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The Wu Xing, (五行 wŭ xíng) also known as the Five Phases, the Five Agents, the Five Movements, and the Five Steps/Stages, are chiefly an ancient mnemonic device, in many traditional Chinese fields. Within Chinese medicine texts the Wu Xing are also referred to as Wu Yun (五運 wŭ yùn) or a combination of the two characters (Wu Xing-Yun) these emphasise the corresondence of five elements to five 'seasons' (four seasons plus one). Another tradition refers to the wu xing as wu de 五德, the Five Virtues (zh:五德終始說).

It has customarily been translated as Five Elements probably because of the similarity of this doctrine to the Western system of four elements. Text from the Ma Wang-Dui suggest that it was originally like the Western system representing elemental substances. The Wu Xing were mainly used as memory tools, hence the preferred translation of "movements", "phases" or "steps" over "elements". By the same token, Mu is thought of as "Tree" rather than "Wood".^[1]

The five elements are:

The system of five phases was used for describing interactions and relationships between phenomena. It was employed as a device in many fields of early Chinese thought, including seemingly disparate fields such as geomancy or Feng shui, astrology, traditional Chinese medicine, music, military strategy and martial arts.

The system is still used as a reference in some forms of complementary and alternative medicine and martial arts. Some^[who?] claim the original foundation of these are the concept of the Five Cardinal Points.

Cycles[link]

The Interactions of Wu Xing: The creation cycle (black, circle shaped arrows) and the overcoming cycle (white, star shaped arrows).

The doctrine of five phases describes two cycles, a generating or creation (生, shēng) cycle, also known as "mother-son", and an overcoming or destruction (剋/克, kè) cycle, also known as "grandfather-nephew", of interactions between the phases.

Generating[link]

The five elements are usually used to describe the state in nature:

• Wood/Spring: a period of growth , which generates abundant wood and vitality;
• Fire/Summer: a period of swellness, which overbrews with fire and energy;
• Metal/Autumn: a period of fruition, which produces formation and bears fruit;
• Water/Winter: a period of retreat, where stillness pervades;
• Earth: the in-between transitional seasonal periods

The common memory jogs, which help to remind in what order the phases are:

• Wood feeds Fire;
• Fire creates Earth (ash);
• Earth bears Metal;
• Metal carries Water (as in a bucket or tap, or water condenses on metal);
• Water nourishes Wood.

Other common words for this cycle include "begets", "engenders" and "mothers."

Overcoming[link]

• Wood parts Earth (such as roots; or, Trees can prevent soil erosion);
• Metal chops Wood;
• Fire melts Metal;
• Water quenches Fire;
• Earth dams (or muddies or absorbs) Water;

This cycle might also be called "controls", "restrains" or "fathers".

[edit] Cosmology and feng shui

According to Wu Xing theory, the structure of the cosmos mirrors the five phases. Each phase has a complex series of associations with different aspects of nature, as can be seen in the following table. In the ancient Chinese form of geomancy known as Feng Shui practitioners all based their art and system on the five phases (Wu Xing). All of these phases are represented within the Ba gua. Associated with these phases are colors, seasons and shapes; all of which are interacting with each other.^[2]

Based on a particular directional energy flow from one phase to the next, the interaction can be expansive, destructive, or exhaustive. With proper knowledge of such aspect of energy flow will enable the Feng Shui practitioner to apply certain cures or rearrangement of energy in a way they believe to be beneficial for the receiver of the Feng Shui "Treatment".

Ba gua[link]

The movements have also been correlated to the eight trigrams of the I Ching:

Chinese medicine[link]

^[1]

The interdependence of Zang Fu networks in the body was noted to be a circle of five things, and so mapped by the Chinese doctors onto the five phases. For instance, the Liver (Wood phase) is said to be the "mother" of the heart (Fire phase), and the Kidneys (Water phase) the mother of the Liver. The key observation was things like kidney deficiency affecting the function of the liver. In this case, the "mother" is weak, and cannot support the child. However, the Kidneys control the heart along the Ke cycle, so the Kidneys are said to restrain the heart. Many of these interactions can nowadays be linked to Western physiological pathways (such as Kidney pH affecting heart activity).^{[clarification needed]}

The key thing to keep in mind with the Chinese medical application of the five elements is that it is only a model, and it is known to have exceptions.

