Water

The element water (Chinese: Shui) is the incarnation of everything that is flowing.

It is part of Feng Shui (Chinese for Wind and Water), the old system of harmonizing the sky and the earth, of finding a way to let the energy flow.

The element water is as well productive as destructive. It is the basis for any kind of life, it generates the element wood and it destroys the element fire. It is controlled by the element earth just like a dam holds back the floods. So this element cotains life as well as death.

The archetype of a water personality is the philosopher who searches the truth, brings hidden things to the light, discovers new knowledge and old wisdom, solves problems and secrets, fights ignorance and foolishness.

The element water is related to the winter (Chinese: Dong) and the cold it brings. It is the time when everything is frozen and cut off from Yang. The best time to hold one’s own will back and wait with the activities until the sunshine comes back. It is better to keep the energy for the coming spring. The cold (Chinese: Han) also means frost, cold, poor, trembling, frightened.

It is also related to the direction North (Chinese: Bei as in Bei Jing – the northern capital = Peking), which symbolizes winter, cold and death. 

The element water is related to the colour black as the winter brings the longest nights, the darkest part of the year and to the planet Mercury, which is the big Yin that rules the winter, in contrast to the sun, which is its Yang.

The related smell is foul (Chinese: Fu, which indicates something that is in decay, that has lost its energy Yang. It is also part of the expression for corruption: Fu Xing). The number that is related to the element water is six . The related instrument is the lute with 25 cords or the harp. 

The related animals are the fish (symbolizing richness and abundance) and reptiles(animals that have scales and cold blood). In Chinese tradition, people should eat fish for the New Year celebrations in order to live in abundance during the year. In daoist mythology, it is a fish that starts the story of Creation. 

The related domestic animal is the pig, which is the last animal of the Chinese zodiac and symbolizes the end, the completion. People who are born in the year of the pig are said to love to bring a project to its end, to complete the work, but have difficulties in preparing and planning something new.

The element water is related to the broad bean as corn, the (Chinese) chestnut as fruit and the leaves of the purple giant hyssop (= Korean mint) as vegetable. 

The voice turns into a groaning and sighing. The element water shows fear and fright, but also knows hate (caused by fear, insult or inferiority complex) and compassion. The spontaneous reaction is anxiety. The virtues of the element water are wisdom and astuteness, whereas the negative behaviour contains hurry and impatience. The element water is characterized by desire and jealousy. It develops in the bones and opens to the outside in the ears. It shows its splendour in the hair on the head and its mental quality in the will.

The element water is related to the kidneys and the bladder. The kidneys work deep inside, at night, towards the end of our lives. They represent the calm, the reflected deployment of strength and the silent work in Wu Wei. They are responsible for the balance between the body and the spirit, the use of our strength and its effect. The kidneys store the essence of the body.

The bladder is responsible for all the liquids in the body. It decides on distributing water to the organs and on the quantity that is stored or spent.

Sources:

Udo Lorenzen / Andreas Noll, Die Wandlungsphasen der traditionellen chinesischen Medizin, Band 5, 2002, München

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