THE GREEK ELEMENTS

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THE GREEK ELEMENTS

The four classical elements were independently proposed by earlyPresocratic philosophers: water (Thales), air (Anaximenes), earth(Xenophanes), and fire (Heraclitus). Empedocles proposed that theyall existed together in fixed quantities from the beginning, mixed andunmixed by Love and Hate. This allowed him to agree withParmenidesthat Being never really changed.

Plato later conceived of them as consisting of atoms with thegeometrical shapes of four of the five regular geometrical solids that had been discoveredby the Pythagoreans but described by Plato (in the Timaeus). We now call these thePlatonic Solids. Their surfaces consist entirely of regular triangles (3, the tetrahedron; 8, the

octahedron; and 20, the icosahedron), squares (6, the cube), and pentagons (12, thedodecahedron). These are, of course, not the true shapes of atoms; but it turns out that theyare some of the true shapes ofpackedatoms and molecules, namely crystals: The mineralsalt(halite, NaCl) occurs in cubic crystals; fluorite (calcium floride, CaF2) in octahedrons;and pyrite ("Fool's Gold," iron sulfide, FeS2) in dodecahedrons [1]; etc. Aristotle lostPlato's mathematical interest, discarded the geometrical treatment, and saw the elements ascombinations of two sets of opposite qualities, hot & cold, wet & dry. Aristotle's view wasultimately the accepted one all through the Middle Ages.

Empedocles Fire Air Water

Plato:Platonic

Solids withTriangles

Aristotle hot & dry hot & wet cold & wet

Empedocles Earth

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The fifth Platonic Solid, the dodecahedron, Platoobscurely remarks, "...the god used for arranging

the constellations onthe whole heaven"(Timaeus 55) [2]. He

didn't really knowwhat else to do withit. Aristotle added afifth element, aithr(aetherin Latin,"ether" in English).Our word"quintessence"comes from a Latin expression for this -- the "fifth essence."

Aristotle thought that the heavens were made of this element. But he had no interest inmatching it with Plato's fifth solid, even though it didn't fit in with his scheme of oppositesfor the other four. [Note: the white text on black background appears as a link. Do not clickon it unless you wish to make the text black, for the purpose of printing out the page.]

It is noteworthy that Plato's theory has a verymodern flavor, with mathematically defined,transmutable atoms. The theory misses its target,

since Plato didn'thave a clue about themodern chemicalelements, and atomsdo not have suchgeometricalstructures.Nevertheless, he wasnot so far off themark, and we onlyhave to shift our aim slightly, to the crystaline packings ofatoms, to find the appropriate modern applications of Plato'sgeometry. Aristotle, by contrast, has a completely archaic

theory which looks back to the theories about opposites of Anaximander, Heraclitus, andthePythagoreans. It is of no use whatsoever today.

We should ask why Plato's theory is so progressive, why Aristotle's is so archaic, and whyPlato is usually given so little credit for his theory. The answer to all these is the same:Plato comes up with this kind of theory because of his Pythagorean faith that mathematicswould reveal the structure of the world. Aristotle had no such faith, regarding mathematicsonly as a calculating device (the common opinion in the Middle Ages). In turn, Plato isusually overlooked by down-to-earth philosophers and historians of science because hisPythagorean number mysticism seems to them of a piece with the rest of his philosophy,which they regard as, in general, an unscientific mysticism unworthy of consideration.

Plato:Platonic

Solid withSquares

Aristotle cold & dry

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Yet modern science, which is distinctivelymathematical(sometimesexcessivelyso), wasset on its way by just those scientists, likeGalileo Galileiand Johannes Kepler, whosharedPlato's mystical faith in mathematics. That is the most conspicuous in Kepler, whoseflights of fancy, which included a science fiction book about life on the Moon (theSomnium or "Dream"), are found together with the most serious, hard mathematical

breakthrough in the formulation of modern astronomy short ofIsaac Newton's own theoryof universal gravitation: Kepler'sThree Lawsof planetary motion. Philosophers of scienceoverlook this circumstance, as they do the Platonic Realism of most practicingmathematicians. Since many Modern philosophers would rather avoid the metaphysicalchallenge that would result, they tend to agree with Aristotle that mathematics is a humaninvention that coincidentally happens to apply to Nature. With their attitude, indeed,science never would have come out of the Middle Ages.

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The Greek Elements, Note 1

The form of pyrite crystals is not, strictly speaking, a truePlatonic dodecahedron. That is because the pentagons on thesurface are actually not regularpentagons -- all the sides andinterior angles are not equal. The characteristic form of pryite isthus called a "pyritohedron." The distortion occurs because thecrystals can also occur in cubic form or, most interestingly, in acombination of cube and pyritohedron faces, with 6 rectangular

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and 12 pentagonal faces -- as shown at right. The black faces may be imagined as planeswhere a cube slightly truncates a pyritohedron.

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The Greek Elements, Note 2

That remark led the great astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) into an absurd seriesof speculations about how the orbits of the planets, whose nature for the first time he hadaccuratelyunderstood, corresponded to the Platonic solids. Kepler imagined that nestingthe solids inside each other would produce the ratios that he had independently posited in

his Third Law of planetary motion. That didn't work.

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THE FOUR HUMORS

Those English and their damned British phlegm!

lvaro de la Marca, Conde de Guadalmedina, Captain Alatriste [Arturo Prez-Reverte,1996, translated by Margaret Sayers Peden, 2005, A Plume Book, Penguin, 2006, p.102]

With a theory based on that of the four elements, by the Middle Ages health was though todepend on a balance of four fluids, or humors, in the human body: fire corresponded toblood; air toyellow bile; water tophlegm; and earth to black bile. The notion that healthdepended on the balance of the four elements arose shortly after Empedocles introduced histheory. The theory of the four humors developed by the time of Hippocrates (c.460-c.377

BC). We still say that people can be in a "good humor" or a "bad humor," and termsderived from the Greek or Latin names of the humors are still sometimes used to describemoods, attitudes, or personalities:

FromBlood(Sanguis)

sanguine, meaning "sturdy, confident, optimistic, cheerful, happy."

