What do the five elements of the East stand for in the West?

The four elements in the west refer to "fire, water and earth", which was once considered by westerners as the foundation of everything. This theory first came from Druidism in Northern Europe, and later it was introduced to Western Europe, and it was continuously processed and integrated. Now people regard this view as the simple worldview of the ancients, because the basic substances of everything in the world are obviously not "fire, water and earth", and even water and earth are composed of molecules and atoms, while fire and wind are intangible things. In fact, the world composed of four elements referred to by the ancients is not a material world that can be explained by atoms and molecules, but contains spiritual things. From this point of view, we have to admit that the four elements theory has philosophical significance.

The element of fire represents power. Man is powerful, so he contains fire. All powerful and explosive things in nature contain fire element in this theory. In addition, the symbolic power of fire element exists widely in many cultures. The warmth, light and the sense of power that flame represents are recognized by almost all nations, that is to say, worshipping the power of fire is almost the instinctive reaction of all human beings. As early as when people just shed their thick long hair, they gradually discovered the warmth that flame can bring them and the power to regain life after dispelling the cold.

The wind element represents wisdom. People are wise, so people also contain wind elements. In addition to people, wind elements are everywhere in nature. Druids believe that animals also have thinking, so that they can find prey and avoid natural enemies, so the wind element also exists in animals; They even think that plants have wisdom, and flowers bloom and fall with wisdom endowed by nature, so plants also have wind elements. Wind is endowed with free and changeable personality, which is pervasive, just as their understanding of wisdom is: free, broad and all-encompassing.

Water represents emotion. People are emotional animals, and water is indispensable naturally. There is no water in nature, even the sand in the desert has water, which shows that everything is emotional in their eyes, which is also in line with their animist world view. The knife cuts bread and fingers. No matter how small the mood is, it may erupt into terrible mood swings and even cause great harm, just like the destruction when a trickle merges into a flood. Water is invisible, so it can have various forms, and so can emotions, which are indescribable but changeable.

Earth element represents matter. The human body is considered to be material, so people naturally have soil elements. The earth element is endowed with a heavy and stable personification. As the material basis of the whole world model, soil element is solid and reliable, giving people a sense of security and reliability. However, soil elements are also considered inflexible and stubborn. Different from the three elements mentioned above, the earth element is a material element, and it is the only element that represents tangible matter.

Finally, it should be noted that the four elements are not of the same nature, the earth element is a material element, and the fire and geomantic omen are spiritual elements. Taking people as an example, people with earth elements have bodies, but people with bodies can't do anything, so people also need strength, wisdom and emotion, which are the three elements of fire and geomantic omen. If the four elements are divided into two categories: material elements and spiritual elements, we can see that the existence of material and spiritual elements is equally important and indispensable in this system. Without matter, spirit can't function; Without spirit, matter can only be an inanimate decoration. This also coincides with dualism.

It can be seen from this problem that when many people go back to understand the past world outlook, it is easy to take it for granted that the ideas of their predecessors are naive or even ridiculous, because these theories obviously seem unscientific. However, if we put down our airs as modern people to understand the cultural background and reasons for the formation of these theories, we will often find that it is actually ourselves who are naive. We often take it for granted that what seems to have no scientific basis at first glance is wrong, which can only prove our own pride and superficiality. The four elements are so, and so is Chinese medicine.

PS: I want to explain the origin of the four elements theory. The most fundamental origin of the four-element theory is druidism in northern Europe. Later, Christianity entered northern Europe, which almost made druidism disappear, but it combined the four-element theory with some parts of Christianity (for example, Christianity has four-element angels) and returned to western Europe. Mysterious scholars in western Europe (including wizards, alchemists, etc. ) carried forward this theory and the whole world knows it. Because of this, many people will think that the four-element theory originated in western Europe, but in fact, Druidism in northern Europe is the real source of this theory. Unfortunately, druidism is almost extinct in today's world. Although some people advocate revival, it is far from the original idea of Druids. Usually only inherit the druid's environmental protection thought, not others. Speaking of it, Druid's herbalism may be similar to that of Chinese medicine in China. In today's world, only a few people still silently adhere to the druid's life in modern civilization and continue the candle of civilization that has been swaying in the wind for more than 1000 years.