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{{Short description|Earth, water, air, fire, and (later) aether}}
{{About|the Indo-European belief of the fundamental types of matter|similar beliefs in other cultures|Element (disambiguation)#Philosophy and religion}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2025}}
[[File:Leibniz four elements.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz|Leibniz]] representation of universe resulting by combination of Aristotle four elements]]
[[File:The Elements, Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory - Indianapolis Museum of Art - DSC00573.JPG|thumb|[[Rococo]] set of [[personification]] figurines of the ''Four Elements'', 1760s, [[Chelsea porcelain]]]]
{{classic element}}
The '''classical elements''' typically refer to [[Earth (classical element)|earth]], [[Water (classical element)|water]], [[Fire (classical element)|fire]], [[Air (classical element)|air]], and (later) [[Aether (classical element)|aether]] which were proposed to explain the nature and complexity of all [[matter]] in terms of simpler [[Substance theory|substance]]s.<ref name="Boyd2003">{{Cite book |last1=Boyd |first1=T.J.M. |url=https://archive.org/details/physicsofplasmas0000boyd |title=The Physics of Plasmas |last2=Sanderson |first2=J.J. |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2003 |isbn=9780521459129 |page=[https://archive.org/details/physicsofplasmas0000boyd/page/1 1] |lccn=2002024654 |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="Ball2004">{{Cite book |last=Ball |first=P. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uaBczzC4wvIC&pg=PT33 |title=The Elements: A Very Short Introduction |publisher=OUP Oxford |year=2004 |isbn=9780191578250 |series=Very Short Introductions |page=33}}</ref> Ancient cultures in [[Ancient Greece|Greece]], [[History of Angola|Angola]], [[Ancient Tibet|Tibet]], [[Ancient India|India]], and [[History of Mali|Mali]] had similar lists which sometimes referred, in local languages, to "air" as "wind", and to "aether" as "space".

[[File:AMA Symbol of Meetei Sanamahism.jpg|thumb|The concept of five classical elements in the [[traditional Meitei religion]] ([[Sanamahism]])]]

These different cultures and even individual philosophers had widely varying explanations concerning their attributes and how they related to observable phenomena as well as [[cosmology]]. Sometimes these theories overlapped with [[mythology]] and were [[personification|personified in deities]]. Some of these interpretations included [[atomism]] (the idea of very small, indivisible portions of matter), but other interpretations considered the elements to be divisible into infinitely small pieces without changing their nature.

While the classification of the material world among the [[Mahābhūta|ancient Indians]], [[Hellenistic Egypt|Hellenistic Egyptians]], and [[Ancient Greece#Science and technology|ancient Greeks]] into air, earth, fire, and water was more philosophical; scientists of the [[Middle Ages]] used practical, experimental observation to classify materials.<ref name="Jim">{{Cite AV media |title=Science and Islam |last=Al-Khalili |first=Jim |publisher=BBC |year=2009 |author-link=Jim Al-Khalili |title-link=Science and Islam (TV series)}}</ref> In Europe, the ancient Greek concept, devised by [[Empedocles]], evolved into the systematic classifications of [[Aristotle]] and [[Hippocrates]]. This evolved slightly into the medieval system,{{Cn|date=June 2025}} and eventually became the object of experimental verification in the 17th century, at the start of the [[Scientific Revolution]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=agranoff |first=bernard |date=1 August 2008 |title=Brain Food |url=https://online.ucpress.edu/gastronomica/article/8/3/79/47478/Brain-Food |journal=Gastronomica |language=en |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=79–85 |doi=10.1525/gfc.2008.8.3.79 |issn=1529-3262|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

[[History of science#Modern science|Modern science]] does not support the classical elements to classify types of substances. [[Atomic theory]] classifies atoms into more than a hundred [[chemical element]]s such as [[oxygen]], [[iron]], and [[Mercury (element)|mercury]], which may form [[chemical compound]]s and [[mixtures]]. The modern categories roughly corresponding to the classical elements are the [[states of matter]] produced under different temperatures and pressures. [[Solid]], [[liquid]], [[gas]], and [[Plasma (physics)|plasma]] share many attributes with the corresponding classical elements of earth, water, air, and fire, but these states describe the similar behaviour of different types of atoms at similar energy levels, not the characteristic behaviour of certain atoms or substances.

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== Hellenistic philosophy ==
{{Platonism}}
{{anchor|Ancient classic element systems}}
{{anchor|Classical elements in Greece}}<!-- This section is linked from [[Democritus]] -->
{|class="wikitable floatright"
|Aristotelian elements and qualities
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| style="background:#ffffff; text-align:center;" |
[[File:Four elements representation.svg|center|200px|Four classical elements]]
{{clear}}
''Empedoclean elements''
{{clear}}
[[File:Fire symbol (alchemical).svg|20px|🜂]] [[Fire (classical element)|&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;fire]] {{·}}
[[File:Air symbol (alchemical).svg|20px|🜁]] [[Air (classical element)|air&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;]] <br />
[[File:Water symbol (alchemical).svg|20px|🜄]] [[Water (classical element)|water]] {{·}}
[[File:Alchemical earth symbol (fixed width).svg|20px|🜃]] [[Earth (classical element)|earth]]

|}

The [[History of science in classical antiquity#Pre-Socratic philosophers|ancient Greek]] concept of four basic elements, these being earth ({{lang|grc|γῆ}}  {{transliteration|grc|gê}}), water ({{lang|grc|ὕδωρ}} {{transliteration|grc|hýdōr}}), air ({{lang|grc|ἀήρ}} {{transliteration|grc|aḗr}}), and fire ({{lang|grc|πῦρ}} {{transliteration|grc|pŷr}}), dates from [[Pre-Socratic philosophy|pre-Socratic]] times and persisted throughout the [[Middle Ages]] and into the [[Early modern period]], deeply influencing [[Europe]]an thought and culture.{{sfnp|Curd|2020}}