The citation order of the Five Phases, i.e., the order in which they are cited in the Bo hu tong 白虎通 and other Han dynasty texts, is Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. The organs are most effectively treated, according to theory, in the following four-hour periods throughout the day, beginning with the 3 a.m. to 7 a. m. period: Metal organs (see the list below), Earth organs, Fire₁ organs, Water organs, Fire₂ (the "non-empirical" Pericardium and Triple Burner organs), and Wood organs, which is the reverse of the citation order (plus an extra use of Fire and the non-empirical organs to take care of the sixth four-hour period of the day). These two orders are further related to the sequence of the planets going outward from the sun (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, or Water, Metal, Fire, Wood, and Earth) by a star diagram similar to the one shown above.^[3]

The sequence of the five elements (Traditional Chinese medicine)：promotion, inhibition, Cheng (bullying), Wu (insult).^[4]

Celestial stem[link]

Music[link]

The Yuèlìng chapter (月令篇) of the Lǐjì (禮記) and the Huáinánzǐ (淮南子) make the following correlations:

• The Chinese word 青 qīng, has many meanings, including green, azure, cyan, and black. It refers to green in Wu Xing.
• In most modern music, various seven note or five note scales (e.g., the major scale) are defined by selecting seven or five frequencies from the set of twelve semi-tones in the Equal tempered tuning. The Chinese "lǜ" tuning is closest to the ancient Greek tuning of Pythagoras.

Martial arts[link]

T'ai chi ch'uan uses the five elements to designate different directions, positions or footwork patterns. Either forward, backward, left, right and centre, or three steps forward (attack) and two steps back (retreat).^[6]

The Five Steps (五步 wǔ bù):

• Jìn bù (進步) Forward step
• Tùi bù (退步) Backward step
• Zǔo gù (左顧, in simplified characters 左顾) ) Left step
• Yòu pàn (右盼 ) Right step
• Zhōng dìng (中定) Central position, balance, equilibrium.

Xingyiquan uses the five elements metaphorically to represent five different states of combat.

Tea ceremony[link]

There are spring, summer, fall, and winter teas. The perennial tea ceremony ("perennial", literally means four steps or sequences that are linked together, each representing a season of the year) includes four tea settings(茶席) and a tea master(司茶). The tea settings are:

• earth, center incense, yellow, up and down
• wood, 春風(Spring Wind), green, east
• fire, 夏露(Summer Dew), red, south
• metal, 秋籟(Fall Sounds), white, west
• water, 冬陽(Winter Sunshine) black, north

Each tea setting is arranged and stands for the four directions (north, south, east, and west). A vase of the seasons' flowers is put on tea table. Sometimes if four tea masters are included then five chairs are arranged per tea setting, making a total of twenty plus the 4 tea masters equalling 24, which symbolizes the 24 solar terms of the Chinese calendar, and represents that nature continues or is perennial.

See also[link]

Tablet, in Chinese and Manchu, for the gods of the 5 elements in the Temple of Heaven

• Color in Chinese culture
• Flying Star Feng Shui
• Humorism
• Qi
• Wu Xing Painting
• Zang Fu

Bibliography[link]

• Feng Youlan (Yu-lan Fung), A History of Chinese Philosophy, volume 2, p. 13
• Joseph Needham, Science and Civilization in China, volume 2, pp. 262–23
• Maciocia, G. 2005, The Foundations of Chinese Medicine, 2nd edn, Elsevier Ltd., London

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Wuxing

• Five Elements Malaysia I Ching Net
• Five Element Information Five Element interrelationships, concordances and causative factors.

