We often say that the five elements are Jin Mu's fire, water and earth. What exactly are the five elements?

As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, Taoist scholars put forward the viewpoint that the attribute theory and the five elements are interdependent. In the order of wood, fire, earth, gold and water, it is a cyclic number, and the order of victory (gram) and life is fixed, forming a contradictory and unified model between things, reflecting the internal structural relationship and integrity of things. Because during this period, Neijing applied the theory of five elements to medicine, which played an important role in studying and sorting out a large number of clinical experiences accumulated by the ancients and forming a unique theoretical system of traditional Chinese medicine.

The theory of five elements was originally created by the working people in ancient China. His outstanding philosophical thoughts have played an important role in promoting the development of science in China. The essence of the Five Elements Theory is that the world consists of five basic physical characteristics: wood, fire, earth, gold and water. The development and changes of various things and phenomena in nature are the result of the continuous movement and interaction of these five different conditions.

The ancient people in China looked up at astronomy and looked down at geography, keeping things near and far away. According to the interaction between the sun and the moon on the reciprocating motion of the cold and summer years in December, a set of branch years and calendars suitable for the development of agricultural production in China was summarized and developed into a "branch chronology". "Five-element legislation is an organic combination of five-element theory, which has had a far-reaching impact on today's society.

The five elements are born together: the soil is scattered, and the wood can be solid; Wood grows and gold can cut it; Gold is hard and fire can melt it; Fire is hot, but water can cool it; When water is wet, the soil can stop it. Coexistence of five elements: trees are born in water (aquatic wood); Fire burns by firewood (wood for making a fire); The ashes after fire combustion are soil (fire-born soil); Metal ore is buried underground (natural gold); Water will condense on the metal (raw water).