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comes:

FromYellow Bile

(Bilis,Khol) andits associations

come:

choler, meaning "the quality or state of being irascible";choleric,meaning "angry, irate, irascible";bile, meaning "inclination to anger,

spleen";bilious, meaning "pevish, ill-natured";gall, meaning"bitterness, rancor, insolence";spleen, meaning "mingled ill will &bad temper"; andjaundiced, meaning "envy, distaste, hostility."

FromPhlegm

(Phlegma)comes:

phlegmatic, meaning "slow, stolid, cool, impassive."

And from

Black Bile(Melancholia)

comes:

melancholic, meaning "depressed, tending to depress the spirits,irascible, sad, saddening."

Notice that the passivity of "cold" humors, Phelgm and Black Bile, contrasts with theactivity of the "hot" humors, Blood and Yellow Bile. The theory of personality that beginswith the four humors ultimately leads toC.G. Jung'stheory ofpsychological types.

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THE INDIAN ANDBUDDHIST

ELEMENTS, AND THE

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GUN.AS

The Chndogya Upanis.adcontains the earliest Indian view of the elements. There are

three: 1) fire (agni, ), 2) water (ap, ), & 3) earth (pr.thiv, ). Theseemanate in sequence from each other. Fire is associated with oil, butter, and fat, while earthis associated with all other kinds of food. Each, as food, gives rise to three bodilysubdivisions: Fire into bone, marrow, and speech; water into urine, blood, and prn.a(breath); and earth into feces, flesh, and mind.

The three elements of the Chndogya Upanis.adeffectively correspond to the threegun.as

( ) of theSankhya Schooland theBhagavad Gita, with a change in sequence. The

three gun.as are the three forces of nature in Sankhya thought, which, even more, are thecauses of everything that happens, of which the true Self (tman/purus.a) is only thespectator, and the sources of attachment and bondage, the causes of rebirth in the natural orphenomenal world (prakr.ti). Water corresponds tosattva ( ), the desire forknowledge and goodness, associated with the color white and the Brahmin caste; fire

corresponds torajas ( ), the desire for action, associated with the color red and the

Ks.atriya caste; and earth corresponds totamas ( ), sloth, associated with the colorbrown (or black) and the Vaishya (or Shudra) caste (or the Untouchables). Eventually thetheory of the gun.as is widely accepted in orthodox philosophy, and the association or thecorrespondence to the theory of the elements is lost.

Element Color Foods BodyGun.a Caste

1. Fire redoil,butter,and fat

bone, marrow, &speech

2. Rajas 2. Ks.atriyas

2.

Water

white waterurine, blood, &

prn.a (breath)

1.Sattva

1. Brahmins

3. Earth black otherfoods

feces, flesh, & mind 3.

Tamas

3. Vaishyas,

4. Shudras,&

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5. Untouchables

Later other elements are added. Fire itself comes to be seen as emanating from air (vyu,

), which is later seen to emanate from "aether" (ksha, ). These are similarenough to theGreekelements, and their introduction occurs late enough, that Greekinfluence cannot be discounted. Despite the additions, numerical systematizations (e.g."three kinds of food," etc.) tend to use the number three, but often with a somewhat distinct

fourth element: three twice born varn.as, (brahmins, ks.atriyas, & vaishyas), with afourth varn.a (shudras); three Vedas (R.g, Sama, & Yajur), with a fourth (Atharva).

InBuddhism, the fifth element could be interpreted differently fromHinduism. The Sanskrit word , used for "aether," couldalso mean "sky" or "clear space." This could be the equivalent of"emptiness" (shunyata) in Buddhism, and the fifth element in

Buddhism is consequently often given as "space" or the "void." Thefive Buddhist elements were subsequently exported with Buddhismitself to China and countries influenced byChina, viz.Japan,Korea,andVietnam. The fiveBuddhistelements in the Far East thus shouldnot be confused with the original five elements ofChinesephilosophy. The colorsassociated with the Buddhist elements below are out of the Tibetan Book of the Dead.Another version exists in which the white and blue are reversed. These can actually becombined, as shown, with the "body" one color but the "light" the other. I have also seenMmak and Locan reversed (and spelled differently, e.g. Rocan), and kshadhtu asVajradhteshvar. Chinese characters and Japanese pronunciation are given for Buddhasand Bodhisattvas of particular importance in East Asia.

THE BUDDHIST ELEMENTS & ASSOCIATIONS

element VOID WATER EARTH FIRE AIR

Buddhas

MahvairocanaTathgata,

(DainichiNyorai,Jp.)

Aks.obhya

(Ashuku[-ba],Jp.)

Ratna-sambhava,

(Hsh,Jp.)

Amitbha,

(Amida,Jp.)

Amoghasiddhi

(Fukjju,Jp.)

Shaktis ksha- Locan Mmak Pn.d.ar Tr

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(Tibet)

dhtu

Bodhisattvas,

male

--

Maitreya,

(Miroku,Jp.)

kshagarbha,

(Kokuz,Jp.)

Avaloki-teshvara,

(Kannon,Jp.)

Vajrapn.i

Ks.iti-garbha,

(Jiz,Jp.)

Samatabhadra

Majushr

(Monju,Jp.)

