The Five Elements (Wu Xing)
The five elements (五行, wu xing) are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water: five phases that feed and restrain one another in fixed cycles, used across Chinese metaphysics to describe balance in a chart, a day or a space.
| Generating cycle (相生) | Wood → Fire · Fire → Earth · Earth → Metal · Metal → Water · Water → Wood |
|---|---|
| Controlling cycle (相剋) | Wood → Earth · Fire → Metal · Earth → Water · Metal → Wood · Water → Fire |
Correspondences
| Element | Color | Direction | Season | He Tu numbers | Stems | Branches |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wood 木 | green | East | spring | 3, 8 | 甲 乙 | 寅 卯 |
| Fire 火 | red | South | summer | 2, 7 | 丙 丁 | 巳 午 |
| Earth 土 | ochre yellow | Northeast and Southwest | the last 18 days of each season | 5, 0 | 戊 己 | 丑 辰 未 戌 |
| Metal 金 | white & gold | West | autumn | 4, 9 | 庚 辛 | 申 酉 |
| Water 水 | deep blue | North | winter | 1, 6 | 壬 癸 | 子 亥 |
Seasonal strength
An element is strongest in its own season and weakest in the season of the element that masters it. This is how BaZi judges whether the Day Master is "in season".
| Season | Wood | Fire | Earth | Metal | Water |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| spring | Prosperous | Strengthening | Dormant | Trapped | Resting |
| summer | Resting | Prosperous | Strengthening | Dormant | Trapped |
| autumn | Dormant | Trapped | Resting | Prosperous | Strengthening |
| winter | Strengthening | Dormant | Trapped | Resting | Prosperous |
The two cycles, explained
- Wood feeds Fire and restrains Earth; it is fed by Water and restrained by Metal.
- Fire feeds Earth and restrains Metal; it is fed by Wood and restrained by Water.
- Earth feeds Metal and restrains Water; it is fed by Fire and restrained by Wood.
- Metal feeds Water and restrains Wood; it is fed by Earth and restrained by Fire.
- Water feeds Wood and restrains Fire; it is fed by Metal and restrained by Earth.
Classical writers pair the cycles: generation without restraint runs to excess, restraint without generation dries up. A balanced chart has both moving.
Elements in the almanac
Every day in the Tong Shu has a stem and a branch with their own elements, so each day has a "color of the day" and a relation to your favorable element. Your Daily Joss uses that to rate a day for you.
Balance, not luck
Elements are neither good nor bad. A chart, a day or a room is read for what it has too much or too little of, and the "favorable" element is the one that restores balance. That is why two people can have opposite lucky colors in the same year.
How askjoss computes it
We count each visible stem as 1 and each branch's hidden stems as 1, or 0.7/0.3, or 0.6/0.3/0.1. Strength combines season (up to 40 points), roots (25), resource stems (20) and peer stems (20). Full notes, including every simplification, are on How we calculate.
Common misconceptions
- "The elements are substances." They are phases of change; "Metal" covers autumn, contraction and the west as much as metal itself.
- "Each zodiac sign has one fixed element." The branch has an element, but the year element (as in "Fire Goat") comes from the stem and changes every two years.
Sources
- 《尚書・洪範》 (Book of Documents, "Great Plan"): the earliest list of the five phases.
- 《五行大義》 (Sui dynasty, Xiao Ji): a systematic survey of five-phase correspondences.
Related: What is BaZi? · Day Master · Tong Shu almanac · Da Liu Ren · Qi Men Dun Jia · Zodiac clashes (Tai Sui)
Frequently asked questions
What are the five elements in Chinese astrology?
Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. They generate each other in that order and control each other in steps of two (Wood controls Earth, Earth controls Water, and so on).
What is my element?
In BaZi, your element is your Day Master's element. The element in a year name like "Fire Goat" describes the year, not you.
What color goes with each element?
Wood: green; Fire: red; Earth: ochre yellow; Metal: white & gold; Water: deep blue.
askjoss presents Chinese metaphysics as cultural tradition and a tool for self-reflection. It is not medical, legal, financial or psychological advice, and no reading can promise an outcome.