Chinese Elements

["forestofsymbols" <forestofsymbols@...>]

Does anyone have any possible insights on the relationship, if 
any, between the five Chinese (or Taoist) elements (metal, water, 
fire, earth, and wood) and the classic four elements (keeping in 
mind, of course, ether as well)? It seems that the Chinese elements 
represent an entirely different scheme of division, one which cannot 
simply be mapped onto or grafted with the more familiar four 
elements. But given its ancient heritage and widespread popularity, 
it would not seem right to simply write the five element theory off 
as a different approach for different people, there seems to be 
something as universal as the Chinese division as with the "western" 
division. Drawing simple analogies between the two doesn't seem to do 
the trick, it does appear that they are different in a more 
fundamental way.

Further, does anyone have a grasp of the underlying principles 
that would inform a five-fold elemental division rather than a four-
fold division? It seems that the four-fold division is saturated with 
the idea of polarity, and the rythmic flow of things between two 
poles. However, this polarity doesn't seem as sharp and crisp when 
applied to the Chinese elements; indeed, the relationship between the 
five elements seems more fluid, more slippery, more circular and less 
centered then when dealing with four elements.