=== Pre-Socratic elements ===

==== Primordal element ====
[[File:Four Classical Elements in Burning Log.svg|thumb|upright=1.1|The four classical elements of [[Empedocles]] and [[Aristotle]] illustrated with a burning log. The log releases all four elements as it is destroyed.]]{{Main|Thales of Miletus#Water as the arche|Anaximenes of Miletus#Air as the arche|Heraclitus#Fire as the arche|Anaximander#Theories}}The classical elements were first proposed independently by several early Pre-Socratic philosophers.{{sfnp|Ross|2020}} Greek philosophers had debated which substance was the ''[[arche]]'' ("first principle"), or primordial element from which everything else was made. [[Thales]] ({{circa|626/623|548/545 BC}}) believed that water was this principle. [[Anaximander]] ({{circa|610|546 BC}}) argued that the primordial substance was not any of the known substances, but could be transformed into them, and they into each other.{{sfnp|Russell|1991|p=46}}{{sfnp|Curd|2020}} [[Anaximenes of Miletus|Anaximenes]] ({{circa|586|526 BC}}) favoured air, and [[Heraclitus]] (<abbr>fl.</abbr> {{circa|500 BC}}) championed fire.{{sfnp|Russell|1991|p=61}}

==== Fire, earth, air, and water ====
{{Main|Empedocles#Philosophy}}
The [[Magna Graecia|Greek]] philosopher [[Empedocles]] ({{circa|450 BC}}) was the first to propose the four classical elements as a set: fire, earth, air, and water.{{sfnp|Russell|1991|pp=62, 75}} He called them the four "roots" ({{lang|grc|ῥιζώματα}}, {{transliteration|grc|rhizōmata}}). Empedocles also proved (at least to his own satisfaction) that air was a separate substance by observing that a bucket inverted in water did not become filled with water, a pocket of air remaining trapped inside.{{sfnp|Russell|1991|p=72}}

Fire, earth, air, and water have become the most popular set of classical elements in modern interpretations. One such version was provided by [[Robert Boyle]] in ''[[The Sceptical Chymist]]'', which was published in 1661 in the form of a dialogue between five characters. ''Themistius,'' the [[Aristotelianism|Aristotelian]] of the party, says:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Boyle |first=Robert |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/22914/22914-h/22914-h.htm |title=The Sceptical Chymist: or Chymico-Physical Doubts & Paradoxes, Touching the Spagyrist's Principles Commonly call'd Hypostatical; As they are wont to be Propos'd and Defended by the Generality of Alchymists. Whereunto is præmis'd Part of another Discourse relating to the same Subject |publisher=Printed by J. Cadwell for J. Crooke |year=1661 |pages=21–22}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=If You but consider a piece of green-Wood burning in a Chimney, You will readily discern in the disbanded parts of it the four Elements, of which we teach It and other mixt bodies to be compos'd. The fire discovers it self in the flame ... the smoke by ascending to the top of the chimney, and there readily vanishing into air ... manifests to what Element it belongs and gladly returnes. The water ... boyling and hissing at the ends of the burning Wood betrayes it self ... and the ashes by their weight, their firiness, and their dryness, put it past doubt that they belong to the Element of Earth.}}

=== Humorism (Hippocrates) ===
[[File:Hippocrates (Paulus Pontius after Peter Paul Rubens).jpg|alt=An engraving of Hippocrates by Peter Paul Rubens, 1638|thumb|158x158px|Hippocrates]]
According to [[Galen]], these elements were used by [[Hippocrates]] ({{circa|460|370 BC}}) in describing the [[human body]] with an association with the [[Humorism|four humours]]: yellow [[bile]] (fire), [[Melancholia|black bile]] (earth), [[blood]] (air), and [[phlegm]] (water). Medical care was primarily about helping the patient stay in or return to their own personal natural balanced state.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lindemann |first=Mary |title=Medicine and Society in early Modern Europe |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-521-73256-7 |page=19}}</ref>

=== Plato ===
[[File:Plato Silanion Musei Capitolini MC1377 (cropped).jpg|alt=Head bust of Plato|thumb|211x211px|Plato]]
[[Plato]] (428/423 – 348/347 BC) seems to have been the first to use the term "element ({{lang|grc|στοιχεῖον}}, {{transliteration|grc|stoicheîon}})" in reference to air, fire, earth, and water.<ref>{{Citation |last=Plato |title=Timaeus |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plat.+Tim.+48b |at=48b}}</ref>  The ancient Greek word for element, {{transliteration|grc|stoicheion}} (from {{transliteration|grc|stoicheo}}, "to line up") meant "smallest division (of a sun-dial), a syllable", as the composing unit of an alphabet it could denote a letter and the smallest unit from which a word is formed.

