Playing With Fire: The Fire Element

Fire has always provided one of the most prominent metaphors, spanning different peoples and cultures. This significant element represents purification, destruction, power, energy, and transformation. Moreover, thanks to its versatility and practical uses, harnessing fire was an important milestone in early human development.

- Shreya Acharya

“Move swift as the Wind and closely-formed as the Wood. Attack like the Fire and be still as the Mountain.”

The Art of War, Sun Tzu

In the Chinese philosophy of wu xing, fire is also related to the energy of ascension and luminosity. It represents summer, and signifies a time of celebrating and rejoicing in the beauty, fullness and fruition of life. This is the element that represents energy itself.

As the second phase of wu xing, fire is generated by rubbing together two pieces of wood, and it must be fuelled by the burning of wood. It then begets earth as fire reduces everything to ashes, which become a part of the earth again. In the conquest cycle, water overcomes fire, which in turn overcomes metal, which can only be melted and forged by heat.