The five elements are transformed, and the best

The reason why the five elements system structure can maintain dynamic balance and cyclic movement is mainly because it objectively has two self-regulation mechanisms and ways. One is the "institutionalization" adjustment under normal circumstances; the other is the "resolution" adjustment under abnormal circumstances.

Regulation means restriction. Transformation is biochemistry. The so-called regulation mainly refers to the regulatory effect generated by the five elements system structure in a normal state through the interaction of mutual generation and mutual restraint, also known as "the five elements of regulation and transformation".

First of all, it can be clearly seen from the overall role of the five elements that the relationship between any two elements is not one-way, but mutual. Any line of the five elements has four relationships: giving birth to me, I give birth to me, and I get rid of me, so we can ensure the normality of the "institutionalization" relationship.

That is to say, wood can overcome earth, earth can produce metal, and metal can overcome wood, so that wood can not be overwhelmed and weakened, so it can nourish fire and enable fire to biochemically.

Fire can overcome metal, metal can produce water, and water can overcome fire, so that fire is not overwhelming and undying, so it can nourish the soil and enable the soil to be biochemically.

Earth can overcome water, water can produce wood, and wood can also overcome earth, so that the soil is not overwhelming and undying, so it can nourish metal and enable metal to biochemically normally.

Metal can overcome wood, wood can produce fire, and fire can overcome metal, so that metal can not be too strong or weak, so it can nourish water and enable water to biochemically normally.

Water can overcome fire, fire can produce earth, and earth can also overcome water, so that water is not overwhelming and undying, so it can nourish wood and enable wood to biochemically.

It can be seen that it is this opposite generation and restraint that regulates and maintains the relative coordination and balance of the structure of things. Because the process of mutual generation and mutual restraint, that is, the process of growth and decline of things, in this process, the frequent occurrence of imbalances of the emergence of mutual generation and mutual restraint is itself a reciprocal and mutual restraint adjustment, which will cause another coordinated balance to occur again. It is this cycle movement in which balance is achieved in imbalance and balance is immediately replaced by new imbalances, which promotes the continuous change and development of things.

The so-called Victory and Complex adjustment mainly refers to a large cycle of regulation effect generated by the mutual restraint relationship in abnormal situations, that is, when there is a large imbalance in the local area. Victory and Complex adjustment can make the five elements system structure that is temporarily overwhelming and weak, and then restore balance from imbalance after adjustment.

The so-called "victory" refers to the victory qi, which refers to the excessive restraint of the "one who wins" caused by the excessive energy of a certain movement. Once the victory qi appears, it will inevitably lead to an opposite force to suppress it, which is the so-called re-qi. Therefore, "Su Wen" also says: "If there is victory qi, it will definitely come back." Moreover, the victory qi is heavy, and the re-qi is heavy. The victory qi is light, and the re-qi is light.

For example, if the fire is too much, as the victorious energy, it will overcome the metal, which will cause the metal energy to decline. If the metal is weak, it will be unable to control wood. If the wood energy is weak, it will be stronger and the power to control the earth will be aggravated. If the earth energy is controlled, it will weaken the power to control the water. Therefore, the water will become strong and the excessive fire energy will be suppressed to restore it to normal. If the fire energy is insufficient, it will be subject to excessive restraint of water, but the fire will not be able to control the metal, which will cause the metal energy to become stronger. If the metal energy is strong, it will strengthen the control of wood, so that the wood will decline and there will be no way to control the earth. This will inevitably cause the earth energy to be strong to control the water. If the water is weak, the control of the fire energy will be weakened, so that the fire energy will be gradually restored to maintain its normality.

If there is simply victory without regression, that is, when there is excess (too much) in any line in the five elements without corresponding constraints, the coordination relationship of the five elements system structure will be destroyed, and disorderly abnormal states will occur, resulting in serious diseases.

To sum up, we can regard the relationship between the five elements as a logical expansion and supplement of the relationship between the yin and yang. The affected person reacts through certain intermediate links and produces a feedback regulation effect, thereby maintaining a relatively balanced system structure.

Reality image

A conception of things by the Golden Principle

A concrete understanding of things by water knowledge

Mu Shanliang's inner reaction to things

Fire sincerity is based on inner reaction

An analysis of soil analysis in action

Gold produces water, water produces wood, wood produces fire, fire produces earth, earth produces metal

Concept - Implement to the specific implementation of the concept - Generate the idea of ​​action - Action - Analysis in action - Summarize experience, plan, and concept

Five Elements and Confucianism

It comes from occasional feelings, and the five elements correspond to the benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness of Confucianism. None of them is indispensable, and mutual generation is mutual restraint. The ancients were really great! Please think carefully about benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness and the five elements, and believe that you will have a very happy life.

