Five elements: what do civil engineering, gold, fire, fire, water and earth mean?

The Five Elements is a systematic view of China's ancient philosophy, which is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine, geomantic omen, numerology, physiognomy and divination. The meaning of the five elements includes five basic trends in the evolution of Yin and Yang: gold (convergence), wood (growth), water (infiltration), fire (disillusionment) and earth (integration). Ancient philosophers in China used the theory of five elements to explain the formation of all things in the world and their relationships. It emphasizes the whole and aims to describe the movement form and transformation relationship of things.

The five elements refer to the ancient people's division of everything in the universe into five things, namely wood, fire, earth, gold and water. See the dialogue between Ji Zi and Zhou Wuwang recorded in Shang Shu Hong Fan: "Five elements: water, fire, wood, gold and earth. Water is wet (moist), fire is burning (burning), wood is straight (bent, loose), gold leather (dense composition, easy to divide), soil fertilizer (meaning sowing and harvesting). Moisturizing is salty, inflammation is bitter, straight is sour, leather is spicy, and farming is sweet. " This paper not only classifies everything in the universe, but also defines the properties and characteristics of each category. More than 3,000 years ago, Ji Zisheng lived on Wuxing Mountain, where Ji Zi not only observed the astronomical phenomena, but also invented Weiqi. The Wuxing Mountain in Journey to the West refers to this Wuxing Mountain. According to the understanding of the five elements, later generations established the theory of mutual generation and mutual resistance of the five elements, mainly based on the law of "mutual generation and mutual resistance of the five elements".

Mutual development refers to the relationship between two things with different attributes that help and promote each other; Specifically: wood fire, fire produces soil, native gold, gold produces water, aquatic wood.

Mutual restraint, on the contrary, means that the relationship between two things with different attributes of the five elements is restrained; Specifically: Mu, Tuke water, water, Huo, Jin Kemu.

Geography of five elements

In the Five Elements Theory, the south belongs to fire, the east belongs to wood, the north belongs to water, the west belongs to gold, and the center belongs to earth, which helps Jin Mu to balance fire and water.

Seasonal relationship

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

Spring belongs to wood, which represents the movement mode of qi spreading around. In spring, flowers and trees flourish, the branches of trees spread around, and nutrients are transported to the branches, so spring belongs to trees.

Summer belongs to fire, which means that qi moves upward. The characteristic of fire is upward. In summer, all kinds of plants grow upward and rapidly, so summer belongs to fire.

Long summer belongs to the soil, which is the transitional period of summer and autumn. The weather is hot and humid, and the crops are maturing, so the long summer belongs to the soil.

Autumn belongs to gold, which means that qi contracts inward. Gold is characterized by stability, harvest in autumn, people save food for winter and leaves fall, so autumn belongs to gold.

Winter belongs to water, which means that qi moves downward. Water flows downwards, and everything sleeps in winter, saving nutrients for spring, so winter belongs to water.

The ancients thought that a year can be subdivided into five seasons, corresponding to the five elements of wood, fire, earth, gold and water respectively.