v t e Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) 中醫 TCM Practices Acupuncture (Zhēnjiǔ 針灸) · Chinese herbology (Zhōngyào xué 中藥學) · Cupping (Báguàn 拔罐) · Moxibustion (Jiǔ 灸) · Chinese massage, Tuī ná or Chin Na (Qín ná 推拿) · Qigong or Ch'i kung (Qìgōng 气功) Three Treasures (Sānbǎo 三寶) Chi (Qì 气) · Essence (Jīng 精) · Spirit (Shén 神) Five Phases (Wu Xing 五行) Earth (Tǔ 土) · Fire (Huǒ 火) · Metal (Jīn 金) · Water (Shuǐ 水) · Wood (Mù 木) Other Key TCM Topics Meridians (Jīngluò 經絡) · Organs (Zàng-fǔ 臟腑) · Yin and yang (Yīnyáng 陰陽) Yin Entities (Zàng 臟) Heart (Xīn 心) · Kidney (Shen 腎) · Pericardium (Xinbaoluo 心包) · Liver (Gān 肝) · Lung (Fei 肺) · Spleen (Pí 脾)) Yang Entities (Fǔ 腑) Gallbladder (Dan 膽) · Large Intestine (Dà cháng 大腸) · Small Intestine (Xiaochang 小腸) · Stomach (Wei 胃) · Triple Warmer (Sānjiaō 三焦) · Urinary Bladder (Pangguang 膀胱) Qiheng zhi fu Brain (Nao) • Marrow (Sui) • Bone (Gu) • Vein (Mai) • Uterus (Zigong) Noted TCM Physicians Hua Tuo 華佗 (141-208) · Li Shizhen 李時珍 (1518-1593) · Sun Simiao 孫思邈 (540–682) · Zhang Jiegu (ca. 1151-1234) · Zhang Zhongjing 張仲景 (150-219) Contemporary Related Topics Alternative medicine · Energy medicine Category · Portal

Xing may refer to:

• an abbreviation for crossing, primarily used in North America
• Qiao Xing Universal Telephone Inc. (NASDAQ: XING)
• XING, a social network platform
• Xing County, in Shanxi, China
• Xing (group), a Korean boy band
• Chinese surnames (姓, xing)
• Xing (surname) (邢), a Chinese surname
• Xing Technology, known for the Xing Player

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"Nothing to My Name" (also known in English as "I Have Nothing") is the English title of a 1986 Mandarin-language rock song by Cui Jian. It is widely considered Cui's most famous and most important work, and one of the most influential songs in the history of the People's Republic of China, both as a seminal point in the development of Chinese rock and roll and as a political sensation. The song was an unofficial anthem for Chinese youth and activists during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

Both in its lyrics and instruments, the song mixes traditional Chinese styles with modern rock elements. In the lyrics, the speaker addresses a girl who is scorning him because he has nothing. However, the song has also been interpreted as being about the dispossessed youth of the time, because it evokes a sense of disillusionment and lack of individual freedom that was common among the young generation during the 1980s.

Historical context[link]

By the late 1970s, Western rock music was gaining popularity in mainland China. After the Cultural Revolution ended in the mid-1970s and the government began a period of economic reform called gaige kaifang, many students and businessmen went abroad and brought back Western music. Chinese singers began performing covers of popular Western rock songs.^[1]

At the same time, Chinese society and the Chinese government were quickly abandoning Maoism, and promoting economic policies that had a more capitalist orientation.^[2] Many Chinese teens and students were becoming disillusioned with their government, which they felt had abandoned its ideals.^[3] Because of the rapid economic changes, many of them felt that they had no opportunities and no individual freedom.^[4] These developments formed the background against which "Nothing to My Name" appeared in 1986.

Music and lyrics[link]

Musical style[link]

Cui Jian was heavily influenced by Western artists such as Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Talking Heads;^[5] in the late 1980s he even performed with a hair style modeled on that of John Lennon.^[6] In "Nothing to My Name" and other songs, he intentionally altered the sounds of traditional Chinese musical instruments by mixing them with elements of rock music, such as electric guitar.^[7] He also purposely divorced his musical style from that of the revolutionary songs and proletarian operas that were common under Chairman Mao Zedong during the Cultural Revolution—for example, he performed his music very loud, as high as 150 decibels, just because Mao had considered loud music disruptive to the social order.^[8]

In genre, the song is often called the first work of Xibeifeng, a 1980s music style originating from Northwest China.^[9] Cui himself, however, considers the song "pure" rock and roll.^[10]

Lyrics and meaning[link]

	"Nothing to My Name" noicon Sample of the first verse and chorus of "Nothing to My Name", demonstrating the lyrics and the mixing of traditional Chinese instruments with rock elements.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Throughout the song, the narrator addresses an unidentified girl, asking "When will you come with me", and lamenting the fact that she laughs at him for having nothing to his name.^[11] He tells her he wants to give her his hopes and bring her freedom, that "the earth is turning under your feet" and "the waters of life are flowing free", yet she persists in scorning him.^[11] He asks why she laughs at the pack he carries on his back, and he wonders why he keeps on going, with nothing to his name.^[11] At last, he tells her that he has waited for a long time, and that this is his final plea: he wants to grab her by the hands, to "take you away with me".^[11] As he sees her hands tremble, and her eyes "overflow with tears", he asks her, "Do you really mean to tell me, you love me as I am?"^[11]

