The Relationships in Wu Xing (Five-Phase Theory)
The relationships in Wu Xing are what really bring the theory to life, and when it starts to really shows its complexity. The relationships are what make Wu Xing a systems theory in its own right because the relationships show us the dynamic inter-connectedness between all phenomena within any system we look at, whether it’s a natural one, or a man-made one.
According to Wu Xing any and all systems will need to function according to the relationships and phases to be sustainable. These are considered natural rules and they apply even to human made systems as human made systems cannot be designed to function sustainably outside the natural rules governing the behaviour of a dynamic system.
What is a system?
A system is a collection of parts that are connected together through relationships to create a whole. When connected together as a whole the behaviour of whole becomes more than the sum of its parts. The system cannot be understood merely by looking at the individual parts.
What is a complex system?
A complex system is one that is constantly changing, transforming and progressing, and can be unpredictable in its response to even the smallest of influences. Complex systems also tend to be self-organising.
This may appear to suggest that a complex system can be random and impossible to fathom, but complex systems are also characterised by underlying repeatable behaviour and patterns. For example, in terms of climate, we always experience a summer and we all recognise the patterns of the summer season. However, if you live in the UK, you will know that the weather during the summer is anything but predictable. We never quite know what we’re going to get.
Wu Xing fits the definition of a Complexity Theory because one of the fundamental principles is continuous transformation and change.
Another aspect which is key to Wu Xing and ancient Chinese philosophy is that the initial conditions present within a system will dramatically affect its development and trajectory of change. For example, in the martial art Tai Chi Chuan, there is a saying that if you start the form even an inch out, you’ll be out by miles at the end.
Wu Xing also recognises that a tiny change in a system can bring about huge effect in the system. Actually, this principle is key to realising change in a sustainable way while minimising unintended conqequences that so often come from attemps at large scale change.
How Wu Xing is Different from Modern Systems Theories
Modern systems theories tend to be based on mathematical models and computation which means that if you want to delve into systems theory, you need to know some maths and probably have access to some computer modelling tools with significant processing power.
Wu Xing is not mathematical, it is based upon the cultivation of observation skills of the environment around us. Because it is based upon the function of natural systems, the behaviours and patterns of these systems are there for us to see and use to our benefit.
One of the earliest applications of Xu Xing was, for example, in agriculture to simultaneously increase yields and do it sustainably.
One other major difference is that the relationships in Wu Xing have a well defined function – they either nourish and support the function of related phases, or they don’t and these lines of correspondence can be clearly mapped out depending on the observable and differentiated patterns. This makes it concise and more accessible to navigate.
The Relationships
There are 4 relationships in Wu Xing, each viewed as pairs.
The first pair is Production and Control. The second pair is Encroachment and Violation.
The first pair, providing they are in balance and harmony with the function of each phase, are seen as natural healthy relationships. The second pair are considered to be apparent when there is a disharmony in relations between and/or imbalance in the functions of the phases.
The Production Cycle
„Water/watering produces plants and trees, that is wood; wood brings forth fire; fire produces ashes, that is soil [Earth]; soil brings forth metal; when heated metals produce steam, that is water.‟
Eberhard (1933)1; Needham (1956, p 253-259) as cited in Unschuld (1995)
The Control Cycle
„Water overcomes fire; fire melts metal; metal-in the form of a knife, for instance overcomes
Eberhard (1933)1; Needham (1956, p 253-259) as cited in Unschuld (1995)
wood; wood-as in a spade-overcomes soil; soil-as in a dike-subdues
water.‟
As you can see, both the production and control cycles are grounded in the real world processes that can easily be observed. But, and this is quite a big but initially, it’s unclear how this applies to the function of the human body, society, or a successful company. This is where we need more explanation. In my experience, once we get a sense of these processes/relationships, it does start to make more sense.
When I first started out learning the theory, I was completely on my own with it. I made the mistake of thinking that because of the way the production cycle is drawn and described, processes in the systems worked in the same linear way which was coherant in the way that it would guide me along a line of causation towards some root cause. I want you to avoid this pitfall, although it might be a necessary step in learning how to think differently as we are taught in the West to try to think towards causation when solving any problem, simple or complex. It’s a big step to take.
