FIVE ELEMENTS
Water (水)
Metal (金) Earth (土) Wood (木)
Fire (火)
Ancient Feng Shui practitioners all based their art and system on the five elements (Wu Xing).
These elements are: Water, Earth, Metal, Wood, and Fire. All of these elements are represented within the Bagua (8 points of the compass). Associated with these elements are colors, seasons and shapes; all of which are interacting with each other.
Based on a particular directional energy flow from one element to the next, the interaction can be expansive, destructive, or exhaustive. Proper knowledge of such aspects of energy flow will enable the Feng Shui practitioner to apply certain cures or rearrangement of energy in a beneficial way.
The doctrine of five phases describes two Cycles of Balance, a generating or creation (生, shēng) cycle and an overcoming or destruction (克, kè) cycle of interactions between the phases.
Generating Cycle:
Wood feeds Fire
Fire creates Earth (ash)
Earth bears Metal
Metal attracts Water
Water nourishes Wood
Wood parts Earth
Earth absorbs Water
Water quenches Fire
Fire melts Metal
Metal chops Wood
Characteristics of the 5 Elements:
ELEMENT English METAL WOOD WATER FIRE EARTH
Chinese Jīn Mù Shuǐ Huǒ Tǔ
Symbol 金 木 水 火 土
Action English Splitting Crushing Drilling Exploding/Pounding Crossing
Chinese Pǐ Bēng Zūan Pào Héng
Symbol 劈 崩 鑽 炮 橫
Weapon English Axe Arrow Lighting Cannon Bullet
Chinese Fū Jiàn Shǎn Pào Dàn
Symbol 鈇 箭 閃 炮 彈
"Yin Organs Zang Solid"
English Lungs Liver Kidneys "Heart Pericardium" "Spleen Pancreas"
Chinese Fèi Gān Shèn XīnXīn Bāo Pí Cuì
"Yang Organs Fu Hollow"
English Large Intestine Gall Bladder Bladder "Small IntestineTriple Warmer" Stomach
Chinese Dà Cháng Dǎn Guāng Xiǎo ChángSān Jiāo Wèi
Colors English White "Turquoise (Green)" "Black (Blue)" Red Yellow Compass West East North South Center
Direction Forward Back Left Right Center
Senses Smell Sight Hearing Touch Taste
Emotions "Worry Grief Guilt Regret Lamenting"
"Anger Resentment"
"Fear Anxiety" " "Joy Love Hate"
"Obsession Thoughtfulness Reflexion Empathy Sympathy"
Energies Vital Blood Will Psychic Physical
Activity Lay Walk Stand Look Sit
Body Area Back Neck Waist Chest Spine
Feature Breath Nails Hair Complexion Breast
Tissue Skin Tendons Bones Arteries Muscles
Fluid Mucus Tears Urine Sweat Saliva
Taste Spicy Sour Salty Bitter Sweet
"Sickness Window
Sensors" Nose Eyes Ears Tongue Lips
"Finger Shǒu Zhǐ
手指" Ring Finger Index Finger Little Finger Middle Finger Thumb
Seasons Autumn Spring Winter Summer
"Replenishing Indian Summer"
Stages Harvest Birth Storage Growth Transformation
Climates Dry Windy Cold Heat Damp
Grains Rice Wheat Beans Corn Millet
Meats Horse Chicken Pig Sheep Cow
Fruits Peach Plum Chestnut Apricot Date
Musical Note
English Re Mi La Sol Do
Note D E A G C
Chinese Shāng Jué Yǔ Zhǐ Gōng
Symbol 商 角 羽 徵 宮
Heavenly Creature
English White Tiger Green Dragon Black Tortoise Serpent Red Phoenix Yellow Dragon
Chinese Bái Hǔ Qīng Lóng Xuán Wǔ Zhū Què Huáng Lóng
Planets English Venus Jupiter Mercury Mars Saturn
"Chinese + Xing" Jīn Mù Shuǐ Huǒ Tǔ
"Symbol + 星" 金 木 水 火 土
Taoist Spirituality Corporeal Soul Ethereal Soul Will Aggregate Soul Intellect
Chinese Po Hun Zhi Shen Yi
Symbol 魄 魂 志 神 意
I Ching English "Sky Lake" "Wind Thunder" Water Fire "Earth Mountain"
