Five Elements (Wu Xing)五行
The nature, imagery and cycles of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth
What is Five Elements (Wu Xing)?
The Five Elements are Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth — the underlying framework BaZi uses to describe what things are made of and how they act on one another. Two sets of relations connect them: generation (Wood feeds Fire, Fire makes Earth, Earth bears Metal, Metal carries Water, Water grows Wood) and control (Wood parts Earth, Earth dams Water, Water quenches Fire, Fire melts Metal, Metal cuts Wood).
How it is used in a BaZi reading
Once a chart is cast, the first step is to tally which element each of the four pillars' stems and branches belongs to, then judge whether the Day Master (the day pillar's stem) is strong or weak and whether the chart flows or runs lopsided. That fixes the favourable and unfavourable elements — nearly every later judgement is built on this step.
Interpretive limits
Elemental strength is an analytical framework inside a traditional system, not an objective measurement of constitution, wealth or character; different schools can reach different conclusions about the favourable element for the very same chart.
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Knowledge-base articles are written in Chinese, the source language of these classical texts.
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