五勝简体五胜

wǔ shèng

The five conquests · wu sheng

Also rendered: the five conquests (Keeps 勝 as an act of overcoming between two phases) · the five overcomings (Plainer; loses the sense of prevailing)

Cosmology

Reviewed · 2026-09

At a glance

Pinyin: wǔ shèng
Simplified: 五胜
Literal: 五 is five and 勝 is to overcome — 說文 glosses it as 任, to bear, and the sense of prevailing over comes from being the one who can carry the weight. In the phase sequence it is the relation by which one phase overcomes another: metal fells wood, water quenches fire. Chapter 25 does not describe this as a doctrine but as something that sets itself up and replaces itself, 五勝更立, and it immediately follows with the plain claim that all the myriad things are like this. The chapter's own illustration comes a few lines later, in five clauses of extraordinary plainness.
Shuowen: 《說文解字》：勝，任也。从力朕聲。任者能負其重，引申為能加之於人，故為勝負之勝。本篇之目：能存八動之變，五勝更立；木得金而伐，火得水而滅，土得木而達，金得火而缺，水得土而絶。

In brief

The overcoming sequence among the five phases, named in chapter 25 as one of the things a physician must be able to hold, and illustrated in the chapter’s most quotable five clauses. The term itself appears in the phrase 五勝更立 — the conquests set each other up in turn — and the illustration follows shortly after: wood is felled by metal, fire quenched by water, earth opened by wood, metal flawed by fire, water cut off by earth. This site keeps sheng as ‘conquest’ rather than ‘overcoming’ because the chapter is describing what happens when two phases meet, not a hierarchy.

Senses in the classical corpus

The sequence named 五勝更立

「更立」謂相代而立，非一列而止

能存八動之變，五勝更立 — Suwen 25

Metal over wood 木得金而伐

金克木，木受伐

木得金而伐 — Suwen 25

Water over fire 火得水而滅

水克火，火受滅

火得水而滅 — Suwen 25

Wood over earth 土得木而達

木疏土而土氣通，「達」取疏達之義

土得木而達 — Suwen 25

Fire over metal 金得火而缺

火熔金，金受缺

金得火而缺 — Suwen 25

Earth over water 水得土而絶

土掩水，水受絶

水得土而絶 — Suwen 25

Occurrences in the classics

Passages where the term does real work, with the original, pinyin and English on the same line.

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1 passages

素問·寶命全形論 Suwen 25 · 寶命全形論 Read in context →

歧伯曰：木得金而伐，火得水而滅，土得木而達，金得火而缺，水得土而絶。萬物盡然，不可勝竭。歧伯曰：木得金而伐，火得水而灭，土得木而达，金得火而缺，水得土而绝。万物尽然，不可胜竭。

Qí bó yuē: mù dé jīn ér fá, huǒ dé shuǐ ér miè, tǔ dé mù ér dá, jīn dé huǒ ér quē, shuǐ dé tǔ ér jué. Wàn wù jìn rán, bù kě shèng jié.

Qibo says: Wood meets metal and is felled; fire meets water and is quenched; earth meets wood and is opened through; metal meets fire and is flawed; water meets earth and is cut off. All the myriad things are like this and cannot be exhaustively enumerated.

「五勝」之名見於本篇§10「能存八動之變，五勝更立」，而其義之實例則在此五句：木得金而伐，火得水而滅，土得木而達，金得火而缺，水得土而絶。五句皆言相勝，故結以「萬物盡然，不可勝竭」。**「達」讀 dá，於此為疏達之義**——木疏土而土氣通，非泛言通達；本篇§10「能逹虚實之數」之「逹」為其異體，二形同篇並見，各從底本。「缺」讀 quē；「絶」讀 jué，本篇三見；「伐」讀 fá；「滅」讀 miè；「竭」讀 jié。「不可勝竭」之「勝」讀 shèng，義為「盡」，舊讀 shēng，本站從今讀。

Compounds built on this term

五勝

wǔ shèng

the five conquests

五行相勝之序

更立

gēng lì

setting each other up in turn

「更」讀 gēng

五行

wǔ xíng

the five phases

本站第二十二篇已立目（id 711）

所勝所不勝

suǒ shèng suǒ bù shèng

what conquers and what does not

本站第二十二篇已立目（id 537）

How it has been translated

Every rendering below is a decision about which reader is being addressed. There is no neutral option.

Wiseman & Feng	the five conquests	They settled on 'conquest' for 勝 in the phase sequence, and it has the advantage of naming a relation rather than a rank.
Unschuld	the five phases conquer each other	He spells out the reciprocity, which the compressed term leaves implicit.
This site	the five conquests	We follow Wiseman here because chapter 25 states the relation in both directions within five clauses — each phase is conquered by one and conquers another. 'Conquest' keeps that reciprocity available; 'overcoming' suggests a ladder.

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-09

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Reading path

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