Wuxing – the connections between the Five Dragon Kings (Ref) and the Five Elements philosophy
To better understand the origins of the Five Dragon Kings and the ancient Chinese legend, it is worth mentioning the wuxing of natural philosophy, which states that all things are composed of five elements: fire, water, wood, metal and earth.
The underlying idea is that the five elements 'influence each other, and that through their birth and death, heaven and earth change and circulate'.
The five elements are described as followed:
Wood/Spring: a period of growth, which generates abundant vitality, movement and wind.
Fire/Summer: a period of swelling, flowering, expanding with heat.
Earth is associated with ripening of grains in the yellow fields of late summer.
Metal/Autumn: a period of harvesting, collecting and dryness.
Water/Winter: a period of retreat, stillness, contracting and coolness.
The wuxing system, in use since the Han dynasty (2nd century BCE), appears in many seemingly disparate fields of early Chinese thought, including music, feng shui, alchemy, astrology, martial arts, military strategy, I Ching divination, and traditional medicine, serving as a metaphysics based on cosmic analogy.
The wuxing originally referred to the five major planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, Mars and Venus), which were thought of as the five forces that create life on earth. Wu Xing litterally means moving star and describes the five types of Qi (all the vital substances) cycles through various stages of transformation. As yin and yang continuously adjust to one another and transform into one another in a never-ending dance of harmony, they tend to do so in a predictable pattern.
The lists of correlations for the five elements are diverse, but there are two cycles explaining the major interaction. The yin-yang interaction, which by increasing or decreasing the qualities and functions associated with a particular phase, it may either nourish a phase that is in deficiency or drain a phase that is in excess or restrain a phase that is exerting too much influence (see below):
The Creation Cycle (Yang)
Wood feeds Fire
Fire creates Earth (ash)
Earth bears Metal
Metal collects Water
Water nourishes Wood
The Destruction Cycle (Yin)
Wood parts Earth
Earth dams (or absorbs) Water
Water extinguishes Fire
Fire melts Metal
Metal chops Wood
The Huainanzi (2nd BCE) describes the five colored dragons (azure/green, red, white, black, yellow) and their associations (Chapter 4: Terrestrial Forms), as well as the placement of sacred beasts in the five directions (the Four Symbols beasts, dragon, tiger, bird, tortoise in the four cardinal directions and the yellow dragon.
Re-reading cards from the past from dear ones who are only with us in spirit and memory.
Christmas is usually a dreary, lonely time of year for me. Didn’t celebrate it at home in Sydney, not to mention the Xmas decor felt out of place in the summer.
I can’t stand the cold, but starting to warm up to Japan’s winter Christmas. I’ve sent my Christmas cards early this year, and have finally decided to invest in a tree 🎄
Tricky to find garlands and tinsels in Japan though.. shall improvise!
April sent me a sweet card. She also doesn’t mind me playing in her band 🎻 lol
今日はクリスマスカードの日🎄
大雪に大切な方へ、
心温まるメッセージを綴りませんか?❄️💌
手書き、e-card、スタンプでも、
R U OK? 大丈夫?Merry Christmas, and a happy new year!あなたのことを気にかけてるよ
NIGHT ON FOOLを1番聴いた。詩集も手垢まみれになるまで読んだ。ノートに書き写したりしてた。初武道館のDVDとかも持ってた。姉が勝手に俺の部屋から持ってって聴いたらしく、俺が変ながなり声のおっさんの曲を聴いている、と母親に言いつけたりもしたらしい。俺はライブ不精だから、結局VISIONが出た時の武道館しか観に行ったことがなかったけど、姉はたぶん何十回と観に行ってた。何回行ったんだろう。遠征もよくしてた。mixiでチケット詐欺に遭って何千円か騙し取られてたのも今は笑い話。俺は姉の描く絵が好きなんだけど、特にグレッチを構えたモッズスーツの不良中年を描くのが本当に上手かった。その後に出たアルバムは姉が買うようになってた。ミッシェルやROSSOも遡って、姉弟で手分けするように集めていった。
Only a few months ago, our dog passed away with the arrival of spring. It broke my heart because he was a dependable dog, like Yoda. When he was gone, not only the mind, but also time and space were emptied that hardly any weight.
Empty winter coats, vaccination label, a brush, and most difficult of all, food... it was so sudden that it was just after a large bulk purchase. Besides, habit is a terrible thing, and I felt kind of restless, if I didn't feed anyone.
So I decided to give them to the neighbourhood stray cats, including Ginger, who is as fat as Garfield, and Tabby, who is also fat, on the kitchen back porch.
After a while, though, the large amount of dog food they had ran out...I had to keep buying food for them, as they too would be nuisance if I suddenly stopped. At times, when I was washing dishes in the kitchen, I could hear the sound of metal vessels scraping against the concrete ground, etc., and my heart was filled with "Oh, it's come, it's come".
After a while, the sesame seeds-like dots left on the plate began to bother me. It's Aesop's Fables ‘The Fox and the Crane’... it's ‘YOU’! I quietly peeked through the window and saw a huge crow with feathers as shiny as rainbow colours. It was the first time I had ever seen a crow that close up. Its black, round eyes were adorable.
When I started feeding them, it was still cold and snowing, so there must have been a lot of cat tracks around the house, but when...Aha - that's all right, why not? 'Stray cats are fine, crows are not' is a quite 'discrimination'. In the end, I stopped 'feeding' them once and for all, for both our sakes. Crows are extraordinarily clever, they know everything and I personally think they have psychic powers, anyway.
(日本語↓)Good morning honey,
Yesterday I went to Disney-Halloween for the first time in my life! FINALLY!!
I never had the occasion to go there (; ;)💦
I had a lot fun time with my friends, eats a lot chickens (don’t say it) and I did a unique shooting in front to the real castle of Cinderella and the forest of Show White!!
I think, everyone when it was a baby, wanted be a princess for one day!
🎃🤍🍎 You can do cosplay only in October to TokyoDisneyland!! I’m planning to go next year too with some new disney cosplay 🥳!
Also this year Halloween is going very restricted in Tokyo, so I will do a little party on my Cafe tonight as a private 🍷, you are invited too 😉
Check my stories for more info!