Interpretations of the song's meaning vary from one listener to the next; some people view it as a song about love and desire, while others understand it as a political metaphor, the lyrics being addressed as much to the Chinese nation as to a girlfriend.^{[12][13][14][15]} University of Florida scholar Jonathan Matusitz describes the song's lyrics as a means of expressing politically sensitive ideas that could not be stated through any other medium.^[16] In this interpretation, the lyrics near the beginning, "I've asked you without end / When will you go with me / But you always laughed at me / for having nothing to my name" ("我曾经问个不休/你何时跟我走/可你却总是笑我/一无所有") are taken to express the "humiliation and lack of individuality, possession, and personal freedom",^[11] the "sense of loss and disorientation" among China's youth in the 1980s.^[17] Ethnomusicologist Timothy Brace has described this common analysis of the song lyrics as "recast[ing] the setting of this piece from that of a boy talking to his girlfriend to that of a youthful generation talking to the nation as a whole." The ambiguity is heightened by the structure of the phrase yī wú suŏ yŏu, an idiomatic chengyu. It literally means "to have nothing" and has no grammatical subject. Therefore, it can be interpreted as meaning "I have nothing" (implying that it is a song about two people), or "we have nothing" (understanding it as social commentary).^[18][19]

The narrator of the song worries that the girl he is addressing will ignore him because he has nothing to give her; likewise, the song's audience in the 1980s—young students and workers—were also suffering from not having resources to marry, to be with their girlfriends and boyfriends, or to attract members of the opposite sex.^[4] The lyrics also express Western concepts of individualism,^[20] and were some of the first popular song lyrics in China to promote self-expression and self-empowerment. This put the song in stark contrast with older music, which had emphasized conformity and obedience.^[3] As the narrator, later on in the song, confidently proclaims to the girl that he will "grab her hands" ("我要抓起你的双手") and then she will go with him ("你这就跟我走"), he suggests in the end that she can love the fact that he has nothing ("莫非你是正在告诉我/你爱我一无所有"). On one level, this suggests that the song is about "love conquering all",^[21] but the line has also been interpreted as threatening, and suggestive of an unorthodox and "Dionysian" mix of love and aggression.^[22]

Cui Jian

Just as Cui adapts traditional Chinese sounds and instruments to a new format, in "Nothing to My Name" he also reappropriates traditional Chinese lyrical tropes. The lines "The earth under your feet is moving / The water around your body is flowing" ("脚下的地在走/身边的水在流") are reminiscent of the use of natural imagery in classical Chinese poetry and music, but here are intended to evoke the events going on around the song's listeners, and to provoke them to rebel against the established order.^[23]

Release and impact[link]

Cui wrote "Nothing to My Name" himself^[9] and first performed it on a televised music competition in May 1986, with his band ADO.^[5][12][21] The song was an instant success, creating a "sensation" and turning Cui into a cult figure among urban youth.^[24][25] It was one of the first examples of Chinese, as opposed to imported, rock and roll music to gain popularity in China.^[20][26] The government-controlled People's Daily gave the song a positive review, despite its politically sensitive message.^[27] The song was included on Cui's 1989 album Rock 'n' Roll on the New Long March, released by the China Tourism Sound and Video Publishing Company. (The version of the album released overseas was called Nothing to My Name.^[28]) By 1989, it had become a "battle song"^[5] or "anthem"^[29] among the youth movement.^[12][30]

Cui performed the song live at the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.^[5][31] The performances by Cui and other rock artists during the protests have been described as "a revolutionary few days that rocked a nation," and many protesters sang "Nothing to My Name" to give voice to their rebellion against the government, and their desire for personal freedom and self-expression.^[3][32] Brace describes how, during Cui's Tiananmen performance, students "jumped to their feet and began to sing," a practice that had rarely happened at music performances in China before then.^[33] Not long after Tiananmen, Cui was restricted to playing in small venues; he did not play before a large audience in mainland China again until 2005.^[12]

Cui has become known as the "Father of Chinese Rock",^[34] and "Nothing to My Name" has become his most famous song.^[21][35] It has been described as "the biggest hit in Chinese history"^[5][36] and the beginning of Chinese rock.^[26]

Notes[link]

References[link]