Wu Xing · 五行 · Ganzhi 60 (六十甲子)
Wu Xing & the Ganzhi 60-Cycle
The Five Elements (五行) — Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water — sit at the heart of Chinese cosmology. Learn the generative & controlling cycles, then enter your birth to read your core element and your power & advantages.
The Five-Element Wheel
Tap an element to light up its relationships. Outer arrows = the generative cycle (相生); inner star lines = the controlling cycle (相克).
Tap an element to see its relationships
The Generative Cycle (相生 — Sheng)
Each element nourishes the next in a continuous loop:
- Wood feeds Fire (fuel for flames)
- Fire creates Earth (ash fertilizes soil)
- Earth bears Metal (minerals form in the ground)
- Metal enriches Water (condensation forms on metal)
- Water nourishes Wood (trees grow with water)
The Controlling Cycle (相克 — Ke)
Each element also keeps another in check to prevent excess:
- Wood parts Earth (roots break soil)
- Earth dams Water (soil absorbs water)
- Water quenches Fire
- Fire melts Metal
- Metal chops Wood (an axe cuts trees)
Five-Element Associations
Each element aligns with a season, direction, organ, emotion, taste, and color — the basis of Chinese medicine & feng shui.
| Element | Season | Direction | Organ | Emotion | Taste | Color |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 木Wood | Spring | East | Liver | Anger | Sour | Green |
| 火Fire | Summer | South | Heart | Joy | Bitter | Red |
| 土Earth | Late summer | Center | Spleen | Worry | Sweet | Yellow |
| 金Metal | Autumn | West | Lungs | Grief | Pungent | White |
| 水Water | Winter | North | Kidneys | Fear | Salty | Black |
The Ganzhi 60-Cycle (六十甲子)
The 10 Heavenly Stems (天干) pair with the 12 Earthly Branches (地支) to make 60 rotating combinations — the markers of year, month, day and hour in the Chinese calendar.
The origin of the "Five Elements" is recorded in the «Book of Documents · Hong Fan»: "First Water, second Fire, third Wood, fourth Metal, fifth Earth."