=== Aristotle ===
[[File:Statue_at_the_Aristotle_University_of_Thessaloniki_(cropped).jpg|alt=Statue at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki|thumb|205x205px|Aristotle]]
In ''[[On the Heavens]]'' (350 BC), Aristotle defines "element" in general:<ref>{{Citation |last1=Weisberg |first1=M. |title=Philosophy of Chemistry |date=2019 |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2019/entries/chemistry/ |encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |editor-last=Zalta |editor-first=E. N. |edition=Spring 2019 |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |last2=Needham |first2=P. |last3=Hendry |first3=R.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Aristotle |url=https://archive.org/details/onheavens0000aris/page/283/mode/1up?view=theater |title=On the Heavens |year=1922 |pages=3.3, 302a17–19 |translator-last=Stocks |translator-first=J. L. |orig-date=350 BCE}}</ref>
{{Blockquote|An element, we take it, is a body into which other bodies may be analysed, present in them potentially or in actuality (which of these, is still disputable), and not itself divisible into bodies different in form. That, or something like it, is what all men in every case mean by element.<ref>{{Citation |author=Aristotle |title=[[On the Heavens]] |at=III.3.302a17–19 |author-link=Aristotle |translator-last=Stocks |translator-first=J.L.}}</ref>|author=Aristotle|title=On the Heavens|source=Book III, Chapter III}}

In his ''[[On Generation and Corruption]]'',<ref>{{cite wikisource |author=Aristotle |wslink=Περί Γενέσεως και Φθοράς/2 |anchor=Κεφάλαιο 3 |wslanguage=el |quote={{lang|grc|τὸ μὲν γὰρ πῦρ θερμὸν καὶ ξηρόν, ὁ δ' ἀὴρ θερμὸν καὶ ὑγρόν (οἷον ἀτμὶς γὰρ ὁ ἀήρ), τὸ δ' ὕδωρ ψυχρὸν καὶ ὑγρόν, ἡ δὲ γῆ ψυχρὸν καὶ ξηρόν}}}}</ref>{{sfnp|Lloyd|1968|pp=166–169}} Aristotle related each of the four elements to two of the four sensible qualities:
* [[Fire (classical element)|'''Fire''']] is both hot and dry.
* [[Air (classical element)|'''Air''']] is both hot and wet (for air is like vapour, {{lang|grc|ἀτμὶς}}).
* [[Water (classical element)|'''Water''']] is both cold and wet.
* [[Earth (classical element)|'''Earth''']] is both cold and dry.

A classic diagram has one square [[inscribed]] in the other, with the corners of one being the classical elements, and the corners of the other being the properties. The opposite corner is the opposite of these properties, "hot – cold" and "dry – wet".

==== Aether ====
[[Aristotle]] added a fifth element, [[Aether (classical element)#Fifth element|aether]] ({{lang|grc|αἰθήρ}} {{transliteration|grc|aither}}), as the quintessence, reasoning that whereas fire, earth, air, and water were earthly and corruptible, since no changes had been perceived in the heavenly regions, the [[star]]s cannot be made out of any of the four elements but must be made of a different, unchangeable, heavenly substance.{{sfnp|Lloyd|1968|pp=[https://archive.org/details/aristotlegrowths0000lloy/page/133 133–139]}} It had previously been believed by pre-Socratics such as Empedocles and [[Anaxagoras]] that aether, the name applied to the material of heavenly bodies, was a form of fire. Aristotle himself did not use the term ''aether'' for the fifth element, and strongly criticised the pre-Socratics for associating the term with fire. He preferred a number of other terms indicating eternal movement, thus emphasising the evidence for his discovery of a new element.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |year=1971 |chapter=Aristotle's analysis of change and Plato's theory of Transcendent Ideas |publisher=SUNY Press |last=Chung-Hwan |first=Chen |author-link=Chen Chung-hwan |editor-last=Anton |editor-first=John P. |volume=2 |pages=406–407 |isbn=0873956230 |editor2-first=Anthony |editor2-last=Preus |title=Ancient Greek Philosophy}}.</ref> These five elements have been associated since Plato's [[Timaeus (dialogue)|''Timaeus'']] with the five [[platonic solid]]s. Earth was associated with the cube, air with the octahedron, water with the icosahedron, and fire with the tetrahedron. Of the fifth Platonic solid, the dodecahedron, Plato obscurely remarked, "...the god used [it] for arranging the constellations on the whole heaven". [[Aristotle]] added a fifth element, [[aether (classical element)|aither]] (aether in Latin, "ether" in English) and postulated that the heavens were made of this element, but he had no interest in matching it with Plato's fifth solid.<ref>Wildberg (1988): Wildberg discusses the correspondence of the Platonic solids with elements in ''Timaeus'' but notes that this correspondence appears to have been forgotten in ''[[Epinomis]]'', which he calls "a long step towards Aristotle's theory", and he points out that Aristotle's ether is above the other four elements rather than on an equal footing with them, making the correspondence less apposite.</ref>

=== Neo-Platonism ===
The [[Neoplatonic]] philosopher [[Proclus]] rejected Aristotle's theory relating the elements to the sensible qualities hot, cold, wet, and dry. He maintained that each of the elements has three properties. Fire is sharp ([[wikt:ὀξύτης|ὀξυτητα]]), subtle ([[wikt:λεπτομέρεια|λεπτομερειαν]]), and mobile ([[wikt:εὐκινησία|εὐκινησιαν]]) while its opposite, earth, is blunt ([[wikt:αμβλύτητα|αμβλυτητα]]), dense ([[wikt:παχύς|παχυμερειαν]]), and immobile ([[wikt:ακίνητος|ακινησιαν]]<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Siorvanes |first=Lucas |date=1986 |title=Proclus on the Elements and the Celestial Bodies: Physical Thought in Late Neoplatonism |url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1317977/1/311636.pdf |page=168 |access-date=}}</ref>); they are joined by the intermediate elements, air and water, in the following fashion:<ref>{{Citation |author=Proclus |title=Commentary on Plato's ''Timaeus'' |at=3.38.1–3.39.28}}</ref>

