Water (水 shui) is associated with the potential of new life hidden in the dark ground beneath the snows of winter. The five elements are described as followed:
Other common translations talk about the five phases of transformation or the cycle of the elements. The classical Greek elements are concerned with substances and qualities, whereas the Chinese elements are describing processes and changes.
This translation arose by false analogy with the Western system of the four elements. It is widely translated as five elements. As yin and yang continuously adjust to one another and transform into one another in a never-ending dance of harmonization, they tend to do so in a predictable pattern. Wu Xing litterally means moving star and describes the five types of Qi (all the vital substances) cycles through various stages of transformation.
