The 5 elements

The Five Elemental Energies (wu sing) represent the tangible activities of yin and yang as manifested in the cyclic changes of nature which regulate life on earth.  Also known as the Five Movements (wu yun), they define the various stages of transformation in the recurring natural cycles of seasonal change, growth and decay, shifting climatic conditions, sounds, flavors, emotions, and human physiology.  Each energy is associated with the natural element which most closely resembles its function and character, and from these elements they take their names.  Unlike the Western and other systems of five elements, the Chinese system focuses on energy and its transformations, not on form and substance.  The elements thus symbolize the activities of the energies with which they are associated.

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