Fantasy Seven

Element Theory

China ends up with two systems of five elements, one from Chinese philosophy and one imported from India with Buddhism. Three elements match in each system, fire, water, and earth. The Chinese elements then include two missing from the Buddhist elements, metal and wood; and the Buddhist elements include two missing from the Chinese, air and aether (or the void).

Chinese philosophy thus has, as a matter of fact, seven elements, although these were never combined into one system. In combining them now, as a fantasy exercise, we might take a clue from Western philosophy, where the seven planets were the basis of the theory in Mediaeval alchemy that there were seven metals. As it happens, the five naked eye planets in Chinese astronomy were matched up with the five elements. In the adoption of the seven day week from the West, Chinese usage then assigns the five planets to the days of the week apart from Sunday and Monday, which are then named, obviously enough, after the Sun and the Moon. If we want to add two extra elements, then, the Sun and the Moon provide the slots for them. Since the element air gets translated as "wind" in Chinese, the Moon, which moves the fastest of the heavenly bodies, seems the appropriate match, while the Sun, illuminating the heavens, is not inappropriate for aether/void.

The accompanying table lists the seven elements with their Chinese characters, in the ascending order of the planets as recognized in Mediaeval Western astronomy, with the planetary symbols and the metals that Western alchemy associated with them. The toughest problem with all this are the associated colors. The Buddhist and the Chinese elements have definite color associations, which only agree for fire (red) and earth (yellow). The Greek elements do not have a traditional color scheme, but I would take red, yellow, green, and blue, from Jung's Mandala Symbolism, as appropriate for Western concepts of the four elements (with no color, i.e. white, for the often overlooked aether) -- as it happens, these are the four colors used in the 1997 Bruce Willis movie The Fifth Element. Of the five colors associated each with the Chinese and Buddhist elements, Chinese does not distinguish blue from green, which Buddhism does, and Chinese uses black, which Buddhism does not. If we distinguish blue from green and add black, that still only gives six colors, so a seventh is necessary. Meanwhile, we could do some sorting. All agree on red for fire. Chinese colors of white for metal and green for wood seem natural enough. Blue for water, instead of Buddhist white or Chinese black, seems better, as it actually occurs instead of black in the yin-yang diagram on the flag of South Korea. Buddhist green for air seems unnatural, while yellow for earth, although with Buddhist agreement, only seems the most appropriate for the floodplain of the Yellow River. Thus, yellow, the color of the air I often see in Los Angeles, is possible, while black has been thought the color of earth in many places since Ancient Egypt, the "Black Land." That only leaves one element and one color short. When I consider that purple clouds are a sign of someone entering the Pure Land of the Buddha Amida, purple may be a natural color to suggest for the element that can be used as a name of the Buddha, Kong Wang, "King of Emptiness."



An important part of Chinese five element theory is the direction represented by each element, with earth in the center. In the accompanying diagram, arranged around earth are squares containing the appropriate Chinese elements, in the right directions, if north is up and west to the left. If these five squares were to be folded up into a cube, one side would be open. If that open side were used for air, and the cube unfolded, then the arrangement would be with the square for air attached to one of the four outer elements. If air is attached as shown, then the vertical column of squares contains the original four Greek elements, which are shown with their hot/cold, wet/dry classifications by Aristotle. The folded cube is shown at left, with transparent sides for air, water, and metal and with solid colors for earth, wood, and fire, and at right with solid colors for air, water, and metal.

This leaves aether/void unaccounted for. Now earth, which was in the center for the Chinese elements, is displaced by its position on a side of the cube. The empty center of the cube thus might seem the likely place for aether/void, and it is therefore so shown at left inside a purple framework of the cube.

An alternative idea about aether could be derived from the idea of the "three kingdoms" in India, namely the Earth, the Air, and the Heavens. Earth could be the five Chinese elements. Air is then, of course, above the earth, and since we are actually in the air, the outer four elements could still be folded up as in the cubes shown above. Aether, however, as the sky or the heavens, would be even above air, and this would put it outside the cube altogether, as at right.



The use of the cube for six of the seven elements means that the Greek/Buddhist and Chinese elements can be represented, respectively, just by leaving off the appropriate sides of the cube. Thus, at far left, are the sides for the four original Greek elements, with two sides left off, while at immediate left is the cube with only one side left off for the five Chinese elements.



Finally, we might consider the relationship between the Chinese "five virtues" and how they seem to fit with the Kantian character typology considered elsewhere. None of the Chinese element associations match the Kantian typology, except one, imperfectly. However, if the idea is to map the five Chinese virtues onto the four Western humors, then some bumping and rearranging is going to happen. If "good faith," a central virtue indeed as Kantian good will, is to continue in the "center," then it would go to aether, not remain with earth. Righteousness replaces good faith; propriety goes to air; and kindness comes in to replace propriety. This leaves "knowledge" in place, but the Kantian virtue is now the closely related one of prudence.



If we regret the loss of associated virtues for metal and wood, there is going to be no difficulty supplying them from other Confucian virtues. Zhōng and shù, "conscientiousness" or "loyalty" and "consideration," will do. Or xiào, "filial piety," is also available. Indeed, this more than we need. Along with the original "knowledge," two virtues at least will have no place in the seven element theory. Maybe we need eight or nine elements, not just seven.