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width:240px; height:135px;"
|-
! Fire 
| style="background: pink" | Sharp || style="background: pink" | Subtle ||  style="background: pink" | Mobile
|-
! Air 
| style="background: lightgreen" | Blunt || style="background: pink" | Subtle ||  style="background: pink" | Mobile
|-
! Water 
| style="background: lightgreen" | Blunt || style="background: lightgreen" | Dense ||  style="background: pink" | Mobile
|-
! Earth 
| style="background: lightgreen" | Blunt || style="background: lightgreen" | Dense || style="background: lightgreen" | Immobile
|}

=== Hermeticism ===
{{anchor|Classical elements in Egypt}}
A text written in Egypt in [[Ptolemaic Kingdom|Hellenistic]] or [[Roman Egypt|Roman]] times called the ''[[Kore Kosmou]]'' ("Virgin of the World") ascribed to [[Hermes Trismegistus]] (associated with the Egyptian god [[Thoth]]), names the four elements fire, water, air, and earth. As described in this book:

{{blockquote|And Isis answer made: Of living things, my son, some are made friends with ''fire'', and some with ''water'', some with ''air'', and some with ''earth'', and some with two or three of these, and some with all. And, on the contrary, again some are made enemies of fire, and some of water, some of earth, and some of air, and some of two of them, and some of three, and some of all. For instance, son, the locust and all flies flee fire; the eagle and the hawk and all high-flying birds flee water; fish, air and earth; the snake avoids the open air. Whereas snakes and all creeping things love earth; all swimming things love water; winged things, air, of which they are the citizens; while those that fly still higher love the fire and have the habitat near it. Not that some of the animals as well do not love fire; for instance salamanders, for they even have their homes in it. It is because one or another of the elements doth form their bodies' outer envelope. Each [[soul]], accordingly, while it is in its body is weighted and constricted by these four.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mead |first=G. R. S. |author-link=G. R. S.  Mead |title=Thrice-Greatest Hermes |volume=3 |date=1906 |place=London & Benares |publisher=The Theosophical Publishing Society |pages=133–134  |oclc=76743923 }}</ref>
}}

==Ancient Indian philosophy==

===Hinduism===
{{anchor|Classical elements in Hinduism}}<!-- This section is linked from [[Akasha]] -->
{{anchor|The 5 Elements of Nature}}
{{Main|Mahābhūta#Hinduism|Pancha Bhuta}}

The system of five elements are found in [[Vedas]], especially [[Ayurveda]], the ''[[Pancha Bhoota|pancha mahabhuta]]'', or "five great elements", of [[Hinduism]] are:
#''[[bhūmi]]'' or ''[[Prithvi|pṛthvī]]'' ([[earth (classical element)|earth]]),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gopal |first=Madan |url=https://archive.org/details/indiathroughages00mada |title=India through the ages |publisher=Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India |year=1990 |editor-last=K.S. Gautam |page=[https://archive.org/details/indiathroughages00mada/page/78 78]}}</ref> 
#''[[Ap (water)|āpas]]'' or ''jala'' ([[water (classical element)|water]]), 
#''[[Agni|agní]]'' or ''[[agni|tejas]]'' ([[fire (classical element)|fire]]), 
#''[[Vayu|vāyu]]'', ''vyāna'', or ''vāta'' ([[air (classical element)|air]] or [[wind]])
#''[[Akasha|ākāśa]]'', ''vyom'', or ''[[Śūnyatā#Etymology|śūnya]]'' (space or zero) or  ([[Aether (classical element)|aether]] or [[Aether (classical element)|void]]).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ranade |first=Subhash |title=Natural Healing Through Ayurveda |date=December 2001 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publisher |isbn=9788120812437 |page=32}}</ref> 
They further suggest that all of creation, including the human body, is made of these five essential elements and that upon death, the human body dissolves into these five elements of nature, thereby balancing the cycle of nature.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jagannathan |first=Maithily |title=South Indian Hindu Festivals and Traditions |publisher=Abhinav Publications |pages=60–62}}</ref>

The five elements are associated with the five senses, and act as the gross medium for the experience of sensations. The basest element, earth, created using all the other elements, can be perceived by all five senses — (i) hearing, (ii) touch, (iii) sight, (iv) taste, and (v) smell. The next higher element, water, has no odour but can be heard, felt, seen and tasted. Next comes fire, which can be heard, felt and seen. Air can be heard and felt. "Akasha" (aether) is beyond the senses of smell, taste, sight, and touch; it being accessible to the sense of hearing alone.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Meyer-Dinkgräfe |first=Daniel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zGy0UglRz6IC |title=Theatre and Consciousness: Explanatory Scope and Future Potential |publisher=Intellect Books |year=2005 |isbn=9781841501307}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Nath |first=Samir |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cojAfyr04UAC |title=Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Buddhism |publisher=Sarup & Sons |year=1998 |isbn=9788176250191 |page=653}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Tirupati Raju |first=Poola |title=Structural Depths of Indian Thought: Toward a Constructive Postmodern Ethics |publisher=SUNY Press |page=81}}</ref>

===Buddhism===
{{anchor|Buddhist elements}}
{{Main|Mahābhūta}}

Buddhism has had a variety of thought about the five elements and their existence and relevance, some of which continue to this day.

