The five branched stars

According to what has been said, the 5 (1+4) stars on the flag are necessarily related to the terrestrial world, domain of the physical manifestation. Now, in various traditions, the material manifestation is based on five elements, the fifth one symbolizing the four others in a unified state. In the Chinese tradition, this fifth element can only be Earth occupying the centre and surrounded by the four others located at the compass points: Wood (east) and Fire (south) are turned towards light and yang; Metal (west) and Water (north) are turned towards darkness and yin. They are usually represented on a compass card reflecting the ascending path from obscurity towards clarity, from north towards south.

This raises the following question. Why are the elements associated with five-branched stars ? Indeed, the elements are not matter components as their name could suggest it, but manifestation states of the material world and physical being. It follows, that they can succeed one another in the image of the ordinary matter states. They are in fact part of a dynamic process where the interplay of yin and yang is reflected within the element succession (states) either through generation (circle) or destruction (star). For more details about this, see the flag of Hong Kong. The presence of the five-branched star on the flag seems to put forward the destruction process. However, the layout of the stars, particularly of the largest one associated with Earth, indicates that the generation process is also taken into account.

Nevertheless, there remains a point to clarify. How can Earth contain at once all the other elements in a unified state and be one of them in the generation-destruction process ? In fact, the Earth principle occupies a central position as long as it contains all the other elements in an indistinct state. When this principle is manifested and produces the elements Wood, Fire, Metal and Water, Earth is no more central, but peripheral and can now cooperate with the other elements within the generation-destruction process. This aspect does nothing but corroborate the so often neglected deeply dynamic character of the Chinese traditional doctrine.

Finally, the flag of the People's Republic of China does not only take the physical and material world into consideration, but also stresses its unity. Indeed, achieving the unity of the country has always been the goal of the present and former political power.