Editing Wuxing (Chinese philosophy) (section)

==Applications==
The ''wuxing'' schema is applied to explain phenomena in various fields.

===Phases of the year===
The five phases are around 73 days each and are usually used to describe the transformations of nature rather than their formative states.
*Wood/Spring: a period of growth, expanding which generates abundant vitality, movement and as a consequence is associated with wind.
*Fire/Summer: a period of fruition, ripening flowering, and associated with heat.
*Earth can be seen as a period of stability and stillness transitioning between the other phases or seasons or when relating to transformative seasonal periods it can be seen as late Summer. This period is associated with centralisation, leveling and dampness.
*Metal/Autumn: a period of moving inward it is associated with collection, harvesting, transmuting, contracting, loss and dryness.
*Water/Winter: a period of reclusivness, stillness, consolidation and coolness.

===Cosmology and feng shui===
{{Main|Feng shui}}
[[File:Wuxing - Five Elements - Cycle Balance Imbalance.svg|alt=Detailed illustration of the Wuxing cycle|thumb|Detailed illustration of the cycle]]
The art of feng shui (Chinese [[geomancy]]) is based on ''wuxing'', with the structure of the cosmos mirroring the five phases, as well as the eight [[Trigram (I Ching)|trigrams]]. Each phase has a complex network of associations with different aspects of nature (see table): colors, seasons and shapes all interact according to the cycles.<ref name="Chinese Five Elements Chart">[http://www.northernshaolinacademy.com/new/docs/FiveElementsChart.xls Chinese Five Elements Chart] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928105605/http://www.northernshaolinacademy.com/new/docs/FiveElementsChart.xls|date=2007-09-28}} Information on the Chinese Five Elements from Northern Shaolin Academy in Microsoft Excel 2003 Format</ref>

An interaction or energy flow can be expansive, destructive, or exhaustive, depending on the cycle to which it belongs. By understanding these energy flows, a feng shui practitioner attempts to rearrange energy to benefit the client.{{efn|This order of presentation is known as the "[[Guoyu (book)|Guoyu]]", "[[Bai Hu Tong]]" or "[[Shiming]]" sequence, which is common in feng shui.<ref>{{Cite web |title=陰陽五行思想對生涯規劃的啟示 |url=https://nhu.edu.tw/~society/e-j/54/54-21.htm |website=Institute of Sociology, [[Nanhua University]]}}</ref>}}

{| class="wikitable"
! Movement || colspan=2 | Metal || colspan=2 | Wood || Water || Fire || colspan=2 | Earth
|-
!Trigram [[hanzi]]
| {{lang|zh|乾}}
| {{lang|zh|兌}}
| {{lang|zh|震}}
| {{lang|zh|巽}}
| {{lang|zh|坎}}
| {{lang|zh|離}}
| {{lang|zh|艮}}
| {{lang|zh|坤}}
|-
!Trigram [[pinyin]]
|qián||duì||zhèn||xùn||kǎn||lí||gèn||kūn
|-
! [[Bagua|Trigrams]]
|☰||☱||☳||☴||☵||☲||☶||☷
|-
! I Ching
| Heaven || Lake || Thunder || Wind || Water || Fire || Mountain || Field
|-
! Planet (Celestial Body)
| colspan=2 | [[Venus]] || colspan=2 | [[Jupiter]] || [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]] || [[Mars]] || colspan=2 | [[Saturn]]
|- 
! Color
| colspan=2 | White || colspan=2 | Green || Black || Red || colspan=2 | Yellow
|-
! Day
| colspan=2 | Friday || colspan=2 | Thursday || Wednesday || Tuesday || colspan=2 | Saturday
|-
! [[Season]]
| colspan=2 | Autumn || colspan=2 | Spring || Winter || Summer || colspan=2 | Intermediate
|-
! [[Cardinal direction]]
| colspan=2 | West || colspan=2 | East || North || South || colspan=2 | Center
|}

===Dynastic transitions===
According to the Warring States period political philosopher [[Zou Yan]] ({{Circa|305–240}} BCE), each of the five elements possesses a personified virtue ({{lang-zh|c=德|p=dé|labels=no}}), which indicates the foreordained destiny ({{lang-zh|c=運|p=yùn|labels=no}}) of a dynasty; hence the cyclic succession of the elements also indicates dynastic transitions. Zou Yan claims that the [[Mandate of Heaven]] sanctions the legitimacy of a dynasty by sending self-manifesting auspicious signs in the ritual color (white, green, black, red, and yellow) that matches the element of the new dynasty (Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth). From the Qin dynasty onward, most Chinese dynasties invoked the theory of the Five Elements to legitimize their reign.<ref name="Wu 2006" />

