TERMBASES
This refers to the concept of the five basic
elements, each in turn giving rise to the next. The five basic elements are:
wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. All things in the world are composed of
these five elements or possess their properties. According to this concept,
wood produces fire; fire produces earth; earth produces metal; metal produces
water; and water produces wood. Similarly, things with the properties of these
five elements also have similar relations between themselves.
There are three meanings to the term. (1) The five fundamental things or elements that make up all things. The Book of History was the first to define the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Each of these has its own properties and they interact in a generative or destructive relationship. (2) On a more abstract level, the term refers to the basic framework to understand the world. All things can be included in the realm of wuxing (五行) and their properties are explained or understood accordingly. (3) It refers to five kinds of moral behavior. Xunzi (313?-238 BC) once criticized Zisi (483-402 BC) and Mencius (372?-289 BC) for “creating wuxing on the basis of old theories.” Ancient bamboo slips unearthed from a grave at Guodian dating back to the State of Chu as well as inscribed silk texts from the Mawangdui Tomb of the Western Han Dynasty, all describe this wuxing as benevolence, righteousness, li (礼), wisdom, and the wisdom and character of a sage.
This refers to the concept of the five elements sequentially overpowering each other, which is also described as “the five elements, each in turn checking the next”. The term “five elements” refers to five basic material elements, namely: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. According to this concept, water checks fire, fire checks metal; metal checks wood; wood checks earth; and earth checks water. Similarly, things with the properties of these five elements also have corresponding relations between themselves. For example, some thinkers in the Qin and Han dynasties adopted this theory to explain dynastic changes.
The cycle of five elements that repeatedly follow each other in fixed succession is a belief that interpreted the rise and fall of dynasties and political changes. It was propounded by Zou Yan (305?-240 BC), a thinker of the Warring States Period. The five elements are metal, wood, water, fire and earth; they are also known as the five virtues that appear in cyclical repetition. Zou Yan believed changes in human history were similar to those of the natural world and were controlled by these five physical elements. The birth of each new dynasty represented the rise of a certain “virtue.” What drove dynastic transitions and political changes was the recurrence of the five elements as they generated or overcame each other. This view of political virtue and cyclical history with its roots in yin and yang and the five elements has, from its inception, had a very strong influence on traditional Chinese culture.
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