In the [[Pali literature]], the ''[[mahabhuta]]'' ("great elements") or ''catudhatu'' ("four elements") are earth, water, fire and air. In [[Early Buddhist schools|early Buddhism]], the four elements are a basis for understanding suffering and for liberating oneself from suffering. The earliest [[Buddhist texts]] explain that the four primary material elements are solidity, fluidity, temperature, and mobility, characterised as earth, water, fire, and air, respectively.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: a New Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya |publisher=Wisdom Publications in association with the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies |year=1995 |isbn=0-86171-072-X |editor-last=Bodhi |location=Boston |chapter=28, Mahāhatthipadopamasutta |oclc=31331607}}</ref>

The [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]]'s teaching regarding the four elements is to be understood as the base of all observation of real sensations rather than as a philosophy. The four properties are cohesion (water), solidity or inertia (earth), expansion or vibration (air) and heat or energy content (fire). He promulgated a categorisation of mind and matter as composed of eight types of "[[kalapas]]" of which the four elements are primary and a secondary group of four are colour, smell, taste, and nutriment which are derivative from the four primaries.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thera |first=Narada |title=A Manual of Abhidhamma |publisher=Buddhist Missionary Society |year=1956 |pages=318–320}}</ref>{{efn|{{harvp|Thera|1956|pages=318–320}}: "the atomic theory prevailed in India in the time of the Buddha. Paramàõu was the ancient term for the modern atom. According to the ancient belief one rathareõu consists of 16 tajjàris, one tajjàri, 16 aõus; one aõu, 16 paramàõus. The minute particles of dust seen dancing in the sunbeam are called rathareõus. One para-màõu is, therefore, 4096th part of a rathareõu. This para-màõu was considered indivisible. With His supernormal knowledge the Buddha analysed this so-called paramàõu and declared that it consists of paramatthas—ultimate entities which cannot further be subdivided." "ñhavi in earth, àpo in water, tejo in fire, and vàyo in air. They are also called Mahàbhåtas or Great Essentials because they are invariably found in all material substances ranging from the infinitesimally small cell to the most massive object. Dependent on them are the four subsidiary material qualities of colour (vaõõa)., smell (gandha), taste (rasa), and nutritive essence (ojà). These eight coexisting forces and qualities constitute one material group called 'Suddhaññhaka Rupa kalàpa—pure-octad material group'."}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Anuruddha |title=A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma: the Abhidhammattha Sangaha of Ācariya Anuruddha |publisher=Buddhist Publication Society |year=1993 |isbn=955-24-0103-8 |editor-last=Bodhi |location=Kandy, Sri Lanka |page=260 |oclc=33088951 |quote="Thus as fourfold the Tathagatas reveal the ultimate realities-consciousness, mental factors, matter, and Nibbana."}}</ref>

[[Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu|Thanissaro Bhikkhu]] (1997) renders an extract of [[Shakyamuni Buddha]]'s from Pali into English thus:
{{blockquote|Just as a skilled butcher or his apprentice, having killed a cow, would sit at a crossroads cutting it up into pieces, the monk contemplates this very body — however it stands, however it is disposed — in terms of properties: 'In this body there is the earth property, the liquid property, the fire property, & the wind property.'<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kayagata-sati Sutta |url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.119.than.html |access-date=2009-01-30 |website=[[Majjhima Nikaya]] |page=119 |via=accesstoinsight.org}}</ref>}}

[[Tibetan Buddhism|Tibetan Buddhist]] medical literature speaks of the {{IAST|pañca mahābhūta}} (five elements) or "elemental properties":<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=The Tibetan Book of the Dead |publisher=[[Viking Press]] |others=Introductory commentary by the [[14th Dalai Lama]] |year=2005 |isbn=0-670-85886-2 |edition=First American |location=New York |pages=502 |translator-last=Dorje |translator-first=Gyurnme |translator-last2=Coleman |translator-first2=Graham |translator-last3=Jinpa |translator-first3=Thupten}}</ref> earth, water, fire, wind, and space.<ref name=":0" /> The concept was extensively used in [[traditional Tibetan medicine]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gurmet |first=Padma |year=2004 |title='Sowa – Rigpa': Himalayan art of healing |url=http://nopr.niscair.res.in/handle/123456789/9345 |journal=Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=212–218}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bigalke |first=Boris |date=11 January 2013 |others=University Hospital Tuebingen |title=Behavioral and Nutritional Therapy in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease According to Traditional Tibetan Medicine Protocol |url=https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00810992}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> Tibetan Buddhist [[theology]], [[tantra]] traditions, and "astrological texts" also spoke of them making up the "environment, [human] bodies," and at the smallest or "subtlest" level of existence, parts of thought and the mind.<ref name=":0" /> Also at the subtlest level of existence, the elements exist as "pure natures represented by the five female buddhas", Ākāśadhātviśvarī, Buddhalocanā, Mamakī, Pāṇḍarāvasinī, and Samayatārā, and these pure natures "manifest as the physical properties of earth (solidity), water (fluidity), fire (heat and light), wind (movement and energy), and" the expanse of space.<ref name=":0" /> These natures exist as all "qualities" that are in the physical world and take forms in it.<ref name=":0" />

