In
Chinese philosophy, fire () is the prosper of the matter, or the matter's prosperity stage. Fire is the second phase of
Wu Xing.
Fire is
yang in character. Its motion is upward and its energy is convective.
Fire is associated with
Summer
Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...
, the
South
South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
, the planet
Mars, the color
red (associated with extreme luck), hot weather, daylight, and the
Vermilion Bird (Zhu Que) in the
Four Symbols.
Attributes
In
Traditional Chinese Medicine, ''Fire'' attributes are considered to be dynamism, strength, and persistence; however, it is also connected to restlessness. The fire element provides warmth, enthusiasm, and creativity; however, an excess of it can bring aggression, impatience, and impulsive behavior. In the same way, fire provides heat and warmth; however, an excess can also burn.
Fire is associated with negative emotions of hate and the positive emotion is joy.
The
organs associated with the Fire element are the
Heart (
yin
Yin may refer to:
*the dark force in the yin and yang from traditional Chinese philosophy and medicine
*Yīn (surname) (), a Chinese surname
*Yǐn (surname) (), a Chinese surname
*Shang dynasty, also known as the Yin dynasty
**Yinxu or Yin, the S ...
) and small intestine (
yang), tongue and a body's pulse.
Astrology
The element plays an important role in
Chinese astrology and
feng shui. Fire is included in the 10
heavenly stems (the five elements in their
yin and yang forms), which combine with the 12
Earthly Branches
The twelve Earthly Branches or Terrestrial Branches are a Chinese ordering system used throughout East Asia in various contexts, including its ancient dating system, astrological traditions, zodiac and ordinals.
Origin
This system was built ...
(or Chinese signs of the
zodiac), to form the
60 year cycle.
Yang Fire years end in 6 (e.g. 1976).
(Yang years end in an even number.)
Yin Fire years end in 7 (e.g. 1977).
(Yin years end in an odd number.)
Fire governs the
Chinese zodiac signs
Snake and
Horse.
Flying Star Feng Shui uses number 9 to represent Fire.
The South corner releases energy of Fire as
I Ching
The ''I Ching'' or ''Yi Jing'' (, ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. Originally a divination manual in the Western Zho ...
and
Feng Shui states. It is generally referred as energy of destroying and rebuilding. It also directly relates to a lucky lovelife.
Cycles of Wu Xing
In the regenerative cycle of Wu Xing,
wood engenders Fire as "fire is generated by rubbing together two pieces of wood" and it must be fueled by burning wood; Fire begets
earth as "fire reduces everything to ashes, which become a part of the earth again".
In the conquest cycle,
water overcomes ''Fire'' as "nothing will put out a fire as quickly as water"; ''Fire'' overcomes
metal as it "can only be melted and forged" by flame or heat.
[Theodora Lau, ''The Handbook of Chinese Horoscopes'', pxxix-xxx, Souvenir Press, London, 2005]
References
{{Wu Xing
it:Fuoco (elemento)#Tradizione cinese