Yin and Yang Philosophy - The Five Agents

1. The Five Agents
Prepared by: Sem. Richard
Soriyao

2. - “WU XING” IS A THEORY IN CHINESE MEDICINE AND CAN BE
TRANSLATED AS “FIVE ELEMENTS OR PHASE”
- IT WAS DEVELOPED BY THE SAME SCHOOL THAT
DEVELOPED YIN-YANG THEORY
-THE CYCLE OF FIVE AGENTS IS A REPRESENTATION OF
“FATHER AND SON RELATIONSHIP”

3. -In an attempt to
understand and describe
the phenomenon of the
universe, ancient Chinese
philosophers, astrologers,
and doctors, used the Yin-
Yang and Five Element
Theories to describe
everything in the cosmos.

4. -The Yin-Yang and Five
Element Theories have been
the basic reasoning behind
all ancient Chinese natural
science. Ancient Chinese
believed that the production,
the development, and the
changes of everything in the
cosmos were the result of
the interaction of yin-qi and
yang-qi.

5. -The interaction of yin-qi and yang-qi is also used in
the description of the interactions within the
fundamental elements. These five symbolic
elements are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water
which make up the universe.

6. - Each of the Five Agents was characterized by one element, each of
which had an effective force on all things on earth.
- The Five Elements (wucai 五材) are therefore also called the Five
Forces (wude 五德). The earliest statement in literature about the Five
Agents can be found in the chapter HONGFAN 洪範 of the Confucian
Classic SHANGSHU 尚書, where they are definded as:
* water (shui 水)
* fire (huo 火)
* wood (mu 木)
* metal (jin 金)
* earth (tu 土).

7. TWO TYPES OF CYCLE
GENERATING CYCLE
OVERCOMING CYCLE

8. GENERATING CYCLE
WOOD
WATER FIRE
METAL EARTH

10. OVERCOMING CYCLE
WOOD
WATER FIRE
METAL EARTH

12. Natures of Five Agents
AGENTS NATURE PRODUCES COLORS ACTIVITIES VIRTUE LEADS TO
WOOD CROOKED
AND
STRAIGHT
SOURNESS GREEN SEEING CLEARNESS WISDOM
FIRE BURN AND
ASCEND
BITTERNESS RED SPEECH REASON ORDERLINESS
EARTH SOWING AND
REAPING
SWEETNESS YELLOW THINKING PENETRATION
AND
PROFOUNDIT
Y
SAGENESS
METAL YIELD AND TO
BE MODIFIED
ACRIDITY WHITE HEARING DISTINCTNESS LIBERATION
WATER MOISTEN
AND
DESCEND
SALTINESS BLACK APPEARANCE RESPECTFULN
ESS
GRAVITY

13. FIVEELEMENTS WOOD FIRE EARTH METAL WATER
HUMAN BODY
Emotions Anger Joy Pensiveness Sorrow Fear
Anatomy Tendons Blood Vessels Muscles Skin and Hair Bones
Specific Openings Eyes Tongue Mouth Nose Ears
Bowels Gall Bladder Small Intestine Stomach Large Intestine Urinary Bladder
Viscera Liver Heart Spleen Lungs Kidneys
NATURE
Directions East South Center West North
Seasons Spring Summer Late Summer Autumn Winter
Weather Wind Hot Wet Dry Cold
Developments Production Growth Transformation Harvest Storage
Colors Green Red Yellow White Black
Tastes Sour Bitter Sweet Spicy Salty