SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY Unit 10. FIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL PHASES – VIDEO CLIP.
Abstract Five Phases.7
Transcript of Abstract Five Phases.7
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Major Point
• Commentary
o History
ABSTRACT
DISCUSSION OF THE FIV
The theory of the Five Phases (‘Wu
medicine. However, there exist inc
(Notes 1 and 2). This paper is to re
provide additional insight by analyz
FIVE PHASES
o The earliest reference to th
Documents’ (Shu Jing, c. 4t
‘Of the five phases,
fourth, METAL 金 ;
This is known as the ‘Cosm
o The Five Phases were also
Warring States period (476
‘Heaven sends the
o The Five Pentatonic Notes
Figure 1 The Earliest Five Ph
• It is interesting to note
Bible in that the world
Genesis 1:2 ‘The ea
deep. And the Spir
Water
1
D#,
La
C#,
So
Nov
E PHASES & FIVE PENTATONIC NO
Xing’五行, also known as Five Elements) is deep-r
onsistency and limitation in the application of the t
iew the history of the Five Phases theory, examine
ing the closely-related Five Pentatonic Notes (‘Wu
e Five Phases appeared in the ‘Great Plan’ section
century B.C.). It states:
the first is WATER 水 ; the second FIRE 火 ; the thir
and the fifth, EARTH 土 .’
gonic sequence’.
alled 5 ‘Abilities’, ‘Talents’ or ‘Materials’ (cai,材
).
-221 B.C.) says,
Five Abilities (Talents or Materials) and the people
hat correspond to the Five Phases are:
ases with Corresponding Five Pentatonic Notes
that the Cosmogonic sequence of the Five Phases a
begins with water:
rth was without form, and void; and darkness was
it of God was hovering over the face of the waters.’
Fire
2
Wood
3
A#,
Mi
Meta
4
G#,
Re
P a g e | 1
hean M. Chang
mber 10, 2009
ES
oted in Chinese
heory to medicine
its limitation, and
in’五音).
f the ‘Book of
, WOOD 木 ; the
ne book in the
se them’.
grees with the
n the face of the
l Earth
5
F#,
Do
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Major Point
• Commentary
o History
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Shean M. Chang
November 10, 2009
• The order of the phases (1 for Water, 2 for Fire … 5 for Earth) coincides mysteriously with
that of the pitch of corresponding pentatonic notes: D# (La) the highest, C# (So) the 2nd
, A#
(Mi) the 3rd
, G# (Re) the 2nd
lowest and F# (Do) the lowest. This is a movement down the
pentatonic scale and it signifies creation descends from the highest frequency – that of Water to the lowest – that of Earth, like rain precipitating downward from heaven. The Five
Pentatonic Notes is believed by some people to be the natural precursor of the Five Phases.
o The Five Phases theory was systemized by Zou Yan (305-240 B.C.) when he proposed a ‘Five
Virtue Cyclic Sequences of Ends and Beginning’, i.e., the controlling sequence of the Five Phases:
Figure 2 The Controlling Sequence of the Five Phases
o Liu Xiang (77-6 BCE) and his son Liu Xin advocated a generating sequence of the Five Phases:
Figure 3 The Generating Sequence of the Five Phases
WATER
水
virtue
FIRE
火
virtue
METAL
金
virtue
WOOD
木
virtue
EARTH
土
virtue
WATER
水
virtue
WOOD
木
virtue
FIRE
火
virtue
EARTH
土
virtue
METAL
金
virtue
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Major Point
• Commentary
o History
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Shean M. Chang
November 10, 2009
• Both the controlling and the generating sequences have a wide application in Chinese
medicine. While the controlling Five Phases theory has received criticism such as from a
respectable scientist and scholar in the Han dynasty, consistency doses not always prevail in
the generating theory, either. Water generates Wood, Fire generates Earth and Earthgenerates Metal as nature seemingly allows. Wood, however, does not readily catch Fire.
Wood needs to be drilled to generate fire or to be ignited by thunder, for example. Lastly,
Metal will only melt into liquid under a high temperature and high pressure condition.
FIVE PENTATONIC NOTES
o The Yellow Emperor’s pentatonic scale consists of musical notes related by perfect fifths (the
most harmonious of all musical intervals) which confers health and tranquility on all beings
coming in contact with it (Note 3). When arranged in a circle of ascending fifths to fashion the‘Five Virtue Cyclic Sequences of Ends and Beginning’, the Five Pentatonic Notes are in the
following order:
Figure 4 Five Pentatonic Notes in Ascending Perfect Fifths
• Inconsistency becomes apparent in above circle of fifths because the end fails to meet the
beginning. The interval between notes A# and F# is not a perfect fifth, rather it is an
augmented fifth, i.e., a fifth plus half a step or one semitone. The perfect fifth above A# is F.
The inconsistency, however, may only be a superficial observation. An in-depth analysis
from this work has revealed that an F# lies 8 (perfect) fifths above A#. This F# is 7 octaves
above the beginning F# in the circle of fifths. Figure 5 depicts a brand new presentation of
the circle of fifths for the Five Pentatonic Notes:
C#
G#
D#
A#
F#
F
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Major Point
• Commentary
o History
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November 10, 2009
Figure 5 Five Pentatonic Notes in a Circle of Fifths where the interval between A# and the ending F# is 8 perfect fifths.
(Note: the ending F# is 7 octaves above the beginning F#)
In such an arrangement, the Five Pentatonic Notes, which are closely connected to the Five
Phases, fit the model of Zou Yan’s ‘Five Virtue Cyclic Sequences of Ends and Beginning’.
Interestingly, 8 is the number of ‘new beginning’, therefore, the ending F#, 8 perfect fifths
above A#, can be a new beginning F# of the next cycle. Also, 7 is the number of ‘completion’.
Since the ending F# is 7 octaves above the beginning F#, this means the completion of a
cycle.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
• The Five Phases and the corresponding Five Pentatonic Notes theory are not flawless.
However, they are not unscientific superstition, either. The theory should be applied with
discretion to medicine. A mechanical fit of the theory to reality should be avoided.
Note 1: Ted J. Kaptchuk, “The Web That Has No Weaver”, Criticism of Five Phases Theory, p. 351.
Note 2: Giovanni Maciocia, “The Foundations of Chinese Medicine”, The System of Correspondences in 5-Element Physiology, p.
25.
Note 3: “Acutone, A New System of Healing Based on the Ancient Science of Sound”, Dean Lloyd, John Pirog, P. 6-11. The ‘Book
of Master Guan’ (Guan Zhi, c. 4th
century B.C.) said that the Yellow Emperor’s pentatonic scale was created by a process called
‘generation by the fifth’ from the fundamental note ‘Gong’. The frequency of Gong is the Yellow Bell (Huang Zhong) pitch, the
fundamental frequency of the earth, which comes from a pitch-pipe of 81 fen long and corresponds to F# to G# in the modern
scale.
C#
p5th
G#
p5th
p5th
D#
8 x p5th
A#
p5th
F#
F#