#wuxing

Wukong - Fire. This is canon to the journey to the west book btw. For Obvious reasons.

Macaque - Water. I know a lot of the fandom associates him with wind because of the Macaque King in the original book, but that's not actually an element in the Wuxing system. I initially chose water because it seemed fitting for how opposite he is with Wukong, but upon further investigation: Water is associated with the color black, the traits lined up, and its sensory organ is the ears. It really worked out perfectly.

Chikao Mahou (The Red Buttocked Horse Monkey) - Earth. A character who has never appeared, but when I looked at what Chikao is said to be able to do ("Has knowledge of yin and yang, Understands human affairs, Is adept in its daily life, And able to avoid death and lengthen its life"), Earth seemed like a good fit. In basic terms, as an element it is associated with stability, containment, and fidelity, which seemed fitting for the character I'm working on.

Tongbi Yuanhou (The Long Armed Gibbon) - Wood. The Gibbon was the last one I associated with an element, so Wood was all that was left, but what I found in my research is that Wood is associated with grasping, reaching, and that fit for a the associations the Gibbon has ("Seize the sun and the moon, Shorten a thousand mountains, Distinguish the auspicious from the inauspicious, And manipulate planets and stars.")

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Beneath the Plum Tree 李下之歌 draws heavy inspiration from the philosophy of Wuxing 五行. This conceptual framework describes the relations and interactions between five 'elements', or more accurately 'phases', and has been applied to traditional Chinese medicine, military strategy, alchemy, and martial arts.

The Five Elements are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. In my book, they have inspired mechanics like personality, skills, and even the five branching subplots in ACT II.

This month, I wanted to tell you a little bit about the first element in the cycle - Wood. :)

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Okay, with the new episode I just gotta talk some Chinese philosophy again.

First of all: haha, I was right, Kyo was the former gold star. Which pretty much confirms that Murasamemon is very much a tiger, leaning into the entire "White Tiger of the Western Road" thing. And we know that the Five Stars are based in the Chinese Five Elements. Which also explains why Kaito is so much of a rival towards Kyo and was probably the one who injured him, leaving the scar.

Because the Wuxin elements have a destructive and a generative cycle. There is the nice Wikipedia entry.

The idea goes like this.

Generative:

Wood Feeds Fire

Fire creates/feeds the Earth (ash)

Earth births Metal

Metal Condenses Water

Water Feeds Plants

Destructive:

Wood carves the Earth (roots)

Earth obstructs Water (dams)

Water extinguishes Fire

Fire melts Metal

Metal cuts down Wood (Axes are made of metal)

So Kaito having destroyed Kyo and now being in a rivalry with Kanada makes sense. And I would assume that the elements and their meaning in Chinese philosophy also is going to influence who the characters are. And we find it also in their names.

(Note: Ah, it is annoying me so much that the anime only gives us Katakana for the first names of the characters, because normally the name signs also say so much. But more about that a bit later)

So, in terms of characters we have this kind of scenario here for the current five stars.

Something that should be noted first and foremost. Kyo's name. His name in Japanese is written 沢城キョウ. And his last name is actually not really linked to metal (you will see that this makes him somewhat an outlier in the Five Stars). 沢 when read as "sawa" is usually valley, or at times also a river in the mountains (one coming down towards the valley). Older readings as "taku" also can refer to it as "blessing". 城 is a castle or a fortress. Kyo could be written as 巨 (rarely read as riches, which would work with the entire metal thing), 許 (home, could fit with his family theme), 許 (super rarely used for Kyo as a standalone name, but could be read as forgiveness, I think?).

You could read this all though as a sign that he was never meant to be a member of the five stars.

And while I am on it, also want to talk about the name of Asuka in relation to Kyo.

I already noted in another blog before, that the last name 天馬 has super strong Buddhist connotations in Japanese. But his first name is more interesting. Asuka. Obviously, again, canonically we have only the Katakana for the name. Funnily enough Asuka usually is a girl's name, but Japanese is not that stern about this. And I am gonna take a lot of bets that he is written 明霞. Being read as "Morning Glow". Which for one connects to the entire Glowing Dawn thing, and the song with "Breaking the Dawn" in the evo song, but also because of Kyo as the Gold Star.

