The Mysteries of the Five Elements
The Five Elements is an ancient Chinese concept of matter. It is widely applied in philosophy, traditional Chinese medicine and divination. The Five Elements refer to metal, wood, water, fire and earth.
Nature consists of five elements. As these five elements wax and wane, nature undergoes changes, which not only influence human destiny but also drive the endless cycle of all things in the universe. The theory of the Five Elements holds that everything in the universe is formed by the movement and transformation of five fundamental substances: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. It emphasizes a holistic concept and describes the structural relationships and movement patterns of things. If Yin and Yang represent an ancient theory of the unity of opposites, then the Five Elements can be regarded as an early general systems theory.
The mutual generation of the Five Elements (generation means transformation occurring)
describes the law of changes of things;
Wood generates fire
In ancient times, people rubbed pieces of wood together to make fire, and this is how wood generates fire.
Fire generates earth
When matter burns, ash is left behind, and ash belongs to earth. It is a natural principle that fire generates earth.
Earth generates Metal
Minerals, metals and the like are mostly buried in the earth, so it is said that Earth brings forth Metal, namely Earth generates Metal;
Metal generates water
Metal melts and turns into liquid, hence the saying that metal generates water.
Water generates Wood
All plants (namely the Wood Qi) are produced by Water. Without Water, plants and trees will wither and die; therefore, Wood is generated from Water.
Wood overcomes Earth
Wood takes root in the land, consolidating and breaking up the soil — this is what is meant by Wood overcoming Earth.
Earth restrains water
Earth can block and consolidate water, which is what is meant by earth restraining water.
Water overcomes fire
Water can extinguish fire, which is what is meant by water overcoming fire;
Fire conquers metal
Fire can melt metal, which is what is meant by fire conquers metal.
Metal overcomes wood
Metal can carve wood, which is what is meant by metal overcoming wood.
The so-called inter-promotion means that the five elements generate one another in the order of wood, fire, earth, metal and water, while inter-restriction (overcoming) means that the five elements restrain one another in the order of wood, earth, water, fire and metal.
Before heaven and earth separated, the state was called "Hundun (Chaos)". The world was like a life still in its embryonic form, so it was also referred to as "Embryo". At that time, the sun, moon, stars and planets had not yet come into being, and there was no distinction between yin and yang, cold and heat in the world. There was no rain, dew, wind, clouds, frost, snow, thunder or lightning in the sky, which remained dim and obscure. On the earth, there were no flowers, grass, trees, mountains, rivers, birds, beasts or human beings. Everything stayed in an ignorant state and moved without order. At this moment, the world was merely a mass of condensed qi, known as "Taiyi". In the state of Taiyi (utter nothingness), water emerged; in the state of Taichu (qi existed without physical form), wood emerged; in the state of Taisu (form existed without substance), fire emerged; in the state of Taishi (form existed without substance), earth emerged.