== Ancient African philosophy ==

=== Central Africa ===
[[File:Kongo Cosmogram 3.png|thumb|The Bakongo Cosmogram]]
In traditional [[Kongo religion|Bakongo religion]], the five elements are incorporated into the [[Kongo cosmogram]]. This sacred symbol also depicts the physical world (''Nseke''), the spiritual world of the ancestors (''Mpémba''), the [[Kalunga line|Kalûnga line]] that runs between the two worlds, the circular void that originally formed the two worlds (''mbûngi''), and [[Sun path|the path of the sun]]. Each element correlates to a period in the life cycle, which the Bakongo people also equate to the four [[cardinal direction]]s. According to their cosmology, all living things go through this cycle.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fu-Kiau |first=Kimbwandènde Kia Bunseki |url=http://archive.org/details/africancosmology00kimb |title=African cosmology of the Bântu-Kôngo : tying the spiritual knot : principles of life & living |date=2001 |location=Brooklyn, N.Y. |publisher=Athelia Henrietta Press, Pub. |isbn=978-1-890157-28-9}}</ref>

* '''Aether''' represents ''mbûngi'', the circular void that begot the universe.
* '''Air''' (South) represents ''musoni'', the period of conception that takes place during spring.
* '''Fire''' (East) represent ''kala'', the period of birth that takes place during summer.
* '''Earth''' (North) represents ''tukula'', the period of maturity that takes place during fall.
* '''Water''' (West) represents ''luvemba'', the period of death that takes place during winter

=== West Africa ===
In traditional [[Bambara people|Bambara]] spirituality, the [[Bemba (deity)|Supreme God]] created four additional essences of himself during creation. Together, these five essences of the deity correlate with the five classical elements.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lugira |first=Aloysius Muzzanganda |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S79wsrvX_-MC&q=Ndomadyiri |title=African Traditional Religion |date=2009 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-1-4381-2047-8 |pages=39 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bambara Religion {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/bambara-religion |access-date=21 April 2024 |website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref>

* Koni is the thought and void ('''aether''').
* Bemba (also called Pemba) is the god of the sky and '''air'''.
* Nyale (also called Koroni Koundyé) is the goddess of '''fire'''.
* Faro is the androgynous god of '''water'''.
* Ndomadyiri is the god and master of the '''earth'''.

==Post-classical history==

===Alchemy===
[[File:Vitriol.png|thumb|Seventeenth century alchemical emblem showing the four Classical elements in the corners of the image, alongside the tria prima on the central triangle]]
{{anchor|Elements in Medieval alchemy}}

The elemental system used in medieval [[alchemy]] was developed primarily by the anonymous authors of the Arabic works attributed to Pseudo [[Apollonius of Tyana]].{{sfnp|Norris|2006|pp=43–65}} This system consisted of the four classical elements of air, earth, fire, and water, in addition to a new theory called the [[sulphur-mercury theory of metals]], which was based on two elements: [[Sulfur|sulphur]], characterising the principle of combustibility, "the stone which burns"; and [[Mercury (element)|mercury]], characterising the principle of metallic properties. They were seen by early alchemists as idealised expressions of irreducible components of the [[universe]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clulee |first=Nicholas H. |title=John Dee's Natural Philosophy |publisher=Routledge |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-415-00625-5 |pages=97}}</ref> and are of larger consideration within philosophical alchemy.

The three metallic principles—sulphur to flammability or combustion, mercury to volatility and stability, and [[Salt (chemistry)|salt]] to solidity—became the ''tria prima'' of the Swiss alchemist [[Paracelsus]]. He reasoned that Aristotle's four element theory appeared in bodies as three principles. Paracelsus saw these principles as fundamental and justified them by recourse to the description of how wood burns in fire. Mercury included the cohesive principle, so that when it left in smoke the wood fell apart. Smoke described the volatility (the mercurial principle), the heat-giving flames described flammability (sulphur), and the remnant ash described solidity (salt).{{sfnp|Strathern|2001|p=79}}

===Chinese===
{{Main|Wuxing (Chinese philosophy)}}

Chinese traditional concepts adopt a set of elements called the {{lang|zh|五行}} (''[[Wuxing (Chinese philosophy)|wuxing]]'', literally "five phases"). These five are [[Metal (wuxing)|Metal]] or Gold (金 ''Jīn''), [[Wood (wuxing)|Wood]] (木 ''Mù''), [[Water (wuxing)|Water]] (水 ''Shuǐ''), [[Fire (wuxing)|Fire]] (火 ''Huǒ''), and [[Earth (wuxing)|Earth]] or Soil (土 ''Tǔ'').<ref>Theobald, Ulrich (2011) [http://www.chinaknowledge.de/Literature/Diverse/yinyangwuxing.html "Yin-Yang and Five Agents Theory, Correlative Thinking"] in ''ChinaKnowledge.de - An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History, Literature and Art''</ref> These can be linked to [[Taiji (philosophy)|Taiji]], [[Yin and yang|Yinyang]], [[Four Symbols]], [[Bagua]], [[Hexagram (I Ching)|Hexagram]] and [[I Ching]]. 