Five Elements and Geography

In the theory of the Five Elements, the south belongs to fire, the east belongs to wood, the north belongs to water, and the west belongs to gold, and earth controls it, assisting the balance of metal, wood, water and fire.

The relationship between the five elements and the season

The five elements refer to the five ways of movement of gas.

Spring belongs to wood, which represents the way of gas spreading around. In spring, flowers, plants and trees grow lushly, the branches of trees extend around, and nutrients are transported to the branches, so spring belongs to wood.

In summer, it belongs to fire, which represents the upward movement of gas. The characteristics of fire are upward. In summer, various plants grow upward and grow rapidly, so summer belongs to fire.

Autumn belongs to metal, which represents the movement of gas shrinking inward. The characteristics of gold are stable, harvested in autumn, people save grain for winter, and leaves wither, so autumn belongs to metal.

In winter, it belongs to water, which represents the way the gas moves downward. Water flows to a low place, and all things dormant in winter, which accumulates nutrients in spring, so in winter, it belongs to water.

Because there are four seasons, there are four races, but there must be a transition between summer and autumn, so there is earth, which represents the smooth movement of energy.

Five hours (Autumn, Spring, Winter, Summer, Long Summer), the relationship between the five elements and the hour

Hours are a time-calling method in ancient China. The 24-hour period is divided into 12 hours. Starting from 11 o'clock in the evening, it corresponds to the 12 zodiac signs: Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, Hai, According to the five elements: Yin, Mao, Chen belongs to wood, dominates spring, represents the east; Si, Wu, Wei belongs to fire, dominates summer, represents the south; Shen, You, Xu belongs to metal, dominates autumn, represents the west; Hai, Zi, Chou belongs to water, dominates winter, represents the north; Chen, Wei, Xu, and Chou belongs to earth, dominates the last month of the four seasons, represents the four directions.

Five Elements Characteristics

[First View] This view originated from "Hong Fan". Most people today understand it as:

The characteristics of wood: sunrise in the east, similar to wood. The ancients called "wood is curved and straight". "curved and straight" actually refers to the growth form of trees, which is curved and straight branches and stretched upward and outward. Therefore, it is extended to things that have the functions or properties of growth, rising, and smooth strips, all belong to wood.

The characteristics of fire: the south is hot, similar to fire. The ancients called "fire called "Yan Shang". "Yan Shang" means that fire has the characteristics of warm and rising. Therefore, it is extended to things that have the functions of warm and rising, all belong to fire.

The characteristics of soil: fertile in the Central Plains, similar to soil. The ancients called "Soil is a farmer" and meant that soil has the function of planting and harvesting crops. Therefore, it is extended to things that have the functions of biochemical, carrying, and receiving belong to soil. Therefore, there are sayings that "the earth carries the four directions" and "the earth is the mother of all things".

The characteristics of gold; the sun sets in the west, similar to gold. The ancients called "Jin Cheng Ge". "Jin Cheng Ge" means "change". It is extended to mean things that have the functions of cleaning, solitude, and astringent, all belong to gold.

Characteristics of water: cold in the north, similar to water. The ancients called "water moistening" and mean that water has the characteristics of moisturizing and downward movement. It is extended to mean that things that have cold, moisturizing and downward movement belong to water.

[Second View] This view originated from the exegesis of "Su Wen" by contemporary scholar Nie Wentao.

The nature of the five elements should be considered from the three aspects of "ping Qi", "not enough" and "too far". When calm Qi, wood is called Fu He, fire is called Shengming, earth is called Beihua, metal is called Shenping, water is called Jingshun; wood is called Weihe, fire is called Fuming, earth is called Weijian, metal is called Congge, water is called dried flow. Too far: wood is called Achievement, fire is called Hexi, earth is called Dunfu, metal is called Jiancheng, and water is called flowing. Only after considering these three aspects can we understand the understanding of life self-maintenance in traditional Chinese medicine thinking. The different understanding of human body abilities is the difference between Chinese and Western medicine.

The categories of the Five Elements Thoughts in the History of Chinese Philosophy: "The various meanings of the Five Elements have been analyzed. For the sake of clarity, these meanings are listed as follows:

(1) refers to the five behavioral principles, suspected to be held by Xunzi.

(2) Refers to five kinds of physical properties, such as those held by "Shangshu Hong Fan" and Zhou Zi's "Tai Chi Tushu".

(3) Refers to the five necessary material conditions in human life, such as Cai Mo held in "Zuo Zhuan".

(4) These are five classification principles in taxonomy, as held by "Lüshi Chunqiu".

