Eastern Elemental Correspondences

One of the earliest views of the Hindu elements appears in the Chāndogya Upaniṣad,¹ which discusses the attributes of three elements (earth, water, and fire). These three elements reflect the guṇas (San. qualities) of the Bhagavad Gītā,^2,3 whose attributes are largely consistent with the elemental attributes presented in the Chāndogya Upaniṣad. The Hindu elements are also mentioned in the Yogatattva Upaniṣad,⁴ Darśana Upaniṣad,⁵ and other texts.

In Buddhism, the four “great elements” described in the Pāli Canon^6-8 are earth, water, fire, and wind, which manifest as solidity, fluidity, heat (energy), and movement, respectively. The fifth element of space (sometimes called “void”) emphasizes the Buddhist concept of emptiness (San. śūnyatā). A sixth element (consciousness) is also sometimes mentioned in Buddhist literature,^6,8 and is discussed extensively in esoteric Buddhism.^9,10 The Buddha families are also linked to the elements via the tantras.¹¹ Elemental and other correspondences may vary among tantras, as Hinduism and Buddhism developed diverse doctrines and practices over the centuries. Tibetan Buddhist correspondences¹⁰ are emphasized in the table below. Note that other traditions with alternate (and equally valid) correspondence schemes exist.

Chāndogya Upaniṣad. Upaniṣads, translated from the original Sanskrit by Patrick Olivelle, Oxford University Press, 1996, pp. 95-176.

Yogatattva Upaniṣad. Thirty Minor Upaniṣads, translated by K. Nārāyaṇasvami Aiyar, Madras, 1914, pp. 192-201.

“The Great Elephant Footprint Simile – Mahā Hatthipadopama Sutta (MN 28).”

“An Analysis of the Properties – Dhātu-vibhaṅga Sutta (MN 140).”

The Tibetan Book of the Dead: Liberation Through Understanding In the Between, translated by Robert A. F. Thurman, Bantam Books, 1994.

The correlative power of the wǔxíng permitted successful integration with other systems, leading to its eventual dominance in early China.¹

There appears to be no mention of wǔxíng in a medical context before the Qin Dynasty (221 BCE – 207 BCE).⁴ The earliest known appearance in ancient medical texts is in the Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor (Chi. Huángdì Nèijīng), finalized in the 1^st Century BCE. The first part of the work is the Basic Questions (Sù Wèn), which discusses the theoretical basis for Chinese medicine and diagnostic methods. The second part of the work is the Spiritual Pivot (Língshūjīng), which discusses acupuncture in great detail.

References

¹Discussed in Wang, Cosmology and Political Culture in Early China, Cambridge University Press, 2006.

²Discussed in Demerath, Crossing the Gods: Worldly Religions and Worldly Politics, Rutgers University Press, 2003.

³Quoted in Chen, Early Chinese Work in Natural Science: A Reexamination of the Physics of Motion, Acoustics, Astronomy and Scientific Thoughts, Hong Kong University Press, 1996, p. 200.

⁴Yuqun, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2011.

⁵Wen, The Tao of Craft: Fu Talismans and Casting Sigils in the Eastern Esoteric Tradition, North Atlantic Books, 2016.

⁶Maciocia, The Foundations of Chinese Medicine: A Comprehensive Text, 3^rd ed., Elsevier, 2015.

Maciocia, The Foundations of Chinese Medicine: A Comprehensive Text, 3^rd ed., Elsevier, 2015.

Wang, Cosmology and Political Culture in Early China, Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Wen, The Tao of Craft: Fu Talismans and Casting Sigils in the Eastern Esoteric Tradition, North Atlantic Books, 2016.