*'''Gold''' (West) represents the young yin symbol, [[autumn]], the [[white]] colour, and [[White Tiger (mythology)|White Tiger]] mascot, [[Taotie]] creature (Earth). 
*'''Wood''' (East) represents the young yang symbol, [[Spring (season)|spring]], the [[green]] colour, and [[Azure Dragon]] mascot, [[Feilian]] creature (Wind). 
*'''Water''' (North) represents the old yin symbol, [[winter]], the [[black]] colour, and [[Black Turtle-Snake]] mascot. 
*'''Fire''' (South) represents the old yang symbol, [[summer]], the [[red]] colour, and [[Vermilion Bird]] mascot. 
*'''Soil''' (Center) represents the Qi symbol, intermediate season, the [[yellow]] colour, and [[Yellow Dragon]] mascot, [[Hundun]] creature (Void). 

===Japanese===
{{anchor|Japanese elements}}

{{Main|Godai (Japanese philosophy)}}

[[Japan]]ese traditions use a set of elements called the {{lang|ja|五大}} (''godai'', literally "five great"). These five are [[earth (classical element)|earth]], [[water (classical element)|water]], [[fire (classical element)|fire]], [[air (classical element)|wind]]/air, and [[Aether (classical element)|void]]. These came from Indian [[Vastu shastra]] philosophy and Buddhist beliefs; in addition, the [[Wuxing (Chinese philosophy)|classical Chinese elements]] ({{lang|ja|五行}}, ''wu xing'') are also prominent in Japanese culture, especially to the influential Neo-Confucianists during the medieval [[Edo period]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=22 February 2022 |title=Encountering the '5 elements' in Japan's national parks |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/paid-content-encountering-the-five-elements-in-japans-national-parks |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220223012427/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/paid-content-encountering-the-five-elements-in-japans-national-parks |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 February 2022 |access-date=7 May 2023 |website=Travel |language=en}}</ref>

* '''Earth''' (地 ''Chi'') represented rocks and stability.
* '''Water''' (水 ''Sui'') represented fluidity and adaptability.
* '''Fire''' (火 ''Ka'') represented life and energy.
* '''Wind''' (風 ''Fuu'') represented movement and expansion.
* '''Void''' (空 ''Kuu'') or '''Sky/Heaven''' represented spirit and creative energy.

===Medieval Aristotelian philosophy===
The [[Islamic philosophy|Islamic philosophers]] [[al-Kindi]], [[Avicenna]] and [[Fakhr al-Din al-Razi]] followed [[Aristotle]] in connecting the four elements with the four natures heat and cold (the active force), and dryness and moisture (the recipients).<ref name="rafati">{{Cite journal |last=Rafati |first=Vahid |title=Lawh-i-Hikmat: The Two Agents and the Two Patients |url=http://bahai-library.com/rafati_hikmat_agents_patients |journal='Andalib |volume=5 |pages=29–38 |number=19}}</ref>

=== Medicine Wheel ===
The medicine wheel symbol is a modern invention attributed to [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] peoples dating to approximately 1972, with the following descriptions and associations being a later addition. The associations with the classical elements are not grounded in traditional Indigenous teachings and the symbol has not been adopted by all Indigenous American nations.<ref name="Shaw">{{cite magazine |last=Shaw |first=Christopher |date=August 1995 |title=A Theft of Spirit? |url=https://thetrackingproject.org/a-theft-of-spirit/ |magazine=New Age Journal |location= |publisher= |access-date=28 April 2021}}</ref><ref name="Jung">{{cite web |last1=Thomason |first1=Timothy C |title=The Medicine Wheel as a Symbol of Native American Psychology |url=https://www.jungpage.org/learn/articles/culture-and-psyche/908-the-medicine-wheel-as-a-symbol-of-native-american-psychology |website=The Jung Page |publisher=The Jung Center of Houston |access-date=28 April 2021 |date=27 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Chavers |first1=Dean |title=5 Fake Indians: Checking a Box Doesn't Make You Native |url=https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/5-fake-indians-checking-a-box-doesnt-make-you-native |website=Indian Country Today |access-date=28 April 2021 |date=15 October 2014}}</ref><ref name="Beyer">{{cite web |last1=Beyer |first1=Steve |title=Selling Spirituality |url=https://www.singingtotheplants.com/2008/02/selling-spirituality/ |website=Singing to the Plants |access-date=28 April 2021 |date=3 February 2008}}</ref><ref name="Bear">{{cite book |last1=Bear Nicholas |first1=Andrea |editor1-last=Hulan |editor1-first=Renée |editor2-last=Eigenbrod |editor2-first=Renate |title=Aboriginal Oral Traditions: Theory, Practice, Ethics |date=April 2008 |publisher=Fernwood Pub Co Ltd |location=Halifax, NS |isbn=9781552662670 |pages=7–43 |chapter=The Assault on Aboriginal Oral Traditions: Past and Present}}</ref>

*'''Earth''' (South) represents the youth cycle, [[summer]], the Indigenous race, and [[Juniperus virginiana|cedar]] medicine.
*'''Fire''' (East) represents the birth cycle, [[Spring (season)|spring]], the Asian race, and [[tobacco]] medicine.
*'''Wind/Air''' (North) represents the elder cycle, [[winter]], the European race, and [[Hierochloe odorata|sweetgrass]] medicine.
*'''Water''' (West) represents the adulthood cycle, [[autumn]], the African race, and [[Salvia apiana|sage]] medicine.