Dpan

Bodhisattvas,

female

Lsy Ml Gt Gandha

Pushp Dhpa loka Naivedya

BuddhaFunction

Buddhanature,approach

wisdom torealize,raising

condition topractice,cultivating

fruit of:Boddhisattva

fruit of:Nirvna

wisdomdharma-realm

greatperfectmirror

non-discrim-inating

subtleobservation

accomplishing

family buddhavajra,thunderbolt

gem/jewel,ratna

lotus, padmaaction,karma

emblem stpafive prongvajra

gem/jewel lotusthree prongvajra,vishvavajra

jewels sapphire diamond gold ruby emerald

bright colorswhite body blue body

yellow red greenblue light white light

soft colors white smoky blue yellow red

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direction center east south west north

shape almond sphere square triangle crescent

seed words kha (void)vaktva(word)

anutpda(unborn)

raja (dust) hetva (origin)

aggregatescognition/consciousness

form sensationconception/perception

emotion/volition

consciousness

-- store defiled mind mental five senses

mudr teachingearth-touching

giving meditation fearlessness

mantra om. hm. tram. hrh. h.

throne lion elephant horse peacock garud.a

bodilyconstituents

crown navel knee chest brow

organs mind ears eyes nose tongue/body

objects -- sounds sights smellstastes/textures

poisonsdelusion anger pride lust envy

ignorance hatred envy craving pride

post-mortem

day 1 day 2 day 3 day 4 day 5

realms ofrebirth

or

gods

hells human hungry ghosts

or

demons

OTHER BUDDHIST FIVES, ASSOCIATIONS UNCERTAIN

virtues kindness goodness respect economy altruism

offenses matricide patricidekillingan Arhat

woundingthe Buddha

disruptingthe Sangha

precepts no killing no theft chastity sobriety no lying

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pungentroots

garlic gingerscallions/chives

leeks onions

Lotus Sutra My- h- ren- ge- ky

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The Indian and Buddhist Elements, Note 1

It is also common to see six realms of rebirth cited: gods, hells, human, hungry ghosts,

demons, and animals, . In fact, where five realms are given, it is often the

animal rather than the demon realm that is found. The demons are asuras, (theChinese characters phonetically transcribe, imperfectly, the word in Sanskrit -- in Japanesewe get ashura -- the "a" character is optional), who are contrasted with the devas, gods,

who can be called , "heaven [or divine] persons." "Hell," , which can beused for either Buddhist or Christian hells, is literally, "earth prison."

There can also be more realms more specific to Buddhism, (1) the "voice hearers,"shravakas, adepts atTheravdapractice, (2) thepratyeka Buddhas, who have achievedenlightenment independently, through their own insight, (3) Bodhisattvas, adepts ofMahynapractice, and (4) Buddhas. This can bring the number of realms to ten. The

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"voice hearer" realm itself can have four parts, (1) "stream enterers," (2) once returners, (3)non-returners, and (4) arhats, "saints," the highest Theravada achievement.

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THE CHINESE ELEMENTSAND ASSOCIATIONS

The Chinese elements come early, and theirdevelopment in Chinese philosophy cannot befollowed as can the development of the Greek andIndian elements. The system of five elements andclassifying things by fives is already evident in

Classics like theTao Te Ching( ) and the Shu Ching (

, theBook of History), both of uncertain date andauthorship. Later such classifications are expanded almostwithout limit (when Buddhism arrives from India with its

own five elements, it addsits ownsystem of fives). The firstindividual known to have written about the five elementswas Tsou Yen, of the Yin-Yang or"Cosmologist"School (

), who lived in the third century B.C. But even with him, the

original texts are lost, and all we know is what the Han historian Ssu-ma Ch'ien (Sima

Qian) says about him in the Shih Chi ( ,Historical Records), the first greatChinesedynastichistory.

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may not be necessary to do that, as even white text on white will print out black.]

THE CHINESE ELEMENTS & ASSOCIATIONS

elements

[Mandarin,

Cantonese]

WOOD FIRE EARTH METAL WATER

colors

blue/green red yellow white black

symbols

dragon phoenix cauldron tiger turtle

seasons spring summer between autumn winter

months 1-2 4-5 3,6,9,12 7-8 10-11

directions east south center west north

conditions

rain heat wind clear cold

mutuallyproducing,

xiangsheng[1]

woodproduces fire

fireproducesearth

earthproducesmetal

metalproduceswater

waterproduceswood

mutuallyovercoming,

xiangke[1]

woodovercomes

earth

fireovercomes

metal

earthovercomes

water

metalovercomes

wood

waterovercomes

fire

peoples

Mongol Chinese Manchu Tibetan Muslims

mountainsT'ai,Shantung

Heng,Hunan

Sung,Honan

Hua,Shensi

Heng,Hopei

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planetsJupiter Mars Saturn Venus Mercury

days[2] Thursday Tuesday Saturday Friday Wednesday

animals scaled winged naked furred shelled

actions countenance sight thought speech listening

senses sight taste touch smell hearing

sounds calling laughing singing lamenting moaning

notes chiao/kaku/E chih/chi/G kung/ky/C shang/sh/D y/u/A

tastes sour bitter sweet acrid/spicy salty

smells goatish burning fragrant rank rotten

organsliver heart spleen lungs kidneys

hsien-p'i hsien-fei hsien-hsin hsien-kan hsien-shen

virtues

[Mandarin,

Cantonese,

Vietnamese]

benevolence propriety good faith righteousness knowledge

yen4 lei sn yi ji1

nhn l tn ngha tr

emperorsFu-hsi Shen-nung Huang-ti Shao-hao Chan-hs

T'ai-hau Yen-ti Huang-ti Shao-hao Chan-hs

ministers Ch-mang Ch-jung Hou-t'u Jung-shou Hsan-ming

OTHER CHINESE FIVES, ASSOCIATIONS UNCERTAIN

metals

iron copper gold silver tin

relations rulerminister

fatherson

husbandwife

elderyounger

friendfriend

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ranks

poisonous

animalssnakes toads lizards scorpions centipedes

grains barley/wheat rice milletcorn[millet][3]

beans

spirits mind

soul(hun)

spirit

soul(p'e)

will

punishmentstattooing mutilation maiming castration execution

fines detention exile life exile death

TheBuddhistelements that were imported into China were never combined with theChinese elements, but they did, of course, need to be translated. "Air" was translated as

"wind," . "Aether" or the "void" was translated with a character, , that couldmean "sky, "air," or "emptiness." This suits the ambiguities of the notion of aether just fine,since the Sanskrit word could mean "aether," "sky," or "emptiness," while akind of "air" is just the original meaning of the Greek word aithr. Although these were, asI say, never combined into the system of five Chinese elements, we do find wind together

with water in a very traditional Chinese context, , "wind and water," the name ofChinese geomancy, the method of siting, orienting, and arranging houses, temples, graves,etc. for best effect. This has become rather familiar elsewhere around the world, and one

even hears the properpronunciation("fung shue"), which is a little unusual.

