Besides this, the five elements (metal, wood, water, fire, earth) provided a framework for people of former times to classify natural phenomena. Confucianism also says that five implies the concept of "the mean."
此外，五行（金、木、水、火、土）是古人用來歸納自然界繁複現象的綱要；儒教則認為五有「中」的觀念。