Because the element gold is associated with decay and the evening dusk in the Wuxian. So Asuka being the morning to Kyo's evening makes a whole lot of sense. (And yeah, it makes the shipping with the two of them more likely.) It is also what brought on this fic. Because, yeah, that makes sense.

So, Kutsuna Kaito is written as 忽那カイト. The last name... well, that one is weird. 忽 is "a moment", and 那 is usually the kanji used for NANI ("what") though it should also be noted that 忽 is written with 勿 (not) 心 (heart), which I feel might be a play in this particular reading here, with him being an asshole and all. Otherwise also, obviously, fire being a spark and all that is probably relating to the "moment".

His first name Kaito is somewhat interesting, because almost all writings of the name I know contain Kanji associated with water or the ocean. I mean, there are a lot of different writings of this name (it is a popular name), so it could be a ton of different things. But my first association with the name is always the ocean.

In Chinese philosophy fire is associated with the day, with heat (duh), the color red, and the Vermillion Bird (so zhuqiao, often translated as phoenix). it also is associated with Sovereignity, or even nobility and virtue, but also spontaneity (there again we see the name with the "moment"). Fire is also associated with restlessness, which is something Kaito's description hints at. It can be warm and creative, but also destructive.

Honoka is obviously interesting because she is into Kaito. But she is his destructive element. So she will very likely become a burden to him or somehow hinder him.

Her name 沙海ホノカ is made out of 沙 (sand) and 海 (ocean), which kinda draws the association of beach. Which makes a nice name for an ocean character. Honoka is a fairly popular girl's name, obviously the "ho" part could be written as 帆, which is a sail, and would fit with the entire ocean thing. Though I also could see a writing of the name with 佳 (ka) as "beauty".

Water in the Chinese philosophy is associated with night, the north, winter and generally cold weather. It is usually assocaited with intelligence and wisdom, and obviously flexibility. But is also is associated with being unable to make decisions. The virtue of water is seen as determination though. Obviously, the animal associated with it is xuan wu/genbu or the Black Tortoise.

I find it still very interesting with her and Kaito...

Okay, with Rose Woodville I do not need to do anything with the name, given it is an English name. lol So, yeah. A rose. Wood. And ville, like in place/village/town. Woohoo. That was easy!

Wood in the Wuxing philosophy is associated with spring, the east, wind and the azure dragon (qinglong/seiryuu). It is usually also associated with flexibility, but also strength (to this day a lot of homes in Asia are built from wood). It is also associated with generosity and idealism. It usually is associated with people who mind their manners and such, but also with people who become easily frustrated. Wood always seeks a way to expant, and will break any confinement. So yeah, this generally fits with "rich woman from a good family" rather well.

Again a fairly easy time with the name. Klay obviously is a play on Clay (which comes from the earth). And Arslan is Turkish name that can be translated as lion. Obviously this character also is supposed to be a rich person, given his entire thing with wrist watches and disliking used clothing. (That is a weird dislike too.) It also should be noted that he is so far the oldest character we ever saw with a Digimon partner. And his scars kinda give off the vibes of a battleworn veteran. Also, my dude is a giant with 2m in height.

Earth is a bit weird in regards to the association with season and times of day, as it is assocaited with late summer/early autumn and the rainy season, and windy/rainy days. The associated animal is normally the Qilin or the yellow dragon. Earth is associated with the virtue of diligence, and usually stability. It is nurtering, but also stubborn. But if the chi is there in excess it might also leed to greed or gluttony. Given his design I would argue that the entire greed thing will be his noticable flaw. We will see.

Genjo Kanada is the least subtle name from the Five Stars. He is written 金田ゲンジョウ. 金 is obviously metal like in the element. 田 is the sign for rice paddy, which almost always is the sign in last names when the associated syllable is "da". I think I remember reading that this in names is associated to feudalism. With his first name, Genjo, we again do not know the writing, but I assume they would be 彦将 (young general), considering his position).

As spoken about, metal is associated with autumn, dawn, and such things. Also decay and rot and death. Which... botes well.

This isn't a theory, more so an explanation as to what the specifications of what the Chinese Elements are.

As the show and the fans have pointed out, the 5 Stars are based on the Chinese Elements of Wood, Fire, Earth, Gold (Metal) and Water.

