The Chinese Five Elements Explained | Learn Chinese Now 

They are also used to describe solar system planets in Chinese. mercury - water, venus - metal, mars - fire, jupiter - wood, saturn - dirt/soil, and the earth - ground

Just play pokemon you'll get it eventually

never have i felt this much excitement about learning new things/ gaining new knowledge. Thank you so much.

Very interesting. I know the Chinese symbols for the five elements because Japanese took them over from Chinese (with their original meanings intact). The Chinese words also form the basis for the names of five of the days of the week in Japanese. Huo (Japanese Kaiyobi) = Tuesday, Shui (Japanese Suiyobi) = Wednesday, Mu (Japanese Mokuyobi) = Thursday, Jin (Japanese Kinyobi) = Friday, Tu (Japanese Doyobi) = Saturday. Sunday and Monday took the Chinese symbols for the sun and the moon, but not the Chinese names: Sunday = Nichiyobi and Monday = Getsuyobi in Japanese.

Did the elements get reduced when the fire nation attacked? This explains the lack of a air element

They are called five chi气(vectors) instead of five elements(scalar). They started from the 河图and 洛书 which constitute the 易经 八卦。

金生水 can also be interpreted as metal can be molten into liquid state. For example, molten iron can be called 鐵水 or Iron Water.

Thanks. ... I've know these for years but the use of the term overcome rather than the harsher term destroy is something that made me think.

this was easy to understand and explained really well! also his pronunciation is perfect!

Hey Ben, great videos! I'm going to study in Taiwan for a year and your videos are being very helpful.

thank you for this! Ive been looking for a video that has the pronunciations and Chinese characters to try and understand the philosophy from a more native perspective xD

I CAN STUDY THIS IN COLLEGE?! FINALLY SOMETHING I'LL LIKE

I do love your channel man!

Ni hao from Ao da li ya Ben i have to say as a fellow lao wai you are a total inspiration i only wish i had begun learning zhong wen earlier xie xie for all the great videos

Great video, do you know which classical philosophers first articulated these systems and ideas?

If you really want to understand this field very deeply, go study the classic chinese astrology (the true one) example: 5 elements actually break down to 10 elements, 5 yang, 5 yin it is actually relate to everything in life

Excellent presentation

thanks a lot for your clear approach :)

Very useful thank you!

This is absolute gold (jīn?) :) Thank you... very informative, succinct and helpful.

excellent content!

very good.thank you

Thanks I have a presentation about the 5 elements.

This guy really knows Chinese and he is saying it correctly!

I like this man's video. 这个男人很有才。

Good explanation

Thumbs up for mentioning 形意拳

Yeah, but how about Electric type pokemon?

There is a thing called Five Elements Kung Fu. It's basically 5 way rock-paper-scissors. I've heard of it in Kung Fu movies.

Interesting, I always wondered how the 5 elements functioned

In China they have "The Sixth Element" starring Wuce Brillis.

The cycle reminds me of The Pentacle, in the Wiccan tradition. By the way, you're still so damn adorable!

How about the air element what is the purpose or role

Hello I don't know if you've talked about this before but for how long have you been studying Chinese?

Great vid again, as usual. Am I the only numpty thinking "Rock, Paper, Scissors"!

The elements are much less literal than he described in the beginning, like you might have noticed about the medical application, some organs are considered of different elements even though they seem to have nothing to do with those elements.

Thank you for the explanation it's very useful.

i understand much of this because of avatar and korra

i understand that water over comes fire but at a certain point fire evaporates water so what would the cycle and so on be called if it was reversed?

Thank you

Thank you that is interesting 😅

@Ben: You might as cover the heavenly stems and earthly branches.

Avatar fans: *“Where’s Air?”*

I thought the 5th element was heart, at least that is what I learnt from watching Captain Planet as a kid

I know the Chinese five elements are widely used in fengshui or medical because of its principle of mutual generation and restraint, but what about western four element: fire, water, wind, earth, can someone explain for me?

