 The Chinese system of five phases differs from traditional Western atomism on several counts. As qi (yin-yang) operates in essentially a wave-like manner, the world is manifested as a field of interacting qi forces. Change is a function of the attunement of forms and resonance of qi, and transformation is viewed according to chemical and biological models. That is, not only are the five phases derived from yin-yang interaction; they are divisible and inter-convertible. Moreover, while Western atoms bear only primary qualities in themselves, each of the five phases exhibits a range of perceptual qualities and effects, and the tradition attributes a plethora of qualities and associations to yin and yang. These flexible and adaptable concepts do not create the sorts of problems, the kinds of conflicts with observation, that prompt rethinking and further, more precise investigations of phenomena. Because perceptual properties of all sorts are propagated from the formation of the five phases, Zhu Xi and others in his tradition did not draw the critical distinction between primary and secondary qualities that formed a crucial linchpin in physical analysis in the West from antiquity. To be sure, Zhu spoke of a threshold between perceptible and imperceptible phenomena in terms of the expressions “above forms” (xing er shang) and “within forms” (xing er xia). “Above forms” refers not to general principles or primary qualities but essentially to the immanental moral underpinnings of nature and humanity, i.e., the inner roots of order and harmony, ecologically conceived, primary examples of which are dao and li. Characterizing these fundamental notions as “above forms”, Zhu insisted that people needed to comprehend them in light of their manifestations in perceived phenomena “within forms”. Lacking the critical distinction between primary and secondary qualities, Zhu treated perceptual qualities, such as color and taste, as equally basic, innate, and real in material substances as any other, and as such he did not look to underlying principles, causes, or mechanisms in terms of which to explain these manifest qualities.