Metal

In the doctrine of the five phases, the phase that embodies characteristics associated with the substance metal. It is said that metal is the working of change. This reflects the fact that metal is a man-made material used to make cutting implements used to harvest crops, slaughter animals, fell trees, and cut wood, that is, processes in which things cease to have their own existence and are changed into something useful for humankind. The change worked by metal involves destruction and creation. The metal phase associated with autumn (season), withdrawal (life-cycle stage), west (position), acridity (flavor), white (color), the lung (viscus), the large intestine (bowel), the nose (orifice), the skin (body constituent), and sorrow (mind).