegranate wood 石榴木	Wood
28	Metal Rabbit 辛卯	Conifer wood 松柏木	58	Metal Rooster 辛酉	Pomegranate wood 石榴木	Wood
29	Water Dragon 壬辰	River water 長流水	59	Water Dog 壬戌	Ocean water 大海水	Water
30	Water Snake 癸巳	River water 長流水	60	Water Pig 癸亥	Ocean water 大海水	Water

Applications

The wuxing schema is applied to explain phenomena in various fields.

Phases of the year

The five phases are around 73 days each and are usually used to describe the transformations of nature rather than their formative states.

Wood/Spring: a period of growth, the expansion of which generates vitality and movement; associated with wind.
Fire/Summer: a period of fruition and ripening flowering; associated with heat.
Earth can be seen as a period of stability and stillness transitioning between the other phases or seasons, or, when relating to transformative seasonal periods, it can be seen as late summer. This period is associated with centralisation, leveling and dampness.
Metal/Autumn: a period of moving inward. It is associated with collection, harvesting, transmuting, contracting, loss and dryness.
Water/Winter: a period of reclusiveness, stillness, consolidation and coolness.

Cosmology and feng shui

The art of feng shui is based on wuxing, with the structure of the cosmos mirroring the five phases, as well as bagua. Each phase has a complex network of associations with different aspects of nature : colors, seasons and shapes all interact according to the cycles.
An interaction or energy flow can be expansive, destructive, or exhaustive, depending on the cycle to which it belongs. By understanding these energy flows, a feng shui practitioner attempts to rearrange energy to benefit the client.

Dynastic transitions

According to the Warring States period political philosopher Zou Yan, each of the five elements possesses a personified virtue, which indicates the foreordained destiny of a dynasty; hence 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 that matches the element of the new dynasty. From the Qin dynasty onward, most Chinese dynasties invoked the theory of the Five Elements to legitimize their reign.

Chinese medicine

The interdependence of zangfu networks in the body was said to be a circle of five things, and so mapped by the ancient Chinese doctors onto categories of syndromes and patterns called the five phases.
In order to explain the integrity and complexity of the human body, Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners use the Five Elements theory to classify the human body's endogenous influences on organs, physiological activities, pathological reactions, and environmental or exogenous influences. This diagnostic capacity is extensively used in traditional five phase acupuncture today, as opposed to the modern Confucian styled eight principles based Traditional Chinese medicine.

Movement	Wood	Fire	Earth	Metal	Water
Planet	Jupiter	Mars	Saturn	Venus	Mercury
Mental Quality	idealism, spontaneity, curiosity	passion, intensity	agreeableness, honesty	intuition, rationality, mind	erudition, resourcefulness, wit
Emotion	anger, motivation	frenzy, joy	anxiety, planning	grief, compassion	fear, caution
Virtue	Benevolence	Propriety	Fidelity	Righteousness	Wisdom
Zang	liver	heart/pericardium	spleen/pancreas	lung	kidney
Fu	gall bladder	small intestine/San Jiao	stomach	large intestine	urinary bladder
Sensory Organ	eyes	tongue	mouth	nose	ears
Body Part	tendons	vessels	muscles	skin	bones
Body Fluid	tears	sweat	saliva	mucus	urine
Finger	ring finger	middle finger	thumb	index finger	pinky finger
Sense	sight	taste	touch	smell	hearing
Taste	sour	bitter	sweet	pungent, umami	salty
Smell	rancid	scorched	fragrant	rotten	putrid
Life	early childhood	youth	adulthood	senior age	old age, conception
Covering	scaly	feathered	naked human	furred	shelled
Hour	3–9	9–15	change	15–21	21–3
Year	Spring Equinox	Summer Solstice	Summer Final	Fall Equinox	Winter Solstice
360°	45–135°	135–225°	Change	225–315°	315–45°

Music

The Huainanzi and the Yueling chapter of the Book of Rites make the following correlations:

Movement	Wood	Fire	Earth	Metal	Water
Color	Qing (green and blue)	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

Qing is a Chinese color word used for both green and blue. Modern Mandarin has separate words for each, but like many other languages, older forms of Chinese did not distinguish between green and blue.
In most modern music, various five note or seven note scales are defined by selecting five or seven frequencies from the set of twelve semi-tones in the Equal tempered tuning. The Chinese shi'er lü system of tuning is closest to the ancient Greek tuning of Pythagoras.

Martial arts

Wuxing being an influential philosophical concept, there are several Chinese martial arts and a few other east Asian styles that incorporate five phases concepts into their systems.
Tai chi trains and focuses on five basic qualities as part of its overarching strategy.
The Five Steps are:

Lǎo Jìnbù – always step forward
Juébù Tuìbù – never step backward
Yòupàn – watch right
Zuǒgù – beware left
Zhōngdìng – center pole, point, pivot neutral posture, maintain balance, maintain equilibrium.

These five steps are not mutable states in tai chi.
Xingyi Quan uses the five elements metaphorically to represent ideally five different energies, but energy work is subtle, so normally one starts out learning five basic techniques with complementary footwork to teach the basic concepts behind the energies. Ideally one can use any technique with any kind of energy, but there are different levels of skill one must go through.
In Xingyi Quan, realization of the five energies has three basic levels: Obvious power, subtle power, mysterious power.

Movement	Fist	Chinese	Pinyin	Direction	Shape	Subtle Action	Energy	Feeling
Metal	Splitting	劈	Pī	Downward	Fist or palm chopping forward, hand pulling down and back, spine rolling downward	dragging down	condensing power	Dropping
Water	Drilling	鑽 / 钻	Zuān	Upward	Fist drilling upward like water under pressure, hand down and back	spiraling	relaxing power	Shocking
Wood	Crushing	崩	Bēng	Forward	Fist shooting straight forward	wedging	linear power	Penetrating
Fire	Pounding	炮	Pào	Backward	Fist being propelled forward by body flinging open	flinging	reciprocal power	Launching
Earth	Crossing	橫 / 横	Héng	Horizontal	Fist crossing horizontally and turning over to plough through	turning	torque power	Colliding

The Five Animals in Shaolin martial arts are an extension of the Wuxing theory as their qualities are the embodiment and representation of the energetic qualities of the five phases in the animal kingdom. They are the,

Tiger - Fire
Monkey - Metal
Snake - Water
Crane - Wind
Mantis - Earth

Wuxing Heqidao, is a life art with roots in Confucian, Taoists and Buddhist theory. It centers around applied peace and health studies rather than defence or physical action. It emphasizes the unification of mind, body and environment using the physiological theory of yin and yang as well as five-element Traditional Chinese medicine. Its movements, exercises, and teachings cultivate, direct, and harmonise the qi.

In Japan

The Japanese term is gogyo. During the 5th and 6th centuries, Japan adopted various philosophical disciplines such as Taoism, Chinese Buddhism, and Confucianism through monks and physicians from China helping to evolve the Onmyōdō system. In contrast, the theory of Godai is a form-based philosophy that was introduced to Japan through India and Tibetan Buddhism. These theories have been extensively practiced in Japanese acupuncture and traditional Kampo medicine.