Wuxing: What is water?

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The Five Elements is a systematic view of Taoism in China since ancient times, 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: water (moistening the lower part), fire (burning the upper part), gold (converging), wood (prolonging) and earth (neutralizing). 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 concept and aims to describe the movement form and transformation relationship of things. Yin and Yang are the ancient theory of unity of opposites, and the five elements are the original general system theory.

The theory of five elements first appeared in the theories of Huang Lao and Taoism, aiming at describing the movement form and transformation relationship of things. The five elements theory is China's ancient theory of material composition, which is similar to the four elements theory of earth, water, fire and wind in ancient western countries. It is a theory integrating philosophy, divination, calendar, traditional Chinese medicine and sociology.

The five elements mean that the ancients divided everything in the universe into five things: wood, fire, earth, gold and water, which are called "five elements". As early as "Shang Shu Hong Fan", it was recorded: "Five elements: water, fire, wood, gold and earth. Water is moist, fire is inflamed, wood is straight (bent and loose), gold is leather (dense and well divided), and soil fertilizer (meaning sowing and harvesting). " Moistening the bottom makes it salty, burning the top makes it bitter, straight up makes it sour, leather makes it pungent and grain makes it sweet. "Here we not only classify everything in the universe, but also define the nature and characteristics of each category. Based on the understanding of the five elements, later generations created the theory that the five elements generate each other and resist each other, which is mainly reflected in the law of "the five elements generate resistance".