Water is associated with the color black, the planet Mercury, the moon (which was believed to cause the dew to fall at night), night, the north, winter or cold weather, and the Black Tortoise (Xuan Wu) in the Four Symbols of Chinese constellations.
In Chinese Taoist thought, water is representative of intelligence and wisdom, flexibility, softness, and pliancy; however, an overabundance of the element is said to cause difficulty in choosing something and sticking to it.
In the same way, water can be fluid and weak, but can also wield great power when it floods and overwhelms the land.
In Chinese medicine, water is believed to govern the kidney, the urinary bladder and jing.
The negative emotions associated with water are fear and anxiety, and the positive emotions are fortitude and the virtue of wisdom;[2] the "soul" associated with water is zhi (志), meaning "will" or "determination."