书城英文图书ElementsofChina
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第2章 The five elements

The Chinese philosophy of five elements or wu xing arose from the China’s naturalist school over two thousand years ago. It embodies the Chinese view of our universe which absorbs natural phenomenon as a force not to be controlled but a continuous cycle to be pursued.

It is based on precepts of interactive natural forces in a cycle of creation and destruction which gives rise to yet another cycle of creation and destruction. The elements which create can destroy and those which destroy can create. So through the interaction of these elements the notion of duality or opposing forces is ultimately eliminated through the understanding that all natural elements are inter-connected.