Interestingly logical. That is the wonder of Chinese wisdoms. That holistic application and life is balance. Peace and health Chinese value. Not bloody mad wars.

五行来自自然，组成世界的元素！相生相克！阴阳有序！无限循环！才能达到一个平衡的世界！

Metal to water in the generating cycle could also be understood as the minerals in drinking water

I was taught that 金 (jin) meant gold.

Great!

1:29 & so is w the lava Oh why i get that lava song vibe 😍🥰 1:53 - now i wanna see a demonstration of the 3rd n next 3:02 - makes so much sense - cs fire=acidity n we know acids can be dangerous when used wrongly or overused ...

The visuals help me learn by heart. I am studying TCM.

"With these powers combined I am Captain Planet!" Ok it's not all same elements from TV show but pretty close 😋

If you look at the Tarot, there is a suite of coins(earth), swords(metal)cups (water),knaves (wood), Majors(fire). So the Wu Xing has appeared in the west in it's own way.

Glory study thanks😊

Sseth Has Already Explained To Me The Extensive Lengths Of Chinese Alchemy.

What about sky wing lightning and void

你这小曲儿真不错

The most elaborate game of roshambo ever!

Who is the content creator? I like his videos

You should also teach how to bend them

interesting

Well how is your pronunciation so good.

I actually like these elements a lot more

are you from generation tech?

What about Air and Aether?

Thank you but you should look up Panch maha bhoota or 5 elements of our existence. Much more profound.

I am making a shonen manga which uses these elements in its power system except there are 8 of them: Fire Water Earth Wind Lightning Wood Metal Ice

very interesting +++

Do you recommend a particular place in China where they speak English that I can visit and do a short course in acupuncture during summer???

关于功夫的事情多说可以吗。这次的话题很好奇的:-)

More subtitles, please

5= love

China: Water over comes fire Me: Paper over comes rock :D

@ 1:31: Not the ash get absorbed by the earth, ash IS earth itself! Carbon!!!

I immediately thought of adding 欠打, which means "lacking a beating". To say someone is 五行欠打 means they're asking for a knuckle sandwich.

Goat under element element ?

Metal produces water not because metal can attract water when metal is getting cold. It's because metal can generate water by leading the water from river and sea. Just think about the water tab in your house, water pipe, pump and something else made by metal. You can create water just by your water tab, can't you?????

You know that thing is iron.. the rail way block !

what about the wind element?

不好意思，拼音是不是“剋”kei1,一声，？

Knn

woah, this is cool! Is this why pikachu > squirtle and squirtle > charmander??!! Btw, did you know that in Japanese, days of the week are: Sunday - 日 Monday - 月 Tuesday - 火 Wednesday - 水 Thursday - 木 Friday - 金 Saturday - 土

when I get wood, it seems pretty hot, but not enough to start a fire..

