Five Elements

Five Elements, a philosophical thought created by the Chinese nation, is widely used in philosophy, traditional Chinese medicine, astrology and divination. The Five-element Theory is an important part of Chinese civilization. Ancient Chinese people believed that everything in the world was composed of five elements, namely metal, wood, water, fire and earth which are inter-promoting and inter-restricting. The Five-element Theory essentially refers to the motion and variation of the five substances.

Mutual promotion means the mutual help and generation between two things with different properties. To be specific, wood generates fire, fire generates earth, earth generates metal, metal generates water, and water generates wood. Mutual restraint is opposite to mutual promotion and it means the inter-restriction of two things with different properties. To be specific, wood restricts earth, earth restricts water, water restricts fire, fire restricts metal, and metal restricts wood.

Wood generates fire because wood is warm and fire hides inside; fire can be made by drilling wood;
Fire generates earth because fire is hot and burns wood into ash which is also earth;
Earth generates metal because metal is hidden in stone and attached to mountains while earth gathers together to form mountains which contain stone;
Metal generates water because it is warm and depends on water while forging metal looks like water;
Water generates wood because water cultivates trees.

Metal restricts wood because the cutting tools made of metal can cut trees (no vegetation on mineral land);
Wood restricts earth because roots replenish themselves by absorbing nutrients from the soil and earth will be weakened if not replenished;
Earth restricts water because it is waterproof (when the flood approaches bank up to keep it out);
Water restricts fire because fire goes out when meeting water;
Fire restricts metal because fire melts metal.

Five Elements	Yang	Yin	Mythical Animals	Colors
Wood	Jia	Yi	Qinglong	Green, Cyan, Emerald Viridis
Fire	Bing	Ding	Zhuque	Red, Purple
Earth	Wu	Ji	Huanglin	Yellow, Brown
Metal	Geng	Xin	Baihu	White, Golden, Silver
Water	Ren	Gui	Xuanwu	Black, Blue, Grey

Five Elements	Wood	Fire	Earth	Metal	Water
Five Directions	East	South	Center	West	North
Five Virtues	Benevolence, Charity, and Humanity	Correct behavior, Politeness	Faithfulness and integrity	Honesty and uprightness	Knowledge
Five Precepts	Killing living beings	Sexual misconduct	Lying	Stealing	Intoxication
Five Emotions	Anger	Joy	Worry	Greif	Fear

Earthly Branches (Zodiac)	Yin/Yang	Five Elements	Direction
Zi (Rat)	Yang	Water	North
Chou (Ox)	Yin	Earth	Center
Yin (Tiger)	Yang	Wood	East
Mao (Rabbit)	Yin	Wood	East
Chen (Dragon)	Yang	Earth	Center
Si (Snake)	Yin	Fire	South
Wu (Horse)	Yang	Fire	South
Wei (Sheep)	Yin	Earth	Center
Shen (Monkey)	Yang	Metal	West
You (Rooster)	Yin	Metal	West
Xu (Dog)	Yang	Earth	Center
Hai (Pig)	Yin	Water	North

Metal – Skin, Nose, Lung, Large Intestine,
Wood – Tendons, Eyes, Liver, Gall Bladder
Water- Bones, Ears, Kidney, Urinary Bladder
Fire - Blood Vessels, Tongue, Heart, Small Intestine
Earth – Muscles, Mouth, Spleen, Stomach

Five Elements refer to the five ways in which air moves. Ancient Chinese people believed that a year could be divided into five seasons corresponding to five elements:

Spring (Yin, Mao, Shen Month) belongs to wood and represents the ways air moves in all directions. In Spring, flowers and trees flourish, and their branches extend all round while nourishment is sent to the branches, so spring belongs to wood.

Summer (Si, Wu, Wei, Month) belongs to fire and represents the upward movement of air. Fire is upward and all plants grow fast in summer, so summer belongs to fire.

Later Summer, a transitional period between summer and autumn, is damp and hot. During this period, crops are maturing, so it belongs to earth.

Autumn (Shen, You, Xu Month) belongs to metal and represents the inward movement of air. Metal is stable while autumn means harvest; people save food for winter and leaves fall in this season, so autumn belongs to metal.

Winter (Hai, Zi, Chou Month) belongs to water and represents the downward movement of air. Water flows downhill and all things hibernate in winter to save up nutriment for spring. Therefore, winter belongs to water.

Wood represents benevolence. It is straight, mild and green. People rich in wood are beautiful, slim and sharp-toothed, featuring pretty hair and offwhite complexion; they are compassionate, benevolent, amiable, easygoing, self-contained, generous and plain. People lacking of wood are tall, thin, intolerant, jealous, not benevolent and loose in hair.

Fire represents courtesy. It is hot-tempered, polite and red. People rich in fire feature small head, long feet, thick eyebrows and small ears; they are vigorous, courteous, respectful, plain yet short-tempered. People lacking of fire, with yellowish faces, are absurd, cunning, and jealous and they tend to begin well but end badly.

Earth represents trust. It is heavy, thick and earthy yellow. People rich in earth feature thick waist, big nose, bright eyes, graceful eyebrows and loud voice; they are filial, sincere, generous and decisive. People with too much earth are rigid, stupid, clumsy, introverted and quiet while those in lack of earth are vicious, grumpy, disloyal and unreasonable, featuring low nose and flat face.

Metal represents righteousness. It is firm and white. People rich in metal feature square and white face, high eyebrows, deep eyes, good health and spirit; they are resolute, decisive, generous in aiding needy people and have a sense of shame. Those with too much metal are greedy, heartless have valor but lack strategy while those in lack of metal are thin, sharp-tongued, lascivious, bloody, mean and greedy.

Water represents wisdom. It is kind, smart and black. People rich in water feature blackish complexion, polite speech and deep consideration; they are resourceful and excel others in knowledge. Those with too much water carry tales and are greedy and lustful while those in lack of water are short, moody, timid and foolhardy, and change frequently.