(5) Refers to the five "forms of existence" that exist through the flow of the yin and yang energy, such as those held by "Baihutong" and "Huangdi Neijing Suwen".

(6) Refers to wood (plant), fire, soil, metal and flowing water. Their symbolic meanings are vitality, activity or change, pregnancy or cultivation, ban and hidden. This is held by Xiao Ji.

The above six meanings of the five elements, except (1) and (3), if the other four items (2) (4) (5) and (6) are combined, it is the complete meaning of the five elements in the Yin and Yang and Five Elements Thoughts.

Classification of Five Elements

Five-tone scale palace Shangjiao Zhengyu

Generation and Resistance

The five elements are used to represent the relationship between the forms of material energy and the laws of movement and change, among which:

The five elements are incompatible (resistance means superior) to describe the mutual relationship between matter forms

Metal is better than wood (it is easy to understand materially. A simple mnemonic means which one is harder than softer.), wood is better than earth, earth is better than water (the earth here only refers to soil rather than the broad earth), water is better than fire, and fire is better than metal (to put it in the Tao Te Ching words: "The world is softest, gallops through the world's most firmness. Nothing enters the infinite")

The mutual generation of the five elements (generation means transformation) is the law of change that describes the changes of things

Water produces wood, wood produces fire, fire produces earth, earth produces metal, and metal produces water.

From the perspective of mathematical topological geometry or graph theory, Zeng Bangzhe of the Chinese Academy of Sciences believes that the connection method of the five elements is exactly equivalent to the chemical bond connection model of diamond crystals (structural theory), and it is called the supersteady state structural model.

Because of this, we can understand the laws of all things from the Yin, Yang and the Five Elements. As the Tao Te Ching says: "If you don't leave your house, you will know the world; if you don't look at the window, you will see the way of heaven. If you go farther, you will know less."

The five elements are mutually generated (the five materials):

Metal produces water, water produces wood, wood produces fire, fire produces earth, and earth produces metal.

Gold produces water: Gold produces water by melting;

Water produces wood: water moistens wood;

Wood produces fire: Wood is dry and warm to produce fire;

Fire produces earth: Fire burns wood produces earth;

Earth produces metal: Earth and minerals produce metal.

The five elements are incompatible:

Metal overcomes wood, wood overcomes earth, earth overcomes water, water overcomes fire, and fire overcomes metal.

Hardness surpasses softness, so gold surpasses wood; because knives can cut down trees;

It is better to be dispersed, so wood overcomes soil; because trees can stabilize the collapse of soil;

Reality overcomes emptiness, and old land overcomes water; because the embankment can prevent water from flowing;

Many are better than few, so water is better than fire; because large water can extinguish the flames;

Essence surpasses strength, so fire overcomes metal; because fierce fire can melt metal.

Dialectical life and death

Metal is born from earth, and earth is buried more; earth is born from fire, and fire is burnt more; fire is born from wood, and wood is burnt more; wood is born from water, and water is drifting; water is born from metal, and gold is turbid.

Metal can produce water, and more water is deep; water can produce wood, and more water shrinks; wood can produce fire, and more fire is burning; fire can produce earth, and more fire is dark; earth can produce metal, and more metal is weak.

Metal can overcome wood, hard wood, lack of metal; wood can overcome earth, heavy wood, broken wood; earth can overcome water, more water flows; water can overcome fire, burning water; fire can overcome metal, more fire extinguishing.

When metal is weak and meets fire, it will be melted; when fire is weak and meets water, it will be extinguished; when water is weak and meets earth, it will be silted; when soil is weak and meets wood, it will be trapped; when wood is weak and meets metal, it will be broken.

When a strong metal gets water, it will only shrink its edge; when a strong water gets wood, it will only slow down its momentum; when a strong wood gets fire, it will only drain its hero; when a strong fire gets earth, it will only restrain its flame; when a strong earth gets metal, it will only transform its stubbornness.

Five Elements of Traditional Chinese Medicine

The basic concept of the Five Elements refers to the movement of five types of matter, gold, wood, water, fire and earth. It is an abstract concept used to explain the relationship between things and things. It has broad meanings and does not only refer to the five concrete substances themselves. The theory of the Five Elements summarizes the properties of things or phenomena based on the functional attributes of the five substances, and uses the mutual breeding and mutual restraint between the five to discuss and deduce the relationship between things or phenomena and the laws of movement and change.

Anything that has the functions or properties of growth, growth, and comfort, belongs to wood;

Things that have warm, ascending effects or properties belong to fire;

Things that carry, biochemical, and accept functions belong to the earth;
To be continued...