The Five Elements

All things that exist on Earth revolve around the principle of Yin and Yang. And what that brought about the balance of this very world in which we are residing are five very elements. They are the Earth, Metal, Wood, Water and Fire. All forms on this Earth belong to either one of the above-mentioned five elements and are always in one way or another mutually affecting one another, which in turn affect our life. This is an ever-going cycle in the law of Nature. It is the relationship of these very five elements that brought about the formation of this Earth. Their relationship brings about three very cycles, the Productive Cycle, Destructive Cycle and Weakening Cycle. In the Productive Cycle, (1) Water generates Wood: Rain nourishes the Earth, bringing about the growth of plants and trees. (2) Wood generates Fire: Plants and trees are by nature, combustible matter which generates fire. (3) Fire generates Earth: Under flames, article turn into ashes which form soil. (4) Earth generates Metal: Metal ore is acquired from Earth. (5) Metal generates Water: Under flames, metal melt into liquid state and likewise water dew is formed quickly on cool metal surfaces In the Destructive Cycle, (1) Water destroys Fire: Water can extinguish fire. (2) Fire destroys Metal: Fire can melt metal. (3) Metal destroys Wood: Metal can cut and shape wood. (4) Wood destroys Earth: Wood thrust into soil, extracting essence off Earth. (5) Earth destroys Water: Soil is able to retain water, preventing flood. In the Weakening Cycle, (1) Water weakens Metal: Metal can generate water. But when there is too much water, metal get corroded. (2) Metal weakens Earth: Earth can generate Metal. But when there is too much mining work for metal, the amount of soil get reduced. (3) Earth weakens Fire: Fire can generate Earth. But too much Earth can also inversely bury and put out Fire. (4) Fire weakens Wood: Wood can generate fire. But too much fire will completely burn out and destroy wood. (5) Wood weakens Water: Water can aid the growth of wood. But too much wood can absorb up all the Water. As you can see in the above cycles, the presence of all the five elements is required to bring about a balance of this world. Having too much or too little of any of the above five elements is never desired. For instance, too much of a heat from the sun can cause drought while too much of a rain can inversely cause flood and so on (The principle of Yin and Yang) And in one-way or another, all existence belong to one of the above five elements. Be Nature no matter how complex or how different the buildings and the environment may look, everything can be classified under one of the five elements. nn© 2006 Jon Sim. All rights reserved.