While the "symbols" associated withthe five elements include four animalsfor East, West, North, and South and a"caldron" in the Center, we get a

slightly different picture with theseparate system of "animals"associated with the elements. There weget "scaled," which corresponds to theEast and the dragon, "furred," with theWest and the tiger, "shelled," with theNorth and the turtle, "winged," withthe South and the phoenix, and finally

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"naked," associated with the Center. A caldron, of course, isn't an animal, and "naked"doesn't apply to it. "Naked" applies to one animal in particular, man. So the picture we getfor the five animals are the four symbolic animals surrounding man in the Center (thoughhe is not shown, of course, naked).

In the canonicalnames of theChinese colors,there are notseparate words forgreen and blue. The

character canmean both. Thisambiguity carries

over into Japanese.There are otherChinese colorcharacters that aremore precise,

though alsohas an interestingambiguity. InChinese, this first of

all means green, butit can also be theazure of the sky. In Japanese, however, it only means blue, which we see in the name of the

Japaneseaircraft carrier, the Sryu, , "Blue Dragon." Another ambiguity we see

with , which in Chinese means violet or purple, but in Japanese now means dark blue,navy blue, or Prussian blue. With the two characters for red, there doesn't seem to be that

much difference in meaning, but now looks like the preferred character in Chinese,

while in Japanese usage it is still mainly , as we see in the name of the Japanese

aircraft carrier, the Akagi, , "Red Castle" (from the name of a mountain). Notethat the Japanese words in italics are the kun reading of the character, i.e. the actual wordfrom Japanese, while otherwise, given first, is the on reading, the word as it was borrowed

colors

blue, green, black, azure

Jp. sei, sh, aoblue, green, light green

red

Jp.seki,shaku,aka(i)red,

crimson

yellow

Jp.k,,kiyellow

white

Jp.haku,byaku,shiro(i)white

black

Jp.koku,kuroblack

green, azure

Jp. s, aoblue, pale

green

Jp.roku,midorigreen

blue,indigo

Jp.ran,aiindigo

purple,violet

Jp.kondarkblue

red

Jp.gu,ku,kbeni

red

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into Japanese from Chinese.

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The Chinese Elements and Associations, Note 1

The "mutually producing," , and "mutually

overcoming," , cycles were used in the analysis ofChinese history. Each Dynasty was expected to go through Five

Phases ( ), corresponding to the five elements. The"mutually overcoming" cycle was used first, for theWarringStatesPeriod; but then the "mutually producing" cycle becomespopular during the Han Dynasty. The use of these cycles may be one explanation of thechoice of the nameCh'ing(Qing) for their Dynasty by the Manchus, since "Clear" canimply water, whileMing, "Bright" impliesfire, and water overcomes fire. The Manchuswill also have liked it that "fire produces earth" since they used "fire" and "red" for theChinese, the Han people, and "yellow" and "earth" for the Manchus themselves. Yellowwas also the Imperial color.

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Return to text

The Chinese Elements and Associations, Note 2

The seven day week is Western; and Sunday and Monday are, of course, associated withthe sun and the moon. The Chinese would have known about the seven day week during, atthe latest, the Middle Ages, throughNestorianmissionaries; but full awareness of Westernastronomy arrived during theMingwith the Jesuits, whose knowledge was impressiveenough that they were given official posts and responsibilities with respect to theChinesecalendar.

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The Chinese Elements and Associations, Note 3

Originally a second variety of millet. Corn did not exist in China, of course, untilintroduced from the New World.

Return to text

Fantasy Seven

Element Theory

China ends up with two systems of five elements, one from Chinese philosophy and one

imported from India with Buddhism. Three elements match in each system, fire, water, andearth. The Chinese elements then include two missing from the Buddhist elements, metaland wood; and the Buddhist elements include two missing from the Chinese, air and aether(or the void).

Chinese philosophy thus has, as a matter of fact, seven elements,although these were never combined into one system. Incombining them now, as a fantasy exercise, we might take a clue

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from Western philosophy, where the seven planets were the basis of the theory inMediaeval alchemy that there were seven metals. As it happens, the five naked eye planetsin Chinese astronomy were matched up with the five elements. In the adoption of thesevenday weekfrom the West, Chinese usage then assigns the five planets to the days of theweek apart from Sunday and Monday, which are then named, obviously enough, after the

Sun and the Moon. If we want to add two extra elements, then, the Sun and the Moonprovide the slots for them. Since the element air gets translated as "wind" in Chinese, theMoon, which moves the fastest of the heavenly bodies, seems the appropriate match, whilethe Sun, illuminating the heavens, is not inappropriate for aether/void.