These Elements are called the Wuxing (The Five Phases).

A fivefold conceptual scheme used in many traditional Chinese fields of study to explain a wide array of phenomena, including terrestrial and celestial relationships, influences, and cycles, that characterise the interactions and relationships within science, medicine, politics, religion and social relationships and education within Chinese culture.

Each of these elements have Cycling relationships with each other, divided into Generative / Destructive and Forward / Reverse meanings.

Inter-promoting The generative cycle is: Wood feeds Fire as fuel Fire produces Earth (ash, lava) Earth bears Metal (geological processes produce minerals) Metal collects, filters and purifies Water (water vapor condenses on metal, for example) Water nourishes Wood (water leads to growth of flowers, plants and other changes in nature)

Inter-regulating The destructive cycle is: Wood grasps (or stabilizes) Earth (roots of trees can prevent soil erosion) Earth contains (or directs) Water (dams or river banks) Water dampens (or regulates) Fire Fire melts (or refines or shapes) Metal Metal chops (or carves) Wood

Overacting The excessive destructive cycle is: Wood depletes Earth (depletion of nutrients in soil, over-farming, overcultivation) Earth obstructs Water (over-damming) Water extinguishes Fire Fire melts Metal (affecting its integrity) Metal makes Wood rigid to easily snap.

Weakening The reverse generative cycle is: Wood depletes Water Water rusts Metal Metal impoverishes Earth (erosion, destructive mining of minerals) Earth smothers Fire Fire burns Wood (forest fires)

Counteracting A reverse or deficient destructive cycle is: Wood dulls Metal Metal de-energizes Fire (conducting heat away) Fire evaporates Water Water muddies (or destabilizes) Earth Earth rots Wood (buried wood rots)

How these five will interact with our heroes / each other members is still unknown. But we can at least start framing a basic framework of their dynamics.

As for their Digimon, We know Gokuwmon is one of them. Since Gold (Metal) has associated with Electricity in some JRPGs (Megami Tensei, E.g.), we can assume Gokuwmon is Gold's Digimon.

Some have speculating that Kyo was once a former Star (like Gold). Personally, I believe he was once the Water Star before leaving and being replaced the blue girl.

One, Kyo's blue coloring, cliche I know. Two, all of Murasamemon's techniques have Rain in their trsnslated names and mentions of its victims being subject to thunderous rainfall in their final moments after being struck by Tsui-no-zan: Kokuu.

Three: In Chinese philosophy, water is one of the five concepts that conform the wuxing. It is the low point of matter, and is considered matter's dying or hiding stage. Among the five elements, water is the old yin symbol of the yinyang character. Its motion is downward and inward, and its energy is stillness and conserving. Water is associated with the color black

>"Dying / Hiding Stage, energy is stillness and conserving" and water is the color Black in the Wuxing.

I found a data table about the application of the Wuxing philosophy in traditional Chinese medicine and noticed some of the pentads were identical with MDZS story details. What stood out to me was that each of the five great cultivation clans seemed to correspond with a finger: the themes, emotions and mental qualities associated with a particular finger in Wuxing also matched the virtues and vices the members of the five great clans embodied.

Wen clan: Thumb

Virtue: fidelity

Emotion: anxiety, planning

Mental quality: agreeableness, honesty

One of the words for thumb in Chinese is 大拇指 (damuzhi, “big + thumb + finger”). The character 拇 (mu) means “thumb” or “big toe,” indicating its larger size and importance for grasping things.

Like a thumb is meant to be the first digit so was the Wen clan supposed to be the gold standard, the best a cultivation clan could hope to be. At the height of its power, there were no clans that could compare to the Wen Clan's number of disciples, power, land, or magical tools. The faithfulness Wen Ning shows to Wei Wuxian with his continuing loyalty and support must have rivalled the fidelity the Wen clan was known for in its heyday. There was no forced loyalty via demonic cultivation.

Lan clan: Index finger

Virtue: righteousness

Emotion: grief, compassion

Mental quality: intuition, rationality, mind

“Be righteous,” says the Lan clan motto, and during the course of the story Lan Wangji is forced to learn to look beneath the surface and to follow the spirit of the law instead of the letter. In Chinese the index finger is called 食指 (shizhi, "to eat + finger"). The character 食 (shi) refers to “eating” as this finger is commonly used for pointing at food or indicating direction while eating. (cf. The Lan clan rules about food and drink) Interestingly, 食指 has also another meaning “a mouth to feed” (as in a person, typically child, who has to be looked after and fed) and Lan Wangji ends up becoming the guardian of Lan Sizhui.