Seeing the Movements
An ancient Chinese text outlines the process of becoming a person within Wu Xing:
„What responds to the environment is called xin (heart-mind).
What xin brings out is called yi (imagery).
What yi stores is called zhi (memory; memorization).
Because of zhi, knowledge is reorganized.
This is called si (thinking; reflection).
Because of si, one thinks for the future.
This is called lu (strategy; plan).
Because of lu, one makes decisions and takes actions.
This is called zhi (wise; wisdom).‟
Neijing:Lingshu as translated in Zhang (2007, p. 41)
As a rough translation into Wu Xing:
Xin (heart-mind) in this context relates to Fire.
Xin (Fire) brings out Yi, which is a function of Earth – so here Fire produces Earth
‘What Yi stores is called Zhi’ – in the functions of Five-Phase Theory, this is technically a process of digestion that involves Earth, Metal, and Water. Earth does the digestion which is Yi, Metal is the part that draws on what is valuable and Water has a storage function as well as being correlated with knowledge, which is Zhi.
‘This is called Si’ – thinking and reflection is seen as a healthy process of digesting experience, so is a function of Earth and Metal, and Water.
‘Because of Si, one thinks for the future, this is called Lu’ -this is a process that correlates with Wood, which is about having a plan and putting into action.
Finally, ‘this is called zhi (wisdom)’ is taking us back to the function of Water.
As you can see, the process isn’t entirely linear or strictly along the lines of production, but involve a dynamic process through all of the phases. We’ll get to covering all this as we work through the whole theory, but let me take you through some of the functions and how they apply to each phase and the relationships. We’ll just look at Earth and Metal for now.
Earth and Metal
The Earth phase correlates to the function of digestion. This could be the digestion of food through the body, or the digestion of experience through the mind. It really involves any process related to life of taking in a substance and digesting it to harvest the resources contained in the substance for health and function. It doesn’t matter whether this is physical, mental, or spiritual.
The way in which we can see this process is, for example, by the spreading of manure in a field. The manure gets digested by the earth to provide the nutrients nourishing the growth of crops. Likewise, any organic matter that falls to the ground can, essentially, been seen to rot down and then be absorbed into the earth to provide nutrients for the next seedlings to grow. Anything organic laid in the earth eventually gets digested in the soil.
This digestion process supports and nourishes life. The process also involves a separation of any incoming substance into its constituent parts where what is valuable is harvested and what isn’t is passed on as valuable to someone or something else. This is how Earth produces Metal and how it is a function of Metal. Metal represents all the things we find in the Earth of value, from actual metal, to precious stones, to minerals and nutrients. What is of value can then be exchanged for mutual benefit.
One example of mutually beneficial exchange of resources is that of breathing. We breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide, which is valuable to plants and trees, for their growth. This represents a process of mutual exchange which is seen to be essential to the healthy function of any system or collections of inter-connected systems.
Metal can also be repeatedly transformed into valuable items. But moreover, minerals and essential nutrients support the transformation of any living being, as can many experiences digested in the right way.
Here we can see that if the function of Earth is out of balance and the digestive process is prohibited in any way, we lose the ability to extract what is valuable in terms of either our experiences, or substances we ingest in food and water. And this depletes the healthy function of any relevant system, whether it’s mental or physical.
From a wider systems perspective, this process is mirrored in the ability of a business to digest business conditions, for example, to understand if products or services are matching the market demands. There needs to be an effective mechanism for digesting operational experiences that then guides the action of the business forwards. So a business system needs to be fed relevant resources that are digested in a way that supports the ongoing business operation. It also needs to understand the essential exchange of valuable resources with other systems to operate sustainably and to grow.
In some business contexts, the fundamental resource required may be physical, such as in mining or food production, or it may be knowledge based such as in professional services. In my previous senior management position, one of my responsibilities was to understand the relevant information and knowledge required for professionals to do there jobs and then to understand how that could be digested to develop and grow higher value advisory services for the organisation.
Now, this has been a mere whistlestop tour of Wu Xing (Five Element Theory). In the following articles we’ll be exploring the functions and relationships in much more detail and then look at how you can learn to view and model systems using the theory in practice within your context.