The Five Phases Theory: A Structuralist Interpretation in Traditional Chinese Thought
Abstract
To explore the symbolic meaning of the Five Phases theory within traditional Chinese thought, this paper takes it as a signifier system that is restructured to reflect a semiotic meaning of natural phenomena. The Five Phases is used in a Lacanian epistemological paradigm, where the anchored signifier produces new signifiers in the form of particular situations, and the provisional meaning in the form of the differentiations between signifiers. These relations permit the signifiers to gain temporal stability, and to create an articulated chain of signifying instead of being attached to already established referents. To further elaborate on the Lacanian structuralist theory, the paper examines how the Five Phases act as signifiers in an active signifying chain, with the crucial point being that meaning is created through the differentiation of relationality and not the one-to-one representation. It then discusses the dynamic forms of interplay between the Five Phases, as well as the inherent variety to which the Yin-Yang principle has brought, to show how these relational processes maintain the openness of the system as well as the productive power of the system. It is through this structure that the Five Phases serves as a meta-symbolic system that is capable of correlating to a variety of features of the world and, in the process, constantly producing newer sets of meanings without draining the symbolic system itself.
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