What is the Five Elements 五行？

Like Yin and Yang, the Five Elements (五行) have exerted a profound influence on Taoism. They represent an ancient Chinese spontaneous and naive materialist dialectical thought. The theory of the Five Elements holds that everything in the universe is generated through the evolution of the Five Elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water). There exist relationships of mutual promotion and mutual restriction between things, which maintain a dynamic balance and generate periodic changes. The Five Elements refer to the movements of five substances: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. To understand the meaning of the Five Elements, one must first know their characteristics.

In fact, the theory of the Five Elements deduces and classifies the Five Elements attributes of things based on their characteristics. The Five Elements attributes of things are not equivalent to wood, fire, earth, metal, and water themselves; instead, they are derived by comparing the nature and functions of things with the characteristics of the Five Elements. For example, things similar to the characteristics of wood are attributed to wood; those similar to the characteristics of earth are attributed to earth, and so on.

Take the association of directions with the Five Elements: the sun rises in the east, which is similar to the ascending characteristic of wood, so the east is attributed to wood; the south is hot, similar to the hot characteristic of fire, so it is attributed to fire; the sun sets in the west, similar to the descending characteristic of metal, so the west is attributed to metal; the north is cold, similar to the characteristic of water, so the north is attributed to water.

In addition to the above method of analogy by imagery, there is also an indirect deduction method for determining the Five Elements attributes of things. For example: the liver belongs to wood, and since the liver governs the tendons and opens into the eyes, the "tendons" and "eyes" also belong to wood; the heart belongs to fire, so the "vessels" and "tongue" also belong to fire; the spleen belongs to earth, so the "muscles" and "mouth" also belong to earth; the lung belongs to metal, so the "skin and hair" and "nose" also belong to metal; the kidney belongs to water, so the "bones" and "genitalia and anus" also belong to water.

The following are the Five Elements attributes of things in nature and the human body:

By analyzing, summarizing, and deducing things based on the characteristics of the Five Elements, the ever-changing things in nature are categorized into the Five Elements system of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. The theory of the Five Elements does not statically and isolatedly classify things into the Five Elements system; instead, it explores and explains the interrelationships between things, as well as the integrity and unity of their mutual coordination and balance, through the relationships of generation and restriction among the Five Elements.

"Generation" refers to the role of one thing in promoting, encouraging, and nourishing another; "restriction" refers to the role of one thing in inhibiting and restraining the growth and function of another. The relationships of generation and restriction among the Five Elements are as shown in the following table:

Due to the existence of generation and restriction relationships among the Five Elements, for any "element" in the Five Elements, there are four aspects of connection: "generating me," "being generated by me," "restricting me," and "being restricted by me."

"Generating me" and "being generated by me" are metaphorically called the relationship of "mother" and "child." The one that "generates me" is the "mother," and the one "generated by me" is the "child." Therefore, the generation relationship among the Five Elements is also called the "mother-child" relationship. Taking wood as an example: since water generates wood, the one that "generates me" (wood) is water; since wood generates fire, the one "generated by me" (wood) is fire. Thus, water is the "mother" of wood, and fire is the "child" of wood.

"Restricting me" and "being restricted by me" are called "what overcomes me" and "what I overcome." That is, the one that "restricts me" is "what overcomes me," and the one "restricted by me" is "what I overcome." Therefore, the restriction relationship among the Five Elements is also called the "overcoming" relationship.

Although "generating me" and "being generated by me" are generation relationships in the Five Elements, there is restriction within generation. For example, the "generating me" of wood is water, and the "being generated by me" of wood is fire; yet water can restrict fire.

Although "restricting me" and "being restricted by me" are restriction relationships in the Five Elements, there is generation within restriction. For example, the "restricting me" of wood is metal, and the "being restricted by me" of wood is earth; yet earth generates metal.

The theory of the Five Elements uses such intricate connections among the Five Elements to explain that everything is regulated by the whole, preventing it from being excessive or insufficient, and maintaining a relative balance.