=== Chinese medicine ===
{{Main|Traditional Chinese medicine}}
[[File:Diurnal Cycle.svg|alt=Chinese Five Elements Diurnal Cycle|thumb|Chinese Five Elements Diurnal Cycle - 24 hour cycle of energy in the human body. waxing and waning of energy in each organ. during the time of the living breath, and the time of the dead breath. {{Citation needed|date=May 2023|reason=What context is this used in in Chinese wuxing beliefs?}}]]
The interdependence of ''[[zangfu]]'' networks in the body was said to be a circle of five things, and so mapped by the ancient Chinese doctors onto categories of syndromes and patterns called the five phases.<ref>{{cite web |title = Traditional Chinese Medicine: In Depth |url = https://nccih.nih.gov/health/whatiscam/chinesemed.htm |website =[[National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health]] |access-date=20 March 2017|url-status=live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170404224358/https://nccih.nih.gov/health/whatiscam/chinesemed.htm |archive-date = 4 April 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Hafner |first=Christopher |title = The TCM Organ Systems (Zang Fu) |url = https://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/explore-healing-practices/what-traditional-chinese-medicine/what-qi-and-other-concepts/-tcm-organ-sy |website = University of Minnesota |access-date=5 April 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170406021051/https://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/explore-healing-practices/what-traditional-chinese-medicine/what-qi-and-other-concepts/-tcm-organ-sy |archive-date = 6 April 2017 }}</ref>

In order to explain the integrity and complexity of the human body, Chinese medical scientists and physicians use the Five Elements theory to classify the human body's endogenous influences on organs, physiological activities, pathological reactions, and environmental or exogenous (external, environmental) influences. This diagnostic capacity is extensively used in traditional five phase acupuncture today, as opposed to the modern Confucian styled [[eight principles]] based Traditional Chinese medicine. In combination the two systems are a formative and functional study of postnatal and prenatal influencing on genetics in the form of [[epigenetics]], [[biology]], [[physiology]] [[psychology]], [[sociology]] and [[ecology]].<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.chineseherbsinfo.com/five-elements-theory/ |title = Five Elements Theory (Wu Xing) |date = 2019-10-27 |website = Chinese Herbs Info |language = en-US |access-date = 2019-12-17 |archive-date = 2019-12-17 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191217095858/https://www.chineseherbsinfo.com/five-elements-theory/ |url-status = dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date = 2011-02-02 |title = five element acupuncture |url = https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/five-element-acupuncture |access-date = 2020-12-27 |website = NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms|publisher=National Cancer Institute|language = en-US }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Penoyer |first=Justin |title=The Roots of Accordance On the Unity of Biological, Ecological, and Sociopolitical Systems in the Huangdi Neijing |date=5 October 2020 |publisher=Rainbow Toad Publishing House |isbn=9781735666419}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
! Movement || [[Wood (wuxing)|Wood]] || [[Fire (wuxing)|Fire]] || [[Earth (wuxing)|Earth]] || [[Metal (wuxing)|Metal]] || [[Water (wuxing)|Water]]
|-
! [[Classical planet#Chinese astrology|Planet]]
| [[Jupiter]] || [[Mars]] || [[Saturn]] || [[Venus]] || [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]]
|-
! Mental Quality
| [[wikt:idealism|idealism]], spontaneity, [[curiosity]] || [[Passion (emotion)|passion]], intensity || [[wikt:agreeableness|agreeableness]], [[honesty]] || [[Intuition (knowledge)|intuition]], [[rationality]], [[mind]] ||[[wikt:erudition|erudition]], [[resourcefulness]], [[wit]]
|-
! [[Emotion]]
| [[anger]], [[motivation]] || [[Rage (emotion)|frenzy]], joy || [[anxiety]], [[planning]] || [[grief]], [[compassion]] || [[fear]], [[prudence|caution]]
|- 
! [[Virtue]]
| [[Ren (philosophy)|Benevolence]]|| [[Propriety]] || [[Fidelity]] || [[Righteousness]] || [[Wisdom]] 
|-
! [[Zangfu|Zang]] ([[Yin and yang|yin organs]])
| [[Liver (Chinese medicine)|liver]] || [[Heart (Chinese medicine)|heart]]/[[Pericardium (Chinese medicine)|pericardium]] || [[Spleen (Chinese medicine)|spleen]]/[[pancreas]] || [[Lung (Chinese medicine)|lung]] || [[Kidney (Chinese medicine)|kidney]]
|-
! [[Zangfu|Fu]] ([[Yin and yang|yang organs]])
| [[Gall bladder (Chinese medicine)|gall bladder]] || [[Small intestine (Chinese medicine)|small intestine]]/[[San Jiao]] || [[Stomach (Chinese medicine)|stomach]] || [[Large intestine (Chinese medicine)|large intestine]] || [[Urinary bladder (Chinese medicine)|urinary bladder]]
|-
! Sensory [[Organ (anatomy)|Organ]]
| [[Human eye|eye]]s || [[tongue]] || [[Human mouth|mouth]] || [[Human nose|nose]] || [[ear]]s
|-
! Body Part
| [[tendon]]s || [[blood vessel|vessels]] || [[muscle]]s || [[Human skin|skin]] || [[bone]]s
|-
! Body Fluid
| [[tears]] || [[sweat]] || [[saliva]] || [[mucus]] || [[urine]]
|-
! [[Finger]]
| [[ring finger]] || [[middle finger]] || [[thumb]] || [[index finger]] || [[pinky finger]]
|-
! [[Sense]]
| [[Visual perception|sight]] || [[taste]] || [[touch]] || [[Olfaction|smell]] || [[Hearing (sense)|hearing]]
|-
! [[Taste]]<ref name="eberhard">{{cite journal |last=Eberhard |first=Wolfram |date=December 1965 |title = Chinese Regional Stereotypes |journal=Asian Survey |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |volume=5 |issue=12 |pages=596–608 |jstor=2642652 |doi = 10.2307/2642652 }}</ref>
| [[sour]] || [[Bitter (taste)|bitter]] || [[sweet]] || [[pungent]], [[umami]] || [[Taste|salty]]
|-
! [[Olfaction|Smell]]
| [[Rancidification|rancid]] || [[wikt:scorched|scorched]] || [[fragrant]] || [[Decomposition|rot]]ten || [[putrid]]
|-
! [[Life]]
| early childhood || youth || adulthood || [[senior age]] || [[old age]], [[Fertilisation|conception]]
|-
! Covering
| [[Scale (anatomy)|scaly]] || [[Bird|feathered]] || [[naked human]] || [[fur]]red || [[Exoskeleton|shelled]]
|-
! Hour
| 3–9 || 9–15 || change || 15–21 || 21–3
|-
! Year
| Spring Equinox || Summer Solstice || Summer Final || Fall Equinox || Winter Solstice
|-
! 360°
| 45–135° || 135–225° || Change || 225–315° || 315–45°
|}

