At a glance
- Categories
- Wood, fire, earth, metal, water
- Relations
- Distinguish generation and control
Definition and terminology
Wuxing does not mean five chemical elements or an experimentally established composition of all matter. Historical texts connect wood, fire, earth, metal and water with other categories. Natal systems also assign stems and branches to them. Readers should distinguish material descriptions, seasonal imagery and symbolic chart assignments.
Structure and rules
The generating cycle runs wood, fire, earth, metal, water, then wood again. The controlling cycle runs wood, earth, water, fire, metal, then wood. Within these systems, generation is not invariably favorable and control is not invariably harmful. Seasonal strength, position and combinations can change the traditional interpretation.
Worked reading
In a teaching diagram containing wood, fire and metal, wood generates fire and metal controls wood. If fire temporarily represents a reading task, wood can symbolize supplying materials. This is a diagram exercise. Adding earth and water reveals a network of relationships rather than a single empirical causal chain.
Context and limits
Correspondences changed and expanded across historical settings, so directions, colors and seasons should be checked against the source being used. Sanming Tonghui documents natal interpretations and disagreements. An absent chart category does not, by itself, justify prescribing particular foods, purchases or occupations in everyday life.
References & further reading
Historical sources document ideas and rules of their time, not empirical proof of predictive accuracy. Source notes identify the nature and scope of each reference.
- 《三命通会》卷五：论印食官财名义Primary / tradition source
Public-domain text explaining Day Stem relations, resource, output, office, wealth and patterns.