it is like avatar the lastairbender elements but no air

For those who don’t know what my element is it’s water

So this is my testimony about getting back into the church after 10 years of being out of it. For awhile I was an atheist and then an agnostic, however, God delivered me out of a difficult and strange period of my life that left me without doubt of His existence and goodness. It's a bit of a long read, so bear with me. A couple weeks into February of 2018 I experienced some dreams of a strange nature during a time where I was isolated, depressed, and desperate. I've dealt with anxiety and depression for along time and I was at the end of my rope. I had considered seriously commiting suicide two years ago and when the depression hit this time I couldn't take it anymore. I was searching desperately for something that would allow me to leave the situation I was in. I was addicted to gaming and was very isolated. I also fell heavily into a series of books I was re-reading at the time that I had a great obsession with, The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. A few months into a reread of this series I had a dreams in February 2018 one of which I think was prophetic, having to do with seeing a woman and man in the dream that I later saw the next day while walking and while watching TV. This was a man and woman that I hadn't met or seen before.There were also aspects of the dreams (which I can't easily get into because it's difficult to explain due to the content) that led me to believe that The Dark Tower series having to do with parallel universes was real. I became convinced that there was a world parallel to ours, like the books, that I could gain access to if I used certain objects that I had in my possession . After weird events also began occuring in my home, with my television, and with me, I told my parents about all of it. They were adamant that what I was experiencing was demonic deception and that I should cease reading these books and give myself over to God. Being stubborn and delusional I decided to continue in what I thought was a great discovery and a way out of my situation. Events transpired over the next few days that left me in a state of confusion and despair. My father also ended up in the hospital that week. It wasn't until I began to cry out to Jesus that things began to change. I began to hear from God during this time. I felt like I should rid myself of the books as well as the stuff I had gathered connected to them. I eventually ended up getting rid of all the books and objects connected to them, as well as a lot of other stuff including my games. We were doing some work in my room at the time so luckily I had something to help keep my mind off what had been happening as well as grow in the word from listening to 107.9 on my radio. When we finally returned to church a couple weeks later the sermon and series was about the book of Daniel, some of which has to do with prophetic dreams and visions among other things. I know now that this wasn't a coincidence. Once I started getting involved in the church again and reading the Bible I found out that these things really aren't as uncommon or unbelievable as they seem. My mens bible study at the time had members that had experienced supernatural and amazing things as well. I know this isn't going to sound credible if you aren't a Christian. Back when I didn't believe, these stories didn't seem compelling or true to me. However I can tell you that if you reach out to God wholeheartedly he will reveal himself to you. I'd like to ask that if you're going through something right now, some kind of challenge or difficulty that you reach out to God and ask him to help you. Sometimes it may not seem like anything is happening, but if you're willing to hold on and push through you can see him move in your situation in miraculous ways. Here's more about the Gospel here: www.tvcresources.net/resource-library/articles/the-gospel-of-jesus-christ If any of you would like to receive or feel led to receive Jesus Christ as your saviour pray this and believe it with all your heart. ❤️ Dear God, I know that I am a sinner and there is nothing that I can do to save myself. I confess my complete helplessness to forgive my own sin or to work my way to heaven. At this moment I trust Christ alone as the One who bore my sin when He died on the cross. I believe that He did all that will ever be necessary for me to stand in your holy presence. I thank you that Christ was raised from the dead as a guarantee of my own resurrection. As best as I can, I now transfer my trust to Him. I am grateful that He has promised to receive me despite my many sins and failures. Father, I take you at your word. I thank you that I can face death now that you are my Savior. Thank you for the assurance that you will walk with me through the deep valley. Thank you for hearing this prayer. In Jesus’ Name. Amen. Good luck and may God bless you! And remember satan is a spirit of fear.

lol this guy knows more about China and Chinese more than I do, and I am Chinese

no air no grow .

Some Chinese doctors prescribe treatments based on the elements? I think I'm going to stick to a doctor who bases their treatments on medical research, thanks! Nice video, though. It's always nice to learn bits of another country's culture.

If the opponent uses a metal type Pokemon, use a wood type.

why are the Chinese classical elements so different from everyone else's? i mean it seems everyone else went with Earth, Wind, Fire, Water, and sometimes Aether but then here comes China

Actually i thought 金 means gold. In Korean it's called 금 or 김 and the chinese character for these two 한글 words is 金🤔

Wow... this guy is good! We need more people like him to promote inter-racial integration and understanding!

木生。。。 水

too many seeds in the trey bag

I am Chinese

Nice explanation, except metal to water. Not make sense. Maybe its not metal, but mineral

❤👏👌

GO GO POWER RANGERS!!!!! (GUTAR SOLO) GO GO POWER RANGERS!!!!! (GUITAR SOLO) RANGERS TOGETHER!! SAMURAI FOREVER!!!!!!!