===Music===
{{Main|Chinese music|Chinese musicology}}
The ''[[Huainanzi]]'' and the ''Yueling'' chapter ({{lang-zh|c=月令|p=Yuèlìng|labels=no}}) of the ''[[Book of Rites]]'' make the following correlations:

{| class="wikitable"
! Movement || Wood || Fire || Earth || Metal || Water
|-
![[Color]]
| [[Qing (color)|Qing (green and blue)]] || [[Red]] || [[Yellow]] || [[White]] || [[Black]]
|-
! Arctic Direction
| [[east]] || [[south]] || center || [[west]] || [[north]]
|-
! Basic [[Pentatonic]] Scale pitch
|{{lang|zh|角}}||{{lang|zh|徵}}||{{lang|zh|宮}}||{{lang|zh|商}}||{{lang|zh|羽}}
|-
! Basic [[Pentatonic]] Scale pitch pinyin
|''jué''||''zhǐ''||''gōng''||''shāng''||''yǔ''
|-
![[solfege]]
| mi or E || sol or G || do or C || re or D || la or A
|}

* ''[[qing (color)|Qing]]'' is a Chinese color word used for both green and blue. Modern [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]] has separate words for each, but [[Blue–green distinction in language|like many other languages]], older forms of Chinese did not distinguish between green and blue.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mair |first1=Victor |title=Grue and bleen: the blue-green distinction and its implications |url=https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=44569 |website=Language Log |access-date=4 August 2023 |date=4 October 2019}}</ref>
* In most modern music, various five note or seven note scales (e.g., the major scale) are defined by selecting five or seven frequencies from the set of twelve semi-tones in the [[Equal tempered]] tuning. The Chinese ''[[shi'er lü]]'' system of tuning is closest to the ancient Greek tuning of Pythagoras.<ref>Joseph C.Y. Chen (1996). ''Early Chinese Work in Natural Science: A Re-examination of the Physics of Motion, Acoustics, Astronomy and Scientific Thoughts'', pp.96-97. {{ISBN|962-209-385-X}}.</ref>

===Martial arts===
Wuxing being an influential philosophical concept, there are several Chinese martial arts and a few other east Asian styles that incorporate five phases concepts into their systems.