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The accompanying table lists the seven elements with their Chinese characters, in theascending order of the planets as recognized in Mediaeval Western astronomy, with theplanetarysymbolsand the

metalsthatWesternalchemyassociatedwiththem. The

toughest problem with all this are the associated colors.TheBuddhistand theChineseelements have definitecolor associations, which only agree for fire (red) andearth (yellow). TheGreekelements do not have atraditional color scheme, but I would take red, yellow,green, and blue, fromJung'sMandala Symbolism, as

appropriate forWesternconceptsof thefourelements(with nocolor, i.e.white, forthe oftenoverlooked aether) -- as ithappens,these arethe fourcolorsused in the 1997 Bruce Willis movie The Fifth Element. Of the five colors associated eachwith the Chinese and Buddhist elements, Chinese does not distinguish blue from green,which Buddhism does, and Chinese uses black, which Buddhism does not. If wedistinguish blue from green and add black, that still only gives six colors, so a seventh isnecessary. Meanwhile, we could do some sorting. All agree on red for fire. Chinese colorsof white for metal and green for wood seem natural enough. Blue for water, instead ofBuddhist white or Chinese black, seems better, as it actually occurs instead of black in theyin-yang diagram on the flag of SouthKorea. Buddhist green for air seems unnatural, whileyellow for earth, although with Buddhist agreement, only seems the most appropriate forthe floodplain of the Yellow River. Thus, yellow, the color of the air I often see in LosAngeles, is possible, while black has been thought the color of earth in many places since

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Ancient Egypt, the "Black Land." That only leaves one element and one color short. WhenI consider that purple clouds are a sign of someone entering the Pure Land of the BuddhaAmida, purple may be a natural color to suggest for the element that can be used as a nameof the Buddha, Kong Wang, "King of Emptiness."

An important part of Chinese five element theory is the direction represented by eachelement, with earthin the center. In theaccompanyingdiagram, arrangedaround earth are

squares containing theappropriate Chinese elements, inthe right directions, if north is upand west to the left. If these fivesquares were to be folded up intoa cube, one side would be open.If that open side were used forair, and the cube unfolded, thenthe arrangement would be withthe square for air attached to oneof the four outer elements. If airis attached as shown, then thevertical column of squarescontains the original four Greekelements, which are shown with their hot/cold, wet/dry classifications by Aristotle. Thefolded cube is shown at left, with transparent sides for air, water, and metal and with solidcolors for earth, wood, and fire, and at right with solid colors for air, water, and metal.

This leaves aether/void unaccounted for. Now earth, which was in thecenter for the Chinese elements, is displaced by its position on a sideof the cube. The empty centerof the cube thus might seem the likelyplace for aether/void, and it is therefore so shown at left inside apurple framework of the cube.

An alternative idea about aether could be derived from the idea of the"three kingdoms" in India, namely the Earth, the Air, and theHeavens. Earth could be the five Chinese elements. Air is then, of

course, above the earth, and since we are actually in the air, the outer four elementscould still be folded up as in the cubes shown above. Aether, however, as the sky orthe heavens, would be even above air, and this would put it outside the cube altogether,as at right.

The use of the cube for six of the sevenelements means that the Greek/Buddhist

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and Chinese elements can be represented, respectively, just by leaving off the appropriatesides of the cube. Thus, at far left, are the sides for the four original Greek elements, withtwo sides left off, while at immediate left is the cube with only one side left off for the fiveChinese elements.

Finally, we might consider therelationship between the Chinese"five virtues" and how they seemto fit with the Kantian charactertypology consideredelsewhere.None of the Chinese elementassociations match the Kantiantypology, except one, imperfectly.However, if the idea is to map thefive Chinese virtues onto the fourWesternhumors, then somebumping and rearranging is goingto happen. If "good faith," acentral virtue indeed as Kantiangood will, is to continue in the"center," then it would go toaether, not remain with earth.Righteousness replaces good faith;propriety goes to air; and kindnesscomes in to replace propriety. Thisleaves "knowledge" in place, butthe Kantian virtue is now the closely related one of prudence.

If we regret the loss of associated virtues formetal and wood, there is going to be nodifficulty supplying them from otherConfucianvirtues.Zhong and sh, "conscientiousness" or"loyalty" and "consideration," will do. Orxio,"filial piety," is also available. Indeed, this morethan we need. Along with the original"knowledge," two virtues at least will have noplace in the seven element theory. Maybe weneed eight or nine elements, not just seven.

The Seven Lucky Gods of Japan

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The list of virtues is reminiscent of a story about the ShogunTokugawa Iemitsu(1623-1651), who in 1623 asked the monk Tenkei what virtues would constitute nobility. Tenkeireplied that there were seven: Longevity, fortune, popularity, candor, amiability, dignity,and magnanimity. The Shogun then supposedly told Tenkei to select seven gods that wouldexemplify these virtues, and Tenkei picked out the gods that would then become the shichi

fukujin, the seven (shichi) lucky (fuku) gods (shin), or seven gods of good fortune,

(cf. Reiko Chiba, The Seven Lucky Gods of Japan, Charles E. Tuttle Company,1966, 1992, pp.7-8, & Ian Reader,Religion in Contemporary Japan, U. of Hawaii Press,1991, pp.164-165).

The "virtues" listed, however, are really notmoral virtues. Most are gifts or graces offortune, and the gods themselves have much more to do with benefits than with morality.This makes it rather hard to match them with Confucian virtues. Also, the match between

gifts and gods is not always precise. Chiba herself gives Hotei for both popularity andmagnanimity, while Jurojin represents wisdom, not one of Tenkei's virtues. Also, the godsas described by Reader sometimes have different benefits. The table gives both sets,respectively.

