五材

Chinese

		five	material
simp. and trad. (五材)		五	材
Literally: “the five materials”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): wǔcái

  (Zhuyin): ㄨˇ ㄘㄞˊ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wǔcái
    • Zhuyin: ㄨˇ ㄘㄞˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wǔcái
    • Wade–Giles: wu³-tsʻai²
    • Yale: wǔ-tsái
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wuutsair
    • Palladius: уцай (ucaj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /u²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡sʰaɪ̯³⁵/

Noun

五材

1. Synonym of 五行 (wǔxíng, “Wu Xing, the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire and earth”)
   • 815, 白居易 [Bai Juyi], 與元九書 [Letter to Yuan Zhen]:

     夫文，尚矣。三才各有文：天之文，三光首之；地之文，五材首之；人之文，六經首之。就六經言，《詩》又首之。何者？ [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     夫文，尚矣。三才各有文：天之文，三光首之；地之文，五材首之；人之文，六经首之。就六经言，《诗》又首之。何者？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     Fú wén, shàng yǐ. Sāncái gè yǒu wén: tiān zhī wén, sānguāng shǒu zhī; dì zhī wén, wǔcái shǒu zhī; rén zhī wén, liùjīng shǒu zhī. Jiù liùjīng yán, “Shī” yòu shǒu zhī. Hézhě? [Pinyin]

     Literary composition is ancient. The three talents (sky, land and people) each have compositions. Among the compositions of the sky, the three lights (the sun, the moon and the stars) are the foremost; among the compositions of the land, the five materials are the foremost; among the compositions of the people, the Six Classics are the foremost. Among the Six Classics, the Classic of Poetry is the foremost. Why?