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.
T/N: Keep in mind that Japanese and English aren’t my first language. I never claim my translation (attempts) to be error-free. As always, if you’re going to use or reference my translations, please do not claim it as your own and credit me.
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あなたの帰り待ちわびてしまう
私の心【あなた&お前】のものになってる
Anata no kaeri machiwabite shimau
Watashi no kokoro [anata / omae] no mono ni natteru
I am waiting impatiently for your return
This heart of mine is now yours to keep
Anata no koto wa nani mo shiranai
Ah totsugu dake
Kore wa sadame yo
Oie no tame ni kono mi suteru wa
Omae no koto ni kyōmi nado nai
Dōjō mo nai
Meoto ni naru ga aishi wa shinai
Seiryaku no chigiri
I know nothing about you
Ah, we are only to marry
This is my fate
For my family’s sake, I will cast this body away
I have no interest in you at the very least
I have no feelings for you either
We will be married but not loving each other
It’s a marriage of convenience
雪が溶ける度に
心も溶けてく
近くなっていく
当たり前の存在
Yuki ga tokeru tabi ni
Kokoro mo toketeku
Chikaku natte iku
Atarimae no sonzai
Every time the snow melts
Our hearts also soften
We are becoming closer
We are an existence meant for each other
Kuchi ni wa shinai ai no kotoba mo
Sokubaku shinai koi no katachi mo
*Ishin-denshin
Soitoge ayumidasu meoto
Anata no kaeri machiwabite shimau
Watashi no kokoro anata no mono ni natteru
The unspoken words of love between us
This form of love free of any restrictions
Ishin-denshin
A husband and wife for life, walking to the end of time
I am waiting impatiently for your return
This heart of mine is now yours to keep
寒くはないか?
風邪ひかぬよう
これを羽織りなさい
細くて白いその肩に触れ
守ると誓った
Samuku wa nai ka?
Kaze hikanu yō
Kore o haori nasai
Hosokute shiroi sono kata ni fure
Mamoru to chikatta
Are you not feeling cold?
Don’t catch a cold
Please put this on
My hands brush your slender and pale shoulders
I vowed to protect you
不器用な優しさ
強がりな性格
落ち着くその声に
堕ちていった二人は…
Bukiyō na yasashisa
Tsuyogari na seikaku
Ochitsuku sono goe ni
Ochiteitta futari wa…
Your clumsy gentleness
Your nature trying to be tough all the time
That calm and steady voice of yours
The two who were falling in love
Hanare wa shinai kono saki towa ni
Raise darou to hikiyose atte
Rakka ryūsui
Konnan mo sasaeau meoto
Omae no moto e isogi kaeru
Watashi no kokoro omae no mono ni natteru
Won’t be apart now and for all eternity
Would be drawn to each other even in our next life
Each of our love returned
A husband and wife supporting each other through thick and thin
I hurry to return back to you
This heart of mine is now yours to keep
桜吹雪いた春
風鈴涼む夏
紅葉色づく秋
雪化粧 寄り添う冬
Sakura fubuita haru
Fūrin suzumu natsu
Kōyō irodzuku aki
Yukigeshō yorisou fuyu
A spring with a storm of sakura petals
A summer with the wind chimes tinkling in the cool breeze
An autumn with the leaves changing colors
A winter blanketed in snow, us cuddling close
Kuchi ni wa shinai ai no kotoba mo
Sokubaku shinai koi no katachi mo
Ishindenshin
Soitoge ayumidasu meoto
Anata no kaeri machiwabite shimau
Watashi no kokoro anata no mono ni natteru
The unspoken words of love between us
This form of love free of any restrictions
Ishin-denshin
A husband and wife for life, walking to the end of time
I am waiting impatiently for your return
This heart of mine is now yours to keep
Hanare wa shinai kono saki towa ni
Raise darou to hikiyose atte
Rakka ryūsui
Konnan mo sasaeau meoto
Omae no moto e isogi kaeru
Watashi no kokoro omae no mono ni natteru
We won’t be apart now and for all eternity
We’d be drawn to each other even in our next life
Each of our love returned
A husband and wife supporting each other through thick and thin
I hurry to return back to you
This heart of mine is now yours to keep
~
Notes:
isshin-denshin - “what the mind thinks, the heart transmits”