[[Tai chi]] trains and focuses on five basic qualities as part of its overarching strategy.<ref name="Wu 2006">{{cite journal|title=Legitimation Discourse and the Theory of the Five Elements in Imperial China|last=Chen|first=Yuan|journal=Journal of Song-Yuan Studies|year=2014|volume=44|issue=1|pages=325–364|doi=10.1353/sys.2014.0000|s2cid=147099574|url=https://www.academia.edu/23276848}}</ref>

The Five Steps ({{zhi|c=五步|p=wǔ bù}}) are:
*''Lǎo Jìnbù'' (老進步) – always step forward
*''Juébù Tuìbù'' (絕不退步) – never step backward
*''Yòupàn'' (右盼) – watch right
*''Zuǒgù'' (左顧) – beware left
*''Zhōngdìng'' (中定) – center pole, point, pivot neutral posture, maintain balance, maintain equilibrium. 
These five steps are not mutable states in tai chi.

''[[xingyiquan|'''Xingyi Quan''']]'' uses the five elements metaphorically to represent ideally five different energies, but energy work is subtle, so normally one starts out learning five basic techniques with complementary footwork to teach the basic concepts behind the energies. Ideally one can use any technique with any kind of energy, but there are different levels of skill one must go through.

In Xingyi Quan, realization of the five energies has three basic levels: Obvious power, subtle power, mysterious power.

{| class="wikitable"
! Movement
! Fist
! [[Chinese language|Chinese]]
! [[Pinyin]]
!Direction
! Shape
!Subtle Action
!Energy
!Feeling
|-
| '''Metal'''
| Splitting
| {{lang|zh|劈}}
| Pī
|Downward
| Fist or palm chopping forward, hand pulling down and back, spine rolling downward
|dragging down
|condensing power
|Dropping (jerking down)
|-
| '''Water'''
| Drilling
| {{lang|zh|鑽 / 钻}}
| Zuān
|Upward
| Fist drilling upward like water under pressure, hand down and back
|spiraling
|relaxing power
|Shocking (jerking up and down simultaneously)
|-
| '''Wood'''
| Crushing
| {{lang|zh|崩}}
| Bēng
|Forward
| Fist shooting straight forward
|wedging
|linear power
|Penetrating (expanding through)
|-
| '''Fire'''
| Pounding
| {{lang|zh|炮}}
| Pào
|Backward
| Fist being propelled forward by body flinging open
|flinging
|reciprocal power
|Launching (uprooting and countering)
|-
| '''Earth'''
| Crossing
| {{lang|zh|橫 / 横}}
| Héng
|Horizontal
| Fist crossing horizontally and turning over to plough through
|turning
|torque power
|Colliding (turning into a strike, falling onto a strike)
|}

The '''Five Animals''' in Shaolin martial arts are an extension of the [[Animal styles in Chinese martial arts|Wuxing]] theory as their qualities are the embodiment and representation of the energetic qualities of the five phases in the animal kingdom. They are the,

* Tiger - Fire (fierce and powerful)
* Monkey - Metal (hunched over)
* Snake - Water (flexible)
* Crane - Wind (evasive)
* Mantis - Earth (steady and rooted)

''[[De (Chinese)#Wuxing heqidao|Wuxing Heqidao]]'', (Gogyo [[Aikido]] 五行合气道) is a life art with roots in Confucian, Taoists and Buddhist theory. It centers around applied peace and health studies rather than defence or physical action. It emphasizes the unification of mind, body and environment using the physiological theory of yin, yang and five-element [[Traditional Chinese medicine]]. Its movements, exercises, and teachings cultivate, direct, and harmonise the ''[[qi]]''.<ref name="Wu 2006" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Jain |first=Dr Rajesh |date=2020-02-13 |title=What are the benefits of meditation? Meditation can offer |url=https://www.diabetesasia.org/magazine/what-are-the-benefits-of-meditation/?amp=1 |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Diabetes Asia Health Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>