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This is a Literature Review study.

September 10, 2025

Concepts of Space and Man in Greek and Chinese Cultures

Key Points

Both cultures used the archetype of opposites to understand the world, yet the Greeks emphasized struggle while the Chinese sought balance.
The paper highlights that the wu xing system in China served as a principle for classifying elements, unlike how Greek traditions functioned.
There is a noticeable interest in linking elements with planets and human phenomena in both cultures, though distinct in expression.
Differences arise in musical and medical practices due to the foundational concepts regarding planets and primary elements between the two traditions.

Abstract

The presented article was conceived as a comparative overview of the cultural practices of two significant civilizations for the ancient world: ancient Chinese and ancient Greek. Many researchers contrasted them in various studies as Western and Eastern, alphabetic and hieroglyphic, analytical and holistic. For the comparison I chose the ideas of the two traditions about the cosmos and man from the point of view of several aspects: the reflection of the archetype of opposites in mythology and natural philosophy, the doctrine of the primary elements, the relationship of the elements with the planets, as well as the manifestation of all these ideas in the healing and musical practices of both cultures. The purpose of the work was to search for similarities and differences in the ideas of the two traditions according to the specified parameters. The article uses sources in Russian and Chinese, as well as works of famous researchers. The paper shows that in both cultures, ancient scientists, when studying the world, relied on the archetype of opposites, but did it in different ways: the Greeks described the world as a struggle of opposites, while the Chinese sought for balance. Identifying the primary elements of the universe has also become a common desire, however the application of this knowledge in two cultures was not manifested in the same way. In China, the wu xing system became a universal principle for classifying all things, while in the Greek tradition the connection between the elements and the phenomena of the surrounding world is not so clear, and in some types of practices (music) it can only be traced indirectly. The paper also shows the similarity of the two traditions in the matter of the desire to identify the correspondence between the elements and planets, elements/planets and phenomena of the human body, as well as musical notes. However, there are not only similarities, but also differences in the musical and medical practices of the two cultures, stemming from the difference in the original ideas about the planets and primary elements.

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