Fukurokuju

Daikoku(ten) Hotei EbisuBen(zai)

-tenBishamon

(-ten)Jurjin

longevitywealth,fortune

popularity,magnanimity

candor,fair dealing

amiability,beauty,music

dignity wisdom

popularity abundance contentmen honesty, music, authority longevity

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t,magnanimity

prosperity arts

Hotei is the most familiar of these to Westerners,

though his fat, laughing figure is often called the"laughing Buddha." But Hotei is not the, or a,Buddha, but a Chinese god, Bdi in Chinese -- he

is named after the "cloth bag," , that hecarries, like Santa Claus, with gifts. Reader mightbe thought to have made a mistake withFukurokuju, since Chiba convincingly illustrates hisgift of longevity with a specific story. But thecharacter for "longevity,"ju, actually occurs in the

names of both Fukurokuju and Jurjin, so there isnothing preventing the gift from being associated with both, as Chiba does note it used tobe with Jurjin. Fukurokuju is of particular interest since his name combines the names of

three separate and very popular Chinese gods: (fuku), (roku), and (ju). F,"happiness, blessing," sometimes is shown holding a baby. L, "prosperity, success,salary," is usually in the robes of a Chinesejudge-- the good fortune of official pay. AndShu, "longevity," looks like a Taoist sage, carrying a staff, gourd, or peach, and with thebulging forehead also characteristic of Fukurokuju.

The next step would be to match the seven gods with the seven elements. Since there is no

real obvious basis for that match, I will leave it to further consideration. However, in themeantime it seems a shame to leave the matter entirely fallow, so I will employ a device toat least end on a colorful note. I am not aware of a canonical order for the seven gods, but aplaque I bought on Mt. Hiei has them standing in a row that I will match up with thesequence of the planets above.

Hotei Jurjin Fukurokuju Bishamon(ten)Ben(zai)

-tenDaikoku(ten) Ebisu

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popularity,magnanimity

wisdomlongevity,popularity

dignity,authority

amiability,beauty,music

wealth,fortune

candor,honesty,prosperity

Air Water Metal Aether Fire Wood Earth

Yellow Blue White Purple Red Green Black

Taoist Taoist Taoist Buddhist Hindu Buddhist Shinto

The last row in the table indicates the religious origin of the gods, according to Ian Reader.

The first three are from Taoism, the . Bishamonten and Daikokuten derive from

Buddhism, the , where the former begins as Vaisravans and the latter asMahakala in India. Benzaiten derives from Hinduism, and is no less than the majorgoddessSarasvat. I am not sure that there is a pre-modern word in Japanese for Hinduism,as distinct from Buddhism. Indian gods came to Japan through Buddhism, and the character

, used in the name of the Indian god Brahm, was often used with Buddhism, as wasBrahm himself. Nevertheless, since there is another character for Buddhism, and this one

isusedto mean "India," "Sanskrit," and the like, it seems reasonable that , the"doctrine of Brahm" could mean Hinduism. Ebisu is a native Japanese god, and thus

would be part of Shintoism, the , the "Way of the gods." Bishamonten andDaikokuten, along with another Indian god, the goddess Marishiten (Mrtchi), also used

to be regarded as the three gods of war, , the Sansenjin.

The "fantasy seven element theory" is not, of course, entirely fantasy, since each element isattested in a historic philosophical tradition and the introduction of Buddhism into Chinabrings together two different traditions in that country that, between them, involve seven

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different elements. I was reminded of this by the recent movie The Last Airbender, whosemythology is based on afour element theorybut whose aesthetic is vaguely, or sometimesspecifically, Chinese or Japanese (e.g. the original cartoon series on Nickelodeon used realChinese characters, the movie, fake ones). Yet the four element theory is not Chinese, nor,with the loss of Aether, even Buddhist [note].

The following illustration makes this point, with each of the elements represented by a

Chineseofficialrespectfully holding his tablet of office (his commission), the , in thefolds of his sleeves (for the elements represented thus as officials, see Michael Saso, BlueDragon White Tiger, Taoist Rites of Pasage, U. of Hawaii Press, 1990, p.11). The origin orcommonality of each of the elements is indicated below. Wood and Metal are unique toChina, except that "plants" and metal do occur independently inZoroastriantheology. Airand Aether look like they may originate in Greece and are then adopted in India, since theearlyVedasonly have three elements; but Buddhism does carry them all to China.

The representative of Aether here has a halo. In Buddhism, Aether is interpreted as theVoid or Emptiness. Emptiness is a key Buddhistconcept, denoting that which is neithernothing nor something (nor both nor neither). The person who properly and trulyunderstands Emptiness is liable to be a Buddha. Hence the halo. Purple also happens to bethe color of the clouds that herald the approach of the Buddha Amitbha, although thatBuddhahimself isassociatedwith the

element Fireand the color red. Finally,purplewas symbolic of theRoman Emperor. Christian RomanEmperors, fromConstantine ItoConstantine XI, characterized as "equals of the Apostles,"are then always portrayed with halos, like Saints. A Roman Emperor would be in Buddhist

terms a Cakravartin, , or universal monarch. Thus, we might say that Aether,or Emptiness, rules the other elements.

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The character for "Air" used in the cartoon series ofThe Last Airbenderis the simplified

version (without the six stroke element under the wrapper) of , "breath, air, steam, gas,weather" [note]. Since Air is not a Chinese element, there is actually no traditional

character for it. My understanding is that Buddhism uses , which now primarily tends

to mean "wind" in Chinese. This translates Sanskrit vyu, , which could mean both"wind" and "air." Such ambiguity persists into Hind, which can borrow Persian hav,

( , from Arabic haw', ) to mean "wind." However, hav itself can from itsArabic origin mean both "wind" and "air." In Persian, it tends to mean "air," with "wind"

proper expressed by the Persian word bd, -- which can also be borrowed into Hindi, as. Thus, even if Chinese now makes a clear semantic distinction between "air" and

"wind," Buddhism dealt with more ambiguity in its translations from Sanskrit, which ofcourse never used vocabulary borrowed from (Mediaeval) Persian.

