Godai (Japanese philosophy)
Godai (五大, lit. "five – great, large, physical, form") are the five elements in Japanese Buddhist thought of earth (chi), water (sui), fire (ka), wind (fu), and void (ku). Its origins are from the Indian Buddhist concept of Mahābhūta, disseminated and influenced by Chinese traditions before being absorbed, influenced, and refined into and by Japanese tradition, culture, and indigenous folk religions.The Japanese Buddhist concept of gogyo, which stems from Chinese wuxing, is distinguishable from godai by the fact that the functional phases of wood and metal within gogyo are replaced by the formative elements of void and the wind (air) in godai. similar to the classical Greek philosophical elements. Godai attributed to esoteric Japanese Buddhism during the eleventh century CE in relation to the idea of gorin (the "five wheels" or the "five rings").