Chinese philosophy Chinese philosophy (Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 中国哲学; Traditional Chinese characters, traditional Chinese: 中國哲學) refers to the philosophical traditions that originated and developed within the historical ...

, wood (), sometimes translated as tree, is one of the five concepts that conform the ''wuxing''. It is the growing of the matter, or the matter's growing expanding stage. Wood is the lesser yang symbol of Yinyang character, fuelling Fire. It stands for springtime, the

east East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

, the planet

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

, the color

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

, windy weather, and the

Azure Dragon The Azure Dragon ( zh, c=青龍, p=Qīnglóng) is one of the Dragon King, Dragon Gods who represent the mount or Chthonic deities, chthonic forces of the Wufang Shangdi, Five Regions' Highest Deities (). It is also one of the Four Symbols o ...

(Qing Long) in Four Symbols. Blue and cyan-type colors also represent wood.

Attributes

In Chinese

Taoist Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ...

and

Traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medicine, alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. A large share of its claims are pseudoscientific, with the majority of treatments having no robust evidence ...

thought, ''Wood'' attributes are considered to be strength and flexibility, as with

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

. It is also associated with qualities of warmth, generosity, cooperation, and idealism. The Wood person will be expansive, outgoing and socially conscious and courageous but when feeling confined, held back, or misunderstood by others can become easily frustrated and angry. The wood element is one that seeks ways to grow and expand. Wood heralds the beginning of life, dawn, springtime and buds, sensuality and fecundity. Wood needs moisture from Water it preceding phase element to thrive. In Chinese medicine, wood is associated with negative feelings of

anger Anger, also known as wrath ( ; ) or rage (emotion), rage, is an intense emotional state involving a strong, uncomfortable and non-cooperative response to a perceived provocation, hurt, or threat. A person experiencing anger will often experie ...

, hopelessness and positive feelings of

optimism Optimism is the Attitude (psychology), attitude or mindset of expecting events to lead to particularly positive, favorable, desirable, and hopeful outcomes. A common idiom used to illustrate optimism versus pessimism is Is the glass half empty ...

courage Courage (also called bravery, valour ( British and Commonwealth English), or valor (American English)) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Valor is courage or bravery, especially in ...

patience or forbearance, is the ability to endure difficult or undesired long-term circumstances. Patience involves perseverance or tolerance in the face of delay, provocation, or stress without responding negatively, such as reacting with disrespect ...

and the Virtue of benevolence (Ren 仁). The soul associated with wood is the Hun (魂). Organs associated with this element are the Zung organ the

liver The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...

( yin), and the Fu organ the gall bladder ( yang), the taste sour, the rancid smell also the eyes and tendons.

Astrology

Chinese astrology Chinese astrology is based on traditional Chinese astronomy and the Chinese calendar. Chinese astrology flourished during the Han dynasty (2nd century BC to 2nd century AD). Chinese astrology has a close relation with Chinese philosophy (theor ...

, wood is included in the 10 heavenly stems (the five elements in their yin and yang forms), which combine with the 12

earthly branches The Earthly Branches (also called the Terrestrial Branches or the 12-cycle) are a system of twelve ordered symbols used throughout East Asia. They are indigenous to China, and are themselves Chinese characters, corresponding to words with no co ...

(or Chinese signs of the

zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north and south celestial latitude of the ecliptic – the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. Within this zodiac ...

), to form a 60 year cycle. * Yang wood year (e.g. 1974). * Yin wood year(e.g. 1975). Wood governs the

Chinese zodiac The Chinese zodiac is a traditional classification scheme based on the Chinese calendar that assigns an animal and its reputed attributes to each year in a repeating twelve-year (or duodenary) cycle. The zodiac is very important in traditional ...

signs

Tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...

and

Rabbit Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...

Cycle of Wu Xing

In the regenerative cycle of the Wu Xing,

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

engenders Wood, "as rain or dew makes plant life flourish"; Wood begets

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...

as "fire is generated by rubbing together two pieces of wood" and it must be fueled by burning wood. Since wood also represents wind, it also nourishes fire with the flow of oxygen. In the conquest cycle: Wood overcomes

earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

by binding it together with the roots of trees and drawing sustenance from the soil;

Metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

overcomes Wood, as the metal axe can topple the largest trees.Theodora Lau, ''The Handbook of Chinese Horoscopes'', pxxix-xxx, Souvenir Press, London, 2005 In the less figurative sense, the dryness and coldness of Metal causes wood, like the trees to loose their leaves by the sap going inwards and returning to the roots in Autumn or in the fall.

References

{{Wu Xing Wuxing (Chinese philosophy)