The Five Elements in Ancient China_ Origin and Historical Overview
The ancient Chinese theory of the Five Elements (metal, wood, water, fire, earth) originated from Shangshu·Hongfan (c. 11th century BCE), initially referring to five basic substances with distinct properties: water moistens and flows downward, fire blazes upward, wood bends and straightens, metal yields and transforms, and earth nurtures crops. By the late Western Zhou Dynasty, Shi Bo proposed "harmony generates all things," linking the Five Elements to the creation of all beings. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Zuo Zhuan and Mo Jing explored the mutual restriction among the Five Elements, transforming them from material classification to a dynamic philosophical system.
Zou Yan, a Yin-Yang scholar of the Warring States Period, created the "theory of the five virtues' succession," explaining dynastic changes through the mutual conquest of the Five Elements. This was adopted by Emperor Qin Shi Huang as a governing principle (the Qin Dynasty was associated with water virtue). In the Western Han Dynasty, Dong Zhongshu put forward the theory of mutual generation of the Five Elements in Chunqiu Fanlu, integrating them with seasons, directions, and ethics to construct a "heaven-human induction" system, using natural anomalies to warn rulers of moral conduct. Scholars like Zhou Dunyi and Zhu Xi in the Song Dynasty further deepened the theory, incorporating the Five Elements into the cosmic generation framework of "Taiji → Yin-Yang → all things."
The Five Elements theory permeated various social fields: Traditional Chinese Medicine's Huangdi Neijing correlated the Five Elements with the five zang-organs (liver-wood, heart-fire, spleen-earth, lung-metal, kidney-water) to guide diagnosis and treatment; in astronomy and calendars, the Five Elements matched seasons and directions, influencing political arrangements; in architecture and feng shui, balance of the Five Elements determined site selection and materials, such as the black tiles (symbolizing water) of Wenyuange in the Forbidden City to prevent fire.
Historical allusions include Gun's failure in flood control due to "disturbing the Five Elements" and Yu's success by following water's nature, metaphorizing the importance of conforming to natural laws; Zou Yan's prophecy of "water replacing fire" provided legitimacy for the Qin Dynasty, yet the dynasty's excessive harshness (abusing water virtue) led to its rapid downfall; Dong Zhongshu's use of natural disasters to admonish Emperor Wu of Han demonstrated the political function of the Five Elements theory.
Evolving from material observation to a ideological system encompassing nature, society, and ethics, this theory became a cornerstone of traditional Chinese culture.
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