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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classical element | 3/4 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_element | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T09:32:56.401003+00:00 | kb-cron |
Just as a skilled butcher or his apprentice, having killed a cow, would sit at a crossroads cutting it up into pieces, the monk contemplates this very body — however it stands, however it is disposed — in terms of properties: 'In this body there is the earth property, the liquid property, the fire property, & the wind property.' Tibetan Buddhist medical literature speaks of the pañca mahābhūta (five elements) or "elemental properties": earth, water, fire, wind, and space. The concept was extensively used in traditional Tibetan medicine. Tibetan Buddhist theology, tantra traditions, and "astrological texts" also spoke of them making up the "environment, [human] bodies," and at the smallest or "subtlest" level of existence, parts of thought and the mind. Also at the subtlest level of existence, the elements exist as "pure natures represented by the five female buddhas", Ākāśadhātviśvarī, Buddhalocanā, Mamakī, Pāṇḍarāvasinī, and Samayatārā, and these pure natures "manifest as the physical properties of earth (solidity), water (fluidity), fire (heat and light), wind (movement and energy), and" the expanse of space. These natures exist as all "qualities" that are in the physical world and take forms in it.
== Ancient African philosophy ==
=== Central Africa ===
In traditional Bakongo religion, the five elements are incorporated into the Kongo cosmogram. This sacred symbol also depicts the physical world (Nseke), the spiritual world of the ancestors (Mpémba), the Kalûnga line that runs between the two worlds, the circular void that originally formed the two worlds (mbûngi), and the path of the sun. Each element correlates to a period in the life cycle, which the Bakongo people also equate to the four cardinal directions. According to their cosmology, all living things go through this cycle.
Aether represents mbûngi, the circular void that begot the universe. Air (South) represents musoni, the period of conception that takes place during spring. Fire (East) represent kala, the period of birth that takes place during summer. Earth (North) represents tukula, the period of maturity that takes place during fall. Water (West) represents luvemba, the period of death that takes place during winter
=== West Africa === In traditional Bambara spirituality, the Supreme God created four additional essences of himself during creation. Together, these five essences of the deity correlate with the five classical elements.
Koni is the thought and void (aether). Bemba (also called Pemba) is the god of the sky and air. Nyale (also called Koroni Koundyé) is the goddess of fire. Faro is the androgynous god of water. Ndomadyiri is the god and master of the earth.
== Post-classical history ==
=== Alchemy ===
The elemental system used in medieval alchemy was developed primarily by the anonymous authors of the Arabic works attributed to Pseudo Apollonius of Tyana. This system consisted of the four classical elements of air, earth, fire, and water, in addition to a new theory called the sulphur-mercury theory of metals, which was based on two elements: sulphur, characterising the principle of combustibility, "the stone which burns"; and mercury, characterising the principle of metallic properties. They were seen by early alchemists as idealised expressions of irreducible components of the universe and are of larger consideration within philosophical alchemy. The three metallic principles—sulphur to flammability or combustion, mercury to volatility and stability, and salt to solidity—became the tria prima of the Swiss alchemist Paracelsus. He reasoned that Aristotle's four element theory appeared in bodies as three principles. Paracelsus saw these principles as fundamental and justified them by recourse to the description of how wood burns in fire. Mercury included the cohesive principle, so that when it left in smoke the wood fell apart. Smoke described the volatility (the mercurial principle), the heat-giving flames described flammability (sulphur), and the remnant ash described solidity (salt).
=== Chinese ===
Chinese traditional concepts adopt a set of elements called the 五行 (wuxing, literally "five phases"). These five are Metal or Gold (金 Jīn), Wood (木 Mù), Water (水 Shuǐ), Fire (火 Huǒ), and Earth or Soil (土 Tǔ). These can be linked to Taiji, Yinyang, Four Symbols, Bagua, Hexagram and I Ching.
Gold (West) represents the young yin symbol, autumn, the white colour, and White Tiger mascot, Taotie creature (Earth). Wood (East) represents the young yang symbol, spring, the green colour, and Azure Dragon mascot, Feilian creature (Wind). Water (North) represents the old yin symbol, winter, the black colour, and Black Turtle-Snake mascot. Fire (South) represents the old yang symbol, summer, the red colour, and Vermilion Bird mascot. Soil (Center) represents the Qi symbol, intermediate season, the yellow colour, and Yellow Dragon mascot, Hundun creature (Void).
=== Japanese ===
Japanese traditions use a set of elements called the 五大 (godai, literally "five great"). These five are earth, water, fire, wind/air, and void. These came from Indian Vastu shastra philosophy and Buddhist beliefs; in addition, the classical Chinese elements (五行, wu xing) are also prominent in Japanese culture, especially to the influential Neo-Confucianists during the medieval Edo period.
Earth (地 Chi) represented rocks and stability. Water (水 Sui) represented fluidity and adaptability. Fire (火 Ka) represented life and energy. Wind (風 Fuu) represented movement and expansion. Void (空 Kuu) or Sky/Heaven represented spirit and creative energy.
=== Medieval Aristotelian philosophy === The Islamic philosophers al-Kindi, Avicenna and Fakhr al-Din al-Razi followed Aristotle in connecting the four elements with the four natures heat and cold (the active force), and dryness and moisture (the recipients).
=== Medicine Wheel === The medicine wheel symbol is a modern invention attributed to Native American peoples dating to approximately 1972, with the following descriptions and associations being a later addition. The associations with the classical elements are not grounded in traditional Indigenous teachings and the symbol has not been adopted by all Indigenous American nations.