Shopping for “east-west”–Stuff
In Chinese, when you go out shopping, you will say ” I am going to shopping for ‘东西’, which means literally “stuff” in English. However, if I translate word by word, “东西” means “east-west”, but why not shop for ” south-north”?
This has something to do with Chinese Daoism or ancient Chinese philosophy. In Daoism, “east” is associated with “wood” element, and “west” with “metal” element. In contrast, “south” is associated with “fire”, and north with “water”.
Now you probably get it, you can buy stuff of “wood” and “metal” elements, but not stuff of “fire” and water”.
English