We see a curious treatment of metal and wood in The Last Airbendercartoon series. When

the question of the use of metal, , first arises, we are told that "earthbenders" areunable to manipulate it. Indeed, metal is used to imprison earthbenders, and theearthbenders are often nonplussed or defeated by the metal "machines" of the Fire Nation inthe war. The firebenders are clearly able to use metal by melting it and fabricating objectsas anyone would be able to do. This makes it sound like metal is a separate element, orsomehow outside the system of four elements. However, it is later positively asserted thatmetal is a form of earth and that earthbenders should be able to control it. One of the

earthbender characters then learns how to do so. Later we find that the very same

earthbender is unable to manipulate wood, , and, again, can be imprisoned by it. Thisdisability is never reconsidered. Again, we are left with the impression that wood could bea separate element, or outside the four element system.

Meanwhile, we have encountered a character that is able to manipulateplants. We are toldthat this person is a waterbender and is able to control plants through the water in them.This explanation doesn't quite work, since merely manipulating water would not cause theplants to grow at a preternatural rate, which they do. Water is a necessary but not asufficient condition for plant growth, as it is also for animal growth. Indeed, if water is thekey to manipulating plants, it would also enable the waterbender to manipulate animals insimilar ways. We don't see that happen -- although we do see that "bloodbending" enables awaterbender to control the bodies of people, which is what we might expect, but nothinglike the preternatural growth of the plants. None of the other waterbenders is able to controlplants.

So again we are left with the impression that "wood-" or "plantbending" is a separate skillfrom waterbending -- and it certainly would be a formidable power, as we remember from

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the abilities of the "Ents" in the second volume ofThe Lord of the Rings (The Two Towers):What we all know that roots can actually do to stone over the course of years, the Ents, orthe hypothetical "woodbender," could do in seconds; and the power of vines to seize andhold, or kill, people is amply demonstrated. Another aspect to this is that the system ofelements in Zoroastrian theology, as noted above, specifiesplants and metal, as well as

earth, fire, and water. So in the Zoroastrian terms, "plantbending" would be the naturalcomplement to the other powers.

Thus, The Last Airbender, by focusing on the basic four Greekelements, found itself inawkward treatments of the other elements of the Chinese tradition upon whose principlesand aesthetic the series was otherwise largely based. We are given not the slightest hint inthe series that there is any alternative to four element theory. Also, we might imagine thatthe abilities of the "Avatar" in the story to control all the elements could depend on hisspecific ability with just one -- aether. By the mastery of Emptiness, the "Avatar," as the"aetherbender," and whose grooming, dress, and upbringing is that of a Buddhist monk, canmanipulate all "form," i.e. all of reality, all thedharmas.

The idea of "bending" elements does not seem to occur in literature old enough to beexpressed with Greek or Latin terminology. However, we do have terms like "geomancy"

(this is inChina), from Greek mantea, "prophetic power, divination," and"necromancy," which is magic involving the dead, either their spirits or bodies, forpurposes of divination or magical control. I also find "pyromancy" in the dictionary, for firedivination, and have see "aeromancy" (for air) used, without explanation. By analogy, wecould also speak of "hydromancy," for water, "metallomancy," for metal, and "xylomancy"for wood.

Fantasy Elemental Dragons

The Greek Elements

The Zoroastrian Immortals and Elements

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The Indian & Buddhist Elements

The Chinese Elements and Associations

History of Philosophy, Indian Philosophy

History of Philosophy, Chinese Philosophy

History of Philosophy, Buddhist Philosophy

History of Philosophy

Philosophy of Religion

Philosophy of Science

Home PageCopyright (c) 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2011Kelley L. Ross, Ph.D.AllRightsReserved

Fantasy Seven Element Theory, Note 1,The Last Airbender, 2010

The Last Airbenderwon the Razzie (or the Golden Raspberry) Award for Worst Picture of2010. It also received the Razzies for worst director and worst screenplay, both for M.Night Shyamalan. Nevertheless, the movie grossed $131 million in the U.S. and $319million internationally, which by most standards is comfortably successful.

The Last Airbenderundoubtedly has its weaknesses (in the "teenagers save the world"genre, and with some awkward dialogue), but I rather liked it. There are moments of greatbeauty and majesty, well expressed by the music. The use of martial arts forms isappealing, with a much more realistic test of the device than in the cartoons (although thecartoons seem to have been drawn from live practitioners). After subsequently watching theentire cartoon series ofAvatar: The Last Airbender(which took a while), I must say that

the personality of Aang (the Avatar) in the movie (Noah Ringer) is considerably lessannoying than in the cartoon. He seems both more conscientious and more earnest, suitablyhaunted by the harm he caused by absenting himself (even if unintentionally) from theworld. He is The Golden Child[1986] who doesn't need to be saved by Eddie Murphy. Thecartoon Aang often seems to be out on a lark. The theme of his guilt is raised, but it is lesssevere and seems overshadowed by the drive to have some fun. The movie Aang is nothumorless, but he is focused.

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The same -- less annoying -- could be said for some of the other characters. I like the movieUncle Iroh (Shaun Toub), with greater dignity and hints of great power, better than thecartoon one. The cartoon Iroh turns out to have great power also, but he is a person of littleoutward dignity, and he has moments of the occasional comic foolishness. Part of thisseems to be a pose, which we learn about as things go on, but it is also part of his

philosophy, as he engages in apparently trival pursuits just for the enjoyment of life. In thelong form of the cartoon there is the luxury of working this out, but it is better in the twohour movie to bring the dignity to the surface and lose the ludic, epicurean, whimsical, andcomical pastimes. Also, the respect that Iroh expresses for the Spirits early on in the movieis something that the cartoon Iroh doesn't do until the confrontation over the Moon andOcean Spirits. His respect for the Avatar, also expressed early in the movie, is not voiced atall in the first "Book" of cartoons.

