While there is more evidence of the
development of wu xing after the Shang
dynasty, it was during the Han dynasty
that one of the most fundamental texts
containing material on wu xing theory
stemmed from. An example is from the
Huainanzi (The Masters of Huainan) from
139 BCE:“The natural qualities of Heaven
and Earth do not exceed five. The sage is
able to use wu xing correctly in order to
govern without waste.” The Huainanzi was
the first to standardise the number five as
a philosophy, and it also drew correlations
between wu xing in cosmology and
morality, even extending to the medical
implications of the system. As such,
sages were the ones who knew what to
do with wu xing, and were able to rule the
country, heal patients, and manage the
transformations of life and longevity. Han
thinkers also used the system to account for
an ordered sequence or cycle of change.
In Chinese history and retrospectively,
the successive dynasties were linked to
each of the five phases. The Xia dynasty
(2200–1750 BCE) was Wood, the Shang
dynasty (1750–1040 BCE) was Metal, the
Zhou dynasty (1100–256 BCE) was Fire and
the colour red, and the founder of the Qin
dynasty (221 BC to 206 AD) chose black
and water as his symbols.
Wu xing today as a developed thought
has been incorporated into Chinese lives,
whether it is the way space is arranged
(feng shui) to medicine, or to one’s date
of birth. Having become a distinct
philosophical tradition during the Han
dynasty, wu xing gradually developed
into a conceptual device that is used to
explain not only cosmology, morality, and
medicine, but virtually every aspect of
Chinese life and Chinese thinking.
The concept of wu xing is central in
Chinese thought, including the fields of
science, philosophy, medicine, astrology,
and feng shui. The principle of the five
phases describes a creation cycle and a
destruction cycle in any sort of interaction
between the phases.
Creation cycle:
– Water nourishes Wood
– Wood feeds Fire
– Fire creates Earth (as ash)
– Earth holds Metal
– Metal collects Water
Destruction cycle:
– Wood parts Earth
(roots or trees can prevent soil erosion)
– Earth dams (or muddies or absorbs)
Water
– Water extinguishes Fire
– Fire melts Metal
– Metal chops Wood
While wu xing is thought of as having
its roots going back to the first records of
Chinese intellectual history, it was not
yet in a comprehensive form. However,
the evidence gathered from these eras –
such as oracle bone inscriptions used in
divination rituals to predict and
discern outcomes in Nature
and human affairs from
the Shang dynasty –
show that the wu xing
theory was already
forming, albeit in
a rough pattern.
Associations
of territories
with directions,
colours, spirits,
and rituals in
and after this era
also suggest the
later correlational
developments in
wu xing.
LEFT
Oracle bone
inscriptions
7