The Study on the Theory of Five Viscera Correlation - From Five Elements to Five Viscera Correlation
The Number 'Five' as a Basis for Classification
The ancients are accustomed to classifying areas such as polities, society life, infantry matters, gestation, nature, body, and many others into five categories, five levels, five fields, five requirements, five standards, five causes, five ways etc. Why did people developed such a strong preference and bias towards the number 'five'? Some scholars deduced that this particular preference may stem from the early practice of calculation by a natural tool: the five fingers on the hand. This is proven by the presence of number one to five in ancient scrolls while the number six and above are absent. Therefore, this method of calculation forms the basis of the number 'five' as an important cultural development. As the level of intelligence in human advanced, the mathematical prowess naturally expanded beyond the limited scope of 'five'. However, the number 'five' is still highly valued in relation to Fang Wei (方位). By establishing oneself as the center, it radiates out in four main directions; North, South, West, East. Therefore the four directions is transformed to five directions when inclusive of center. This marks the beginning of the Wu Xing theory. When the Spring and Autumn period draws to an end, Wu Shang (五尚) has developed into a common phenomenon.
Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth and Wu Xing
How did metal, wood, water, fire, earth ultimately represent Wu Shang and what is the connection between them and the Wu Xing theory?
The Representative Meaning behind Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth and Wu Xing
Metal, wood, water, fire, earth and grain are inseparable to the basic materials utilized in the olden agricultural and farming society. The characteristics of the first five elements are: “水曰润下， 火曰炎上， 木曰曲直， 金曰从革，土爰稼穑”。 This is explained as water nourishes while fire burns, wood can be curved and also straightened, metal can be cast into utensils and earth is the source of growth. They are thus a reflection of the farming process while the grain is excluded as a secondary agricultural product. As a matter of fact, due to its importance of food production in life, metal, wood, water, fire and earth are elevated to the status of Wu Cai (五材) or the five ingredients. Wu Cai is widely recognized as the fundamental ingredients that generates everything else. Therefore, in Wu Shang, Wu Cai is the indisputable representation that presides over others like Wu Se (五色), Wu Fang (五方) and Wu Wei (五味).
The Merger of Wu Xing and Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth
The term 'Wu Xing' commonly refers to earthly matters which complement the celestial beings. It is later used as a reference to five different matters or behavioral values and also used interchangeably with the term 'Wu Cai'. People predominately coined metal, wood, water, fire and earth as Wu Xing instead of Wu Cai after accessing its flexible and abstract qualities.
The Sequence of Wu Xing
《尚书 — 洪范》说：“五行：一曰水， 二曰火，三曰木， 四曰金， 五曰土。” This sequence of water, fire, wood, metal, earth is different from the generative sequence of wood, fire, earth, metal, water or the controlling sequence of water, fire, metal, wood, earth. The first sequence is derived from the peasants' point of view. There is no official sequence in Wu Xing.
The Origin of Attribute Correlation
1. Wu Fang (五方)
The earliest attribute determined is directions which originated from observations taken directly from nature. In theory, although there are numerous directions that can radiate from a source point to the surroundings, the rudimentary symbols of North, South, West, East facilitate navigation. However, how does the five directions relate to metal, wood, water, fire, earth? The link is seasons.
2. Ji Jie (季节)
Ancients determine the time of different seasons through observing the appearance of birds in different directions in the sky or the directions of the planets and stars. It is hence apparent that there is a clear relationship between Si Fang (四方) and Si Shi (四时) in nature. So how exactly does this pair of elements in turn relate to Wu Xing? Many scholars felt that Si Shi is intimately tied in with the concept of Wu Xing. The abundance of northern wind and vitality in spring is associated with 'wood' and 'green'; the humid southern wind in summer is associated with 'fire' and 'red'; the western wind and wilting in autumn is associated with 'metal' and 'white'; the frigidity of eastern wind in winter is associated with 'water' and 'black'; soil that forms the core of earth is associated with 'earth' and 'yellow'. Furthermore, a relationship is established between the seasons and the two systems of directions: North, South, West, East and up, down, left, right, according to the tradition of lying a map down such that North (up), South (down), West (left), East (right). However, there are only four seasons, therefore the element of earth in Wu Xing has no corresponding direction. A new saying, “土王四季” or 'earth is sovereign of the four seasons' emerged in the Han dynasty. True to its characteristic growth spurt, earth is allocated the center position in the whole year round; the turn of summer and fall.
3. Wu Se (五色)
According to modern scientific theory, visible light spectrum consists of seven colors; red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. Black occurs when all then lights are absorbed and none are reflected to the human eye while white occurs when the lights mix together. Black and white light does not exist at all and hence the theory of five colors is not scientific. In reality, Wu Se is not based on the notion of light but rather on the study of water color. Red, yellow and blue are the three primary colors that give rise to other secondary colors; black and white are the two extremes. The model of Munsell color solid illustrates how the gradual change from white to black in the central pillar, when combined with the surrounding primary and secondary colors give a full range of color. Some scholars supported Wu Fang as the bridge between Wu Se and Wu Xing due to the colors of terrain surrounding China. Others argued that the concept of color is only developed and incorporated after the prevalence of the Wu Xing theory.
4. Wu Xing (五星)
The naming system of the five planets is based on their colors. To the human eye, Mars is predominantly red, while Venus is whitish and Saturn is pale yellowish. On the other hand, Jupiter is not as bright as Venus and hence greenish. Mercury is submerged in sunlight most of the time and rarely observed except before sunrise and sunset, therefore it is considered to be black.
5. Wu Wei (五味)
Biologically, sea water is salty; charred food is bitter; fruit borne from a tree is sour; metal is distinct in taste and hence pungent; grain grown from earth is sweet. These explanations might not be standard and lack the usual logic governing the earlier attributes.
6. Wu Zang (五脏)
In ancient sacrificial rites, animal organs were made correspondent to five elements. It was recorded that in spring the sacrifice was spleen; in summer, lung; in autumn, liver; in winter, kidney; at the turn of summer and fall, heart. The correlation was determined by the anatomical location of five organs when the sacrifice was placed on the belly with its directing southward: liver correlated with metal; heart with earth; spleen with wood; lung with fire; kidney with water. This correlation falls within the range of five elements. But later physicians came up with quite different correlations, e.g. liver correlated with wood; heart with fire; spleen with earth; lung with metal; kidney with water. This correlation may stem from Chinese medicine. It is one of the guidelines that Chinese medicine follows. Why did ancient physicians abandon the existing, objective and direction-based correlation? One plausible explanation is that it can not well reflect the functions of five organs. There, the physicians correlated five elements with the function of five organs according to their nature rather than their directions.
7. Others
Some define Wu Shang as a rule, while others reflected the situation objectively, many of them possess practical meanings. However, as a concept popularized, it will eventually dominate and influence human psychology beyond a reasonable extent. As a result, people attempt to force all natural forms to compel by the concept of 'five' although it is obvious that not all are applicable. For example, systems such as Wu Gu (五谷) and Wu Chu (五畜) should be defined as more than five representatives. In addition, Si Ji is labeled as Wu Ji by taking eighteen days out from each season in order to make up the fifth. The existence of the five seasons is solely for its correlation to the Wu Xing theory and meaningless to weather and agricultural purposes.
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