number
Five
A count of fingers, and in some Chinese schemes a count of phases and directions. The schemes are local; they are not a universal pentagram.
Chinese tradition
Five is associated with Chinese tradition.
Five phases and five directions appear in Chinese correlative thought. They are not a pentagram of later European magic.
from Richard Wilhelm / Cary F. Baynes (translation) · I Ching (Yijing), Wilhelm 1924; Baynes English 1950
associated with · partially sourced · culturally specific
Five is connected to Yijing.
Correlative fives and the Change classic share a Chinese world of schemes. They are neighboring tools, not one diagram.
from Richard Wilhelm / Cary F. Baynes (translation) · I Ching (Yijing), Wilhelm 1924; Baynes English 1950
connected to · interpretive · documented
Five is opposed to Four.
Four directions and fivefold Chinese schemes are easy to rhyme. They are different local maps of the world, not a debate the numbers themselves are having.
opposed to · interpretive · culturally specific
sources
- I Ching (Yijing) · Richard Wilhelm / Cary F. Baynes (translation)
The I Ching or Book of Changes, trans. Richard Wilhelm, English Cary F. Baynes.