I also liked it that in the movie Aang was told he could not have a family. He wasobviously being raised in a monastery (not really the place for "Nomads," as the Air Nationis described in both cartoons and movie), and the love interest in the cartoon between Aangand Katara is kind of creepy given their difference in physiological (if not chronological)age. Aang's motive for fleeing the monastery in the cartoons is less sharp. He doesn't likebeing left out of the other children's games and becomes alarmed that he is to be separatedfrom Monk Gyatso. However, running away at that point also separates him from MonkGyatso. In such stories, it is afterthey send you away that you run away, in order to getback to where you want to be. The movie Aang, in his monastic garb and grooming (i.e.shaved head), very reasonably is faced with monastic celibacy. In running away from that,the separation from Gyatso is an accidental feature that is only made permanent by hisbecoming trapped in the ice.

Speaking of monks, the actor playing Monk Gyatso, Damon Gupton (a black actor in a partwith a Tibetan name), without a single spoken line, manages to convey simply with hisexpressiveness a full sense of the kindness, joy, and wisdom that we expect him to have hadfrom Aang's regard for him. This is an impressive turn, leaving us to wish that we saw moreof him, and driving home the horror of his murder by the Fire Nation. Gupton's Gyatso isnot the personality of the cartoon Gyatso, but it is better.

While another 2010 movie, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, did better with the critics, itperformed with about halfthe box office, $63 million domestically and $152 millioninternationally. I don't think it was as good a movie, and I like Nicolas Cage movies, eventhis one (and evenDrive Angry, 2011). Similarly, Tron: Legacy has made $172 milliondomestically and $226 million internationally -- beatingAirbenderin the former but losingin the latter category. Except for the visuals and the enjoyment of Jeff Bridges, Tron wasnot a very good movie.

Thus, I have a little difficulty understanding some of the real vitriol and contempt directedatAirbender. In fact,Daily Variety reports on April 5, 2011, that Shyamalan has a newmovie project with Will Smith and his son Jaden, despite him being a director "whosecreative cachet has declined over the last decade," which is true -- The Sixth Sense [1999],one of the greatest movies of all time, is a tough act to follow; and Shyamalan's efforts haveoccasionally misfired (especially withLady in the Water[2006], whose trailer was so

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promising but whose payoff was so silly). But I just bet that Jaden liked Airbender, andpossibly Will also.

Two more movies will be needed to finish the story. Whether they get made will depend onwhether the critical response (terrible) or the bottom line (respectable) has more weight

with the studio. Usually the bottom line is what counts, but Hollywood has recently beenthrowing away money on some of the strangest (usually political) projects. It will be tragicif Shyamalan's vision for the story is not completed. I think he has done an excellent job ofadapting the cartoons so far, with the nice twist that most of the Fire Nation parts are playedby Indian actors.

Return to text

Fantasy Seven Element Theory

Reviews

Fantasy Seven Element Theory, Note 2

The character actually is a traditional character, but previously it only meant "breath"

and was not much used, except in dictionaries asRadical84. was the common

character for "breath, air,weather," etc. In fact, is the word for the "vital energy of thebody" that one often finds discussed in the martial arts,Taoism, etc.

Return to text

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Fantasy Elemental Dragons

"Dragon" is a Greek word (drkn), but the Greeks may only havebeen thinking of snakes. Mediaeval dragons, whichgive us the images of dragons typical in the

European tradition, may actually have come fromChina, brought with steppe migrants like the Huns

and Alans. Chinese dragons -- -- in popularreligion tended to be associated with water, rivers,rain, etc. I don't think we get Chinese dragonsbreathing fire. That may be peculiar to Europeandragons, with the fire derived from images of Hell.

In terms of theelements, however, the archetypal Chinese dragon is associated with theEast, and with the element Wood. The color that goes with this can be

read as either blue or green, so we alternatively hear of the Blue or theGreen Dragon. But there are also Chinese Imperial dragons, where theImperial color is yellow.

All in all, a fan of dragons begins to yearn for dragons moresystematically matched to the elements and the colors. A Blue Dragon,using the colors from theFantasy Seven Element Theory, sounds morelike water. A Red Dragon certainly goes with fire, a Green Dragon with

wood, and a Yellow Dragon goes withair or wind.

Chinese river dragons lived, of course, in rivers. A Rain Dragon (the name ofJudge Dee'ssword), like European fire-breathing dragons, can be imagined flying in the sky, like the

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Yellow Dragon for air. An earth dragon is something else. In John Boorman's movieExcalibur[1981], Merlin seems to be saying that the whole world rests on a great dragon,which is responsible for creation. Merlin's "charm ofmaking" draws out the "dragon's breath." This is veryevocative. Merlin's dragon is also pretty much invisible,

which we would expect for a dragon under the earth -- it isdisturbed, throwing Merlin off balance, when Excalibur isthrust into the earth by Arthur. Here, I'll have a BrownDragon go with earth.

To complete the image, fire dragons and water dragons can be imaginedlinking sky and earth, since volcanoes definitely contain fire, but eruptinto the air, while water dragons, although a lot of water is low lying,must be in the air also, descending as rain. Air dragons can be seen inthe wind.

For the Seven Elements, what we have left are metal and aether, inWhite and Purple. A dragon of metal would be a formidable creature,and this is rather like what we get with the dragons in Tolkein'sLord ofthe Rings books, though a dragon is only actually encountered in theseparate book ofThe Hobbit. It breathes fire like a proper European

dragon, but its scales seem to be made of metal, giving it a general unvulnerability to harm.

An aether dragon would be out of most worldly experience,if aether indeed is the element of space or the heavens. Butwe can make a connection with it. InPure Land Buddhism,the Buddha Amitbha (JapaneseAmida) appears to the deadaproaching on purple clouds, to take them away to the PureLand. This is an intrusion into this world of a supernaturalelement, in broad and narrow senses, that does nototherwise occur here. A Purple Dragon goes with that nicely.

A Red Dragon occurs in the Bible, in the Book of Revelations:

(Revelations 12:3) And there appeared another wonder in heaven; andbehold a great red dragon [drkn pyrrs mgas], having seven heads andten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

(12:4) And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did castthem to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which wasready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

(12:5) And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nationswit