What do ancient thinkers in China mean by "five elements"?

Five elements, also known as the theory of five elements, is the basic way for ancient people in China to know the world. Widely used in traditional Chinese medicine, geomantic omen, numerology, physiognomy and divination. The source of the five elements is the totem concept of animism and ancestor worship in ancient times. ? Confucius' five elements thought can be found in Li Yun, which records the operation of Confucius' teaching ceremony for Ziyou. ?

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. Yin and Yang are ancient theories of unity of opposites, and the five elements are primitive system theories.

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). Moisten the bottom, make it bitter, make it sour, and make it pungent from the leather, making it sweet. " This paper not only classifies everything in the universe, but also defines the properties and characteristics of each category.

Five stars, called five latitudes in ancient times, are five planets in the sky. Wood is called the old star, fire is called the twinkling star, earth is called the town star, gold is called the white star and water is called the morning star. Five elements running, divided by 28 stars. Because its orbit is not far from the solar path, the ancients used it to mark the sun. The five stars generally appear in the Arctic sky in the order of wood, fire, earth, gold and water. Each star has a 72-day line, and the five stars circle 360 degrees. The river map drawn according to the five-star astronomical phenomena is also the source of the five elements. Because before the winter solstice of 1 1 month every year, Mercury can be seen in the north. When the winter weather comes, everything is dormant, and there are only ice, snow and water on the ground. This is how the concept of water travel was formed.

After the summer solstice in July, Mars was seen in the south. It was summer weather and the ground was very hot, so the concept of fire line was formed. At the vernal equinox in March, Jupiter appeared in the east. Just as spring came, plants sprouted and grew. The so-called "spring comes to the world to know the vegetation", and the concept of Muxing is formed in this way. In September and the autumnal equinox, Venus appears in the west. In ancient times, weapons were represented in many ways to show the season of autumn war, and everything was old and withered, which led to Jin Xing. See Saturn in May, which means that the wet earth is in the long summer season, and the wood, fire and gold water all take this as the midpoint. Observing the four seasons climate change caused by wood fire and gold water from the ground, the concept of soil travel is formed in this way.

The theory of five elements was originally created by the working people in ancient China, and its brilliant philosophical thoughts played an extremely important role in promoting the development of science in China. The essence of the Five Elements Theory holds that the world consists of five basic material 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.

People in ancient China looked up at astronomy and down at geography, far and near. According to the interaction between the sun and the moon on the earth's periodic reciprocating motion between the cold and summer in December, a set of calendar of year, year and month for the development of agricultural production in China has been developed, which has become "calendar of year, month and month for the main branch".