==Modern history==
{{anchor|Modern elements}}
[[File:Artus Wolffort - The Four Elements.jpg|thumb|[[Artus Wolffort]], ''The Four Elements'', before 1641]]

===Chemical element===
{{See also|Chemical element#History}}

The [[Physics (Aristotle)|Aristotelian tradition]] and medieval [[alchemy]] eventually gave rise to modern [[chemistry]], scientific theories and new taxonomies. By the time of [[Antoine Lavoisier]], for example, a [[History of the periodic table#Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier|list of elements]] would no longer refer to classical elements.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lavoisier |first=Antoine |url=http://web.lemoyne.edu/~giunta/index.html |title=Classic Chemistry |editor-last=Giunta |editor-first=Carmen |chapter=Elements of Chemistry |chapter-url=http://web.lemoyne.edu/~giunta/lavtable.html}}</ref> Some modern scientists see a parallel between the classical elements and the four [[state of matter|states of matter]]: [[solid]], [[liquid]], [[gas]] and weakly ionized [[Plasma (physics)|plasma]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Kikuchi |first=Mitsuru |title=Frontiers in Fusion Research: Physics and Fusion |page=12 |year=2011 |place=London |publisher=Springer Science and Business Media |isbn=978-1-84996-411-1 |quote=Empedocles (495–435 BC) proposed that the world was made of earth, water, air, and fire, which may correspond to solid, liquid, gas, and weakly ionized plasma. Surprisingly, this idea may catch the essence.}}</ref>

Modern science recognises classes of [[elementary particle]]s which have no substructure (or rather, particles that are not made of other particles) and [[composite particle]]s having substructure (particles made of other particles).

===Western astrology===
{{anchor|Elements in western astrology and tarot}}
{{Main|Astrology and the classical elements}}
{{Multiple_image
| perrow            = 2
| width             = 80
| image1            = Alchemical fire symbol (heavy red).svg
| caption1          = Fire
| alt1              = 🜂
| image2            = Alchemical air symbol (heavy yellow).svg
| caption2          = Air
| alt2              = 🜁
| image3            = Alchemical water symbol (heavy blue).svg
| caption3          = Water
| alt3              = 🜄
| image4            = Alchemical earth symbol (heavy green).svg
| caption4          = Earth
| alt4              = 🜃
| footer            = The four elements and commonly associated colours
}}

Western [[astrology]] uses the four [[astrology and the classical elements|classical elements]] in connection with [[natal chart|astrological chart]]s and [[horoscopes]]. The twelve [[Astrological signs|signs]] of the [[zodiac]] are divided into the four elements: [[Fire signs]] are Aries, Leo and Sagittarius, [[Earth signs]] are Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn, [[Air signs]] are Gemini, Libra and Aquarius, and [[Water signs]] are Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces.{{sfnp|Tester|1999|pp=59–61, 94}}

===Criticism===
The Dutch historian of science [[Eduard Jan Dijksterhuis]] writes that the theory of the classical elements "was bound to exercise a really harmful influence. As is now clear, Aristotle, by adopting this theory as the basis of his interpretation of nature and by never losing faith in it, took a course which promised few opportunities and many dangers for science."{{sfnp|Dijksterhuis|1969|p=71}} [[Bertrand Russell]] says that Aristotle's thinking became imbued with almost biblical authority in later centuries. So much so that "Ever since the beginning of the seventeenth century, almost every serious intellectual advance has had to begin with an attack on some Aristotelian doctrine".{{sfnp|Russell|1991|p=173}}

==See also==
{{portal|border=no|History of science}}
*{{annotated link|Arche}}
*{{annotated link|Bagua}}
*{{annotated link|Elemental}}
*{{section link|Jabir ibn Hayyan#The sulfur–mercury theory of metals}} – Early Islamic alchemy
*{{annotated link|Periodic table}}
*{{annotated link|Phlogiston theory}}
*{{annotated link|Prima materia}}
*{{annotated link|Qi}}
*{{annotated link|States of matter}}

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite SEP |title=Presocratic Philosophy |url-id=presocratics |last=Curd |first=Patricia |edition=Fall 2020 |ref={{harvid|Curd|2020}}}}
* {{Cite book |last=Dijksterhuis |first=Eduard Jan |title=The Mechanization of the World Picture |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1969 |location=Princeton, NJ |translator-last=Dikshoorn |translator-first=C. |author-link=Eduard Jan Dijksterhuis}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lloyd |first=G. E. R. |url=https://archive.org/details/aristotlegrowths0000lloy |title=Aristotle: The Growth and Structure of his Thought |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1968 |isbn=978-0-521-09456-6 |location=Cambridge |author-link=G. E. R. Lloyd |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Norris |first=John A. |year=2006 |title=The Mineral Exhalation Theory of Metallogenesis in Pre-Modern Mineral Science |journal=Ambix |volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=43–65 |doi=10.1179/174582306X93183 |s2cid=97109455}}
* {{cite web |year=2020 |first=Kelley L. |last=Ross |title=The Greek Elements |url=https://www.friesian.com/elements.htm |access-date=2 March 2023}}
* {{Cite book |last=Russell |first=Bertrand |title=History of Western Philosophy |publisher=Routledge |year=1991 |isbn=0-415-07854-7 |edition=2nd |location=London |oclc=221108071 |author-link=Bertrand Russell}}
* {{Cite book |last=Strathern |first=Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qCzoF9sjTkAC |title=Mendeleyev's Dream: The Quest for the Elements |date=21 April 2001 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-312-26204-4}}
* {{Cite book |last=Tester |first=S. J. |title=A History of Western Astrology |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |year=1999}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline|Classical elements}}
*[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/khin/wheel231.html Section on 4 elements in Buddhism]

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