五行学说(the theory of five elements)是中国古代的一种物质观。五行包括金、木、水、火和土五种要素。五行学说强调整体概念，描绘了事物的结构关系和运动形式。五行学说认为宇宙万物都是基于这五种要素的运行和变化。这五个要素相互作用，不但影响到人的命运，同时也使宇宙万物循环不已。五行学说成熟干汉代 (the Han Dynasty)，之后广泛应用于中医、建筑和武术(martial arts}等领域。

 

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　　The theory of five elements is a concept of matter inancient China. The five elements include metal, wood,water, fire, and earth. The theory of five elementsemphasizes on an overall concept, describing thestructural relationships and forms of movement ofmatters. The theory holds that everything in theuniverse is based on the movement and change of these five elements. These five elementsinteract with each other, affecting a person's fate as well as making the universe move inendless cycles. The theory got mature in the Han Dynasty and was widely employed in thefields like traditional Chinese medicine, architecture, and martial arts.

 

　　1.第2句五行中的“金”指“金属”，而非“黄金”，故第2句中应译为metal，而非gold。

 

　　2.第3句中的第2个分句“描绘了事物的结构关系和运动形式”可处理为状语，表伴随状态，用分词短语describing thestructural relationships and forms of movement ofmatters 来表达。

 

　　3.第4句中的“五行学说认为”可译为the theory holdsthat...，亦可译为according to the theory，承前句，“五行学说”可简单转换表达为“该学说”(thetheory)。“宇宙万物”可译为the universe，强调整体，也可表达为 everything in the universe。

 

　　4.第5句有三个分句，可把“这五个要素相互作用”处理成主干，“不但影响到……，同时也使宇宙万物……”处理为结果状语，用分词短语来表达，“不但……同时也”可用结构both... and...或... as well as...来表达，故整句译为 These five elements interact with each other, affecting...as well as making...。

 

　　5.最后一句“五行学说成熟于汉代，之后广泛应用于……”可用并列结构译出：The theory got mature in theHan Dynasty and was widely employed...。翻译宾语“中医、建筑和武术等领域”时，先译出中心词fields，再用like或者such as来引出例子。