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The Five Elements (Wu Xing)

Usually known as the Five Elements,Wu Xing is also named the Five Movements, Five Phrases or Five Steps. The five elements are jin (metal), mu (wood), shui (water), huo (fire), tu (earth). The five elements in daily life were regarded as the foundation of everything in the universe and natural phenomena. They have their own characters and they can generate or destroy one other.

Generating Interaction (also begetting, engendering or mothering)

Metal generates water; water nourishes wood; wood feeds fire
fire creates earth/ash; earth bears metal.

Fire melts metal; metal chops wood; wood break up earth;
earth absorbs water; water quenches fire.

In ancient China, newborn babies usually got their name from the 'eight characters of birth time' consisting of year, month, day and hour which is represented by two characters each, one character from the Heavenly Stems and one from the Earthly Branches. The four pairs of the birth time reveal the elements in one's life. Then the parents will give the baby a name containing the element, as compensation, which doesn't exit in the baby's eight characters. The tradition is still followed by some people nowadays.

Characteristics of the Five Elements

Wood – Benevolence

The wood pronounces the fate, lowliness or nobleness, representing extractive, luxuriant, brilliant, blooming, flourishing etc.

Fire – Propriety

The fire pronounces the feature, strength or softness, representing power, influence, bravery and intense.

Metal – Righteousness

The metal pronounces the life span, longevity or abortion, foretelling any penalties, dangers, difficulties and dead end.

Water – Wisdom

The water pronounces the talent, sage or fool, representing aptitude, brightness, agile mind and accuracy,

Earth – Fidelity/Honesty

The earth pronounces the status, rich or poor, representing the birth and growth of everything.

Elements	Metal	Wood	Water	Fire	Earth
Zodiac signs (yang)	Monkey	Tiger	Rat	Horse	Dragon/Dog
Zodiac signs (yin)	Rooster	Rabbit	Pig	Snake	Ox/Sheep
Colors	White	Green	Black	Red	Brown
Seasons	Autumn	Spring	Winter	Summer	Intermediate
Hours	15-19	3-7	21-01	9-13	1-3,7-9,13-15,19-21
Directions	West	East	North	South	Central
Organs (Yin)	Lung	Liver	Kidney	Heart	Spleen
Organs (Yang)	Large Intestine	Gall Bladder	Urinary Bladder	Small Intestine	Stomach
Sensory Organs	Nose	Eyes	Ears	Tongue	Mouth
Diseases	Dry	Wind	Cold	Hot	Wet
Tastes	Spicy	Sour	Salty	Bitter	Sweet
Planets	Venus	Jupiter	Mercury	Mars	Saturn
Heavenly Creatures	White Tiger	Green Dragon	Black Tortoise	Vermilion Bird	Yellow Dragon
Heavenly Stems	Geng Xin	Jia Yi	Ren Gui	Bing Ding	Wu Ji
Year Ends with	0, 1	4, 5	2, 3	6, 7	8, 9

As mentioned in the grid, the five elements can be regarded as the symbols of the five planets, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire Earth corresponding to Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Saturn.

They are thought to be the ruling planets or elements affecting the compatibility between two astrological Chinese zodiac signs.