Besides 食指, there's another word for index finger, 示指 (shizhi, "to show, reveal, instruct, indicate + finger"), a name which preserves the purpose for which index finger is often used: for pointing direction. Nie Mingjue's resentful, dismembered arm points Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji to the right direction in their search for his missing body parts.

 Bonus: the character 示 (shi) is used in the verb 明示 (mingshi, “to state explicitly”) and Lan Wangji is a character who just can't spit it out.

Nie clan: Middle finger

Virtue: propriety

Emotion: frenzy, joy

Mental quality: passion, intensity

The secret of the Nie clan is that the clan uses the resentful energy of beasts and creatures to cultivate their sabers. However, this particular method eventually begins to affect the saber owner's state of mind. As a result, nearly every Nie Clan Leader has eventually grown irritable and died of a qi deviation. 

In the western world the middle finger is used to give someone the finger and you could sum it up as the finger of the obscene hand gesture. In MDZS the obscenity shows up in how Nie Mingjue’s body is dismembered. To quote tumblr-user cuilpantielthesleepyscribe:

“Fun fact, this kind of desecration was said to fuck up your reincarnation - it was vitally important that you be buried with all your pieces, or you'd be reborn disabled, and you can imagine how much fun that would be in Ye Olde Days China. This was to the extent that the eunuch-makers preserved and labelled the - bits - carefully. If the eunuch made it rich, time to ransom their own bits back so they can be buried with them.” 

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji also come across Nie Mingjue's naked, headless corpse when the resentful body parts manage to escape from their respective Qiankun bags and assemble themselves.

However, in Chinese the middle finger is 将指 (jiangzhi, “a general + finger”) and to check-mate (in chess) is 将死 jiangsi (“a general + to die”). Hell hath no fury like Nie Huaisang who has lost his elder brother. A deadly chess game between Nie Huaisang and Jin Guangyao is about to start and rules of propriety be hanged – like those poor cats.

Jiang clan: Ring finger

Virtue: benevolence

Emotion: anger, motivation

Mental quality: idealism, spontaneity, curiosity

In the English language the name ring finger connects the fourth digit with the concept of love, but in many languages the names of the ring finger reflect an ancient belief that it is a magical finger. It is named after magic, healing, or called nameless. (For example, in my culture keeping the fourth digit nameless was thought to protect you from evil and possession.) For most people, the fourth digit is also the finger which is most difficult to control (cf. control > uncontrollable > untamed).

In Chinese the ring finger is called 无名指 (wumingzhi, “unnamed finger”). 无名 (wuming) literally means “nameless” or “anonymous,” suggesting that this finger is not typically associated with a specific function or identity. Wei Wuxian's courtesy name 无羡 (wuxian, “without + envy”), is also written using the first character in 无名指.

Both Jiang clan members and people connected to Baoshan Sanren (because I think Xiao Xingchen can be thought as a foil to Jiang Cheng: no good deed goes unpunished and theirs leave them either literally or figuratively blind) are used to examine the concept of benevolence and what are the pitfalls of blindly or anonymously helping others. 

Jin clan: Pinky

Virtue: wisdom

Emotion: fear, caution

Mental quality: erudition, resourcefulness, wit

The direct disciples of the Jin clan have a vermilion mark between their eyebrows, to "open the doors toward wisdom and aspiration.” In Chinese the pinky finger is called 小拇指 (xiaomuzhi, “little + thumb + finger”), so one would expect the cultivation clan to replace the Wens to be wise enough learn from their mistakes. What we end up getting instead is Jin Guangshan's version of "I want to be Caliph instead of the Caliph", a Lan Wangji imitator (Su She), and a new weaker version of the Yin Tiger Tally. 

In Chinese culture, the gesture of linking pinky fingers, “to make pinky promise” (拉钩承诺, la gou chengnuo, “to pull + a hook + to promise”), commonly signifies making a promise or pledge, particularly among children or close friends. When individuals intertwine their pinky fingers (sometimes followed by stamping their thumbs together), it symbolises a sincere commitment to keep a promise or uphold an agreement. This gesture is deeply rooted in trust and friendship, signifying a bond of loyalty and reliability. 

For fun, I made a Western Elements Wuxing Chart! I hope the matchups are obvious, but I'll gladly field any questions.

To explain the least obvious: Aether is what medieval scientists believed space was made out of. A lighter-than-air substance responsible for light, gravity, and most things divine. Being space, it dissipates air and freezes water, but fire and earth can survive as stars and planets, which is why they beat Aether.

NOTE: if I get anything about wuxing wrong, please correct me! I did research for this post but I'm sure I greatly simplified things.

I don't recall seeing a post about this on Tumblr, so I figured I'd be the change I want to see!

Anyway, something I don't see discussed often in the Sailor Moon fandom is the fact that much of the Inner Senshi's powers and personalities are based on wuxing, or the Chinese system of Five Phases. Well, okay, technically wuxing influenced the Japanese naming system of the 5 planets known since antiquity (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn), as wuxing was originally used to refer those planets in ancient Chinese scholarship before it took on a broader meaning. But I still think Naoko Takeuchi was influenced by wuxing and not just the Japanese names of the planets themselves!

Anyway, you can kind of think of wuxing as similar to the Western idea of the classical elements, but it's far broader in scope. In traditional Chinese fields, it's used to explain a wide range of phenomenon, such as cosmic cycles and the succession of political regimes.

However, this post will only be exploring how wuxing is used to classify the planets and how that influenced Naoko Takeuchi when she created Sailor Moon. The elements and their planetary matches are:

Water: Mercury

Metal: Venus

Fire: Mars

Wood: Jupiter

Earth: Saturn

There are also certain mental/emotional qualities assigned to these elements:

Water: Wisdom, wit, intelligence, flexibility, resourcefulness, softness, anxiety

Metal: Determination, strength, ambition, self-reliance, strength of mind, rigid, leadership

Fire: Passion, intensity, resolve, spontaneity, dynamism, restlessness, hate

Wood: Warmth, generosity, idealism, cooperation, courage, kindness, anger

Earth: Patience, thoughtfulness, nurturing, honesty, stability, agreeableness

So yeah, I think there are some clear parallels here.

Sailor Mercury: Ami Mizuno means "Asian Beauty of Water" and Sailor Mercury has powers over water in all its states of matter (fog, water, and ice). I've sometimes seen people be confused over why Sailor Mercury has water powers when the planet Mercury is so hot and devoid of any semblance of water; well, it's because of wuxing! Anyway, Ami herself is also known for her intelligence and wisdom as well as for her soft heart.

Sailor Mars: Rei Hino means "Spirit of Fire" and Sailor Mars commands control over flames. Sailor Mars is known as the "Senshi of Flames and Passion," and lives up to that name by being one of the most passionate and intense Senshi in the series.

Sailor Jupiter: Makoto Kino means "Sincerity of Wood" and while Sailor Jupiter is commonly associated with electricity, her powers really encompass nature as a whole. In the manga/reboot anime, she has a number of attacks that involve plants. Mako is loved by her friends for being incredibly warm and generous, and Sailor Jupiter is known as the "Senshi of Courage."

Sailor Venus: Minako Aino's name ("Beautiful Child of Love") and her powers overall take much more inspiration from the Roman goddess of love and beauty, Venus, than from wuxing. However, she does still incorporate metal into her attacks, especially in the manga and reboot anime. In the manga/reboot this is done via her trusty chain, which is utilized for most of her attacks. Regarding personality, Minako is very self-reliant, ambitious, and determined, and of course is the leader of the Inner Senshi.

Sailor Saturn: There's not much to say here, because I don't think Naoko Takeuchi was inspired much by wuxing for Hotaru. However, "Earth" is reflected in Hotaru Tomoe's name- "Firefly Sprouting From Earth"- likely because the planet Saturn follows the wuxing naming convention in Japanese (it's called “Dosei," or "Earth Star"). That being said, Hotaru is very patient, thoughtful, and honest (I would not list "stability" as one of her qualities though, considering the whole "possessed by an evil alien and then reborn as a rapidly aging baby" thing lmao).