Wuxing (Chinese philosophy)

Wuxing (Chinese: 五行; pinyin: wǔxíng; Japanese: gogyō (五行);[1] Korean: ohaeng (오행); Vietnamese: ngũ hành (五行)), usually translated as Five Phases or Five Agents,[2] is a fivefold conceptual scheme that many traditional Chinese fields used to explain a wide array of phenomena, from cosmic cycles to the interaction between internal organs, and from the succession of political regimes to the properties of medicinal drugs. The "Five Phases" are Fire (火; huǒ), Water (水; shuǐ), Wood (木; mù), Metal or Gold (金; jīn), and Earth or Soil (土; tǔ). This order of presentation is known as the "Days of the Week" sequence. In the order of "mutual generation" (相生; xiāngshēng), they are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. In the order of "mutual overcoming" (相克; xiāngkè), they are Wood, Earth, Water, Fire, and Metal.[3][4][5]

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Outline History
Concepts Daoxue Dao De Wuji Taiji Yin-Yang Wu xing (Five Phases) Bianhua Fan (reversal) Wu-wei (non-action) Ziran Xian (immortal) Zhenren Three Treasures Jing Qi Shen Hun and po
Practices Three Treasures (virtues) Five Precepts Ten Precepts Meditation Neidan Waidan Bugang Chu Diet (Bigu) Sexual practices Art Talismans Priesthood
Texts I Ching Daodejing Zhuangzi Huainanzi Taipingjing Xiang'er Liezi Sanhuangjing Huahujing Qingjing Jing Baopuzi Daozang
Deities Hongjun Laozu Three Pure Ones Yuanshi Tianzun Lingbao Tianzun Daode Tianzun Four Sovereigns Yuhuang Dadi (Great Jade Emperor) Ziwei Dadi (Great Emperor of the North Star) Gouchen Dadi (Great Emperor of the Curved Array) Houtu Huang Diqi (Empress of the Earth) Others Xiwangmu (Queen Mother of the West) Dongwanggong (King Father of the East) Three Great Emperor-Officials Eight Immortals Chang'e Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors Yellow Emperor Guan Shengdi Li Hong Other deities
People Laozi Zhuangzi Lie Yukou Heshanggong Wei Boyang Zhang Daoling Gan Ji Zhang Jue Zhang Lu Ge Xuan He Yan Wang Bi Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove Guo Xiang Wei Huacun Ge Hong Bao Jingyan Kou Qianzhi Lu Xiujing Tao Hongjing Cheng Xuanying Chen Tuan Zhang Boduan Sun Bu'er Wang Chongyang Qiu Chuji Zhang Guoxiang Zhang Sanfeng Zhu Quan Fangshi
Schools Huang–Lao Way of the Taiping Xuanxue Shangqing Lijia Lingbao Chongxuan Quanzhen (Longmen) Wuliu Tianshi (Celestial Masters) Wudoumi Southern Tianshi Northern Tianshi Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) Folk Taoism Yao Taoism
Sacred places Grotto-heavens Sacred Mountains of China Wudang Mountains Mount Penglai Mount Kunlun Taoist temple White Cloud Temple (Baiyun Monastery) Louguantai Temple Cebu Taoist Temple Taoist Temple (Hanford, California)
Institutions and organizations Chinese Taoist Association Celestial Masters Taoist priests
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Classical elements
Greek Air Water Aether Fire Earth
Hinduism / Jainism / Buddhism Vayu Ap Akasha Agni Prithvi
Chinese Wood (木) Water (水) Fire (火) Metal (金) Earth (土)
Japanese Wind (風) Water (水) Void (空) Fire (火) Earth (地)
Medieval Air Water Fire Earth Sulphur Mercury Salt
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The system of five phases was used for describing interactions and relationships between phenomena. After it came to maturity in the second or first century BCE during the Han dynasty, this device was employed in many fields of early Chinese thought, including seemingly disparate fields such as Yi jing divination, alchemy, feng shui, astrology, traditional Chinese medicine, music, military strategy, and martial arts. Although often translated as the Five Elements in comparison to Classical elements of the ancient Mediterranean world, the Wǔxíng were conceived primarily as cosmic agents of change rather than a means to describe natural substances.