By Wan Minying
14th Century1
Translated by Heiner Fruehauf
National University of Natural Medicine, College of Classical Chinese Medicine
Metal is generated by Earth; if there is too much earth, Metal will be buried. Earth is generated by Fire; if there is too much Fire, Earth will be charred. Fire is generated by Wood; if there is too much Wood, Fire will flare. Wood is generated by Water; if there is too much Water, Wood will be washed away. Water is generated by Metal; if there is too much Metal, Water will be grimy.
Metal can generate Water; if there is too much Water, Metal will drown. Water can generate Wood; if Wood is in abundance, Water will be in short supply. Wood can generate Fire; if there is too much Fire, Wood will be incinerated. Fire can generate Earth; if there is too much Earth, Fire will be obscured. Earth can generate Metal; if there is too much Metal, Earth will spoil.
Metal can control Wood; if Wood is flinty, Metal will be marred. Wood can control Earth; if Earth is thick, Wood will break. Earth can control Water; if Water is too much, Earth will erode. Water can control Fire; if Fire is ablaze, Water will sizzle. Fire can control Metal; if Metal is too much, Fire will become smothered.
If exhausted Metal comes upon Fire, it will melt. If weak Fire encounters Water, it will become quenched. If weak Water encounters Earth, it will be filled in and become stuck. If weak Earth comes upon Wood, it will cave in. If weak Wood encounters Metal, it will be axed.
If excess Metal receives Water, it will in turn have its edge blunted. If excess Water receives Wood, it will in turn have its momentum drained. If excess Wood receives Fire, it will in turn have its denseness transformed. If excess Fire receives Earth, it will in turn have its blazing quality checked. If excess Earth receives Metal, it will in turn have its calamitous potential restricted.
© 2007 Heiner Fruehauf
Dear Heiner,
I’ve been steadily working through your many translations of passages from some of the classics, and feeling grateful for all these offerings you are putting up on the Associates Forum.
I liked the one on “Five Phase Element Relationships” — probably one of those typical poems or songs, intended to be used as a mnemonic for keeping the various interactions in mind. It seemed to me, however, that something was missing, namely a verse describing the Ke or ‘controlling’ cycle, and what happens if, for example, Wood is over-controlling Earth — something we see a lot of these days.
To illustrate, I read the meanings of the paragraphs as follows:
Paragraph 1 — Mother over-nourishing the Child
Paragraph 2 — over-demanding Child exhausting the Mother
Paragraph 3 — “insulting” cycle, or the reverse of the Ke cycle
Paragraph 4 — a more extreme result from the continuation of #3
Paragraph 5 — overbearing Mother catches Hell from the Child :)
What was your impression of this passage?
Thank you for your comments,
Grayson
Grayson: I agree with all of your assessments with the exception of paragraph 4: you find the so-called ke cycle relationship between the elements you were looking for there.