五行 Wu Xing - The Five Phases
What is Wǔ-Xìng (五行)?
五行/ 五星 Wǔ-Xìng the five stars/ planets or their movement of it are the fundamental parts of (八字 BāZì) the eight-character system as
命理 Mìng Lǐ, the
knowledge of life, or
命術 Mìng Shù, the
technique of life.
五行 Wǔ-Xìng not to be mixed with (無形 wú xíng - invisible or 悟性 wù xìng – comprehension which sounds similar) is often
translated as Five Elements or interchangeable as Five Planets/Stars and are labelled as Wood for
Jupiter, Fire for
Mars, Earth for
Saturn, Metal for
Venus and Water for
Mercury therefore a planet tracing system is assumed however not the planets/stars/sun/moon but their movement (in their phases) in our solar system are
五行 Wǔ-Xìng which would be best described as the transitional changes of phases, in short
the five phases.
Big-Dipper the cosmic 24-hour clockThe asterism Big Dipper as a cosmic clock circles about the pole once every twenty-four hours. We may consider an imaginary line between the pointer star of the big dipper and Polaris as the hour hand of the clock. Nighttime can be estimated by the position of the hour hand; a 24-direction compass (式盤 Shì pán) was used as a night clock. To estimate the daytime, the sun's shadow (sundale) is used as a day clock.
What are the five phases of the day? A day is divided into
five uneven phases, namely
dawn, noon, afternoon, dusk, and
night.
The length of the days and its five phases varies every month; therefore, to address the temporal time issue twice a year at the equinoxes, when the day and night are almost equal in length, these five phases, which divide the sky into five sectors (360°/5) are aligned to specific asterisms (star clusters) along the ecliptic as a baseline. These five phases are also known as the five agents or, more often, the five elements.
What are the five phases of the year? As for the days, the big dipper/pole star is also used as a cosmic calendar. However, in this case, the four moon phases were taken to divide the sky into four sectors; these sectors are known as the
four images (四象Sì Xiàng) and can be used as the starting point of phases for the year.
The four seasons'
winter, spring, summer, and
autumn are commonly referred to as the cold, dry, hot, and wet seasons. Colors and attributes are associated with each season:
black for cold
/winter,
green for dry/spring,
red for hot/summer, and
grey/white for wet/autumn. Because the central star apparently does not move but is fixed to the earth,
brown, ochre, or yellow earth colors are associated with the central star. Nowadays, the Confucian rather than an astronomical (climatic) perspective is used, which defines the five phases as
water (水 shui),
fire (火 huo),
wood (木 mu),
metal (金 jin), and
earth (土 tu) as an abstraction layer.
A day moves a bit more around one degree every 24 hours. A solar year is completed in around 366 days.
The divisions of 366 days, or 360°
in five, are the
five phases of the year. When the five phases are further divided into two, each sector roughly covers the ten heavenly stems for the year.
The
month (28 days) and the
hour (120 minutes/ double hours)
do not have any (五行 Wǔ-Xìng)
five phases; however, an artificial construct is used to get the month phases from the year stem and the hour phases from the day.
Specific attributes are associated with each of the five phases; the characteristics and interactions of these phases/ elements can be used to grasp the momentum and flow of natural forces. Properly utilized, one can take advantage of these phases/ elements to improve circumstances.
The table below shows what the five elements generally represent:
Element |
Wood |
Fire |
Earth |
Metal |
Water |
Planet 行星 xing xing |
Jupiter 木 mù |
Mars 火 huǒ |
Saturn 土 tǔ |
Venus 金 jīn |
Mercury 水 shuǐ |
Compass 羅盤 luópán |
East 東 dōng |
South 南 nán |
Center 中央 zhōngyāng |
West 西方 xīfāng |
North 北 běi |
Quadrant 象限 xiàngxiàn |
Green Dragon 青龍 qīng lóng |
Red Bird 朱雀 zhū què |
Yellow Phoenix 黃龍 huáng lóng |
White Tiger 白虎 bái hǔ |
Turtle-Snake 玄武 xuán wǔ |
Seasons 四季 sìjì |
Spring 春季 tánhuáng |
Summer 夏季 xiàjì |
Replenishing 補養 bǔyǎng |
Autumn 秋季 qiūjì |
Winter 冬季 dōngjì |
Climates 氣候 qìhòu |
Windy 有風 yǒu fēng |
Heat 熱 rè |
Damp 潮濕 cháoshī |
Dry 干 gàn |
Cold 冷 lěng |
Stages 階段 jiēduàn |
Birth 分娩 fēnmiǎn |
Growth 发發展 fāzhǎn |
Transformation 轉型 zhuǎnxíng |
Harvest 收成 shōuchéng |
Storage 存儲 cúnchú |
Colors 顏色 yan Se |
Green 綠 luu |
Red 紅 hong |
Yellow/Brown 黃 huang |
White/Golden 白 bai |
Black/Blue 黑藍 hei Lan |
Action 行動 xíngdòng |
Crushing 崩 bēng |
Exploding 炮 Pào |
Crossing 橫 héng |
Splitting 劈 pǐ |
Drilling 鑽 zūan |
Five Virtues 五常 wŭ cháng |
Benevolence 仁 rén |
Propriety 禮 lĭ |
Sincerity 信 xìn |
Righteousness 義 yì |
Wisdom 智 zhì |
Peoples 人們 rénmen |
Mongol 蒙 měng |
Han 漢 hàn |
Manchurian 滿 mǎn |
Tibetan 藏 zàng |
Turks 回 huí |
Anatomy 解剖學 Jiěpōu xué |
Yin Organs |
Liver 肝Gān |
Heart 心 Xīn |
Spleen 脾 Pí |
Lungs 肺 Fèi |
Kidneys 腎 Shèn |
Yang Organs |
Gall Bladder 膽 Dǎn |
Small Intestine 小腸 Xiǎo Cháng |
Stomach 胃 Wèi |
Large Intestine 大腸 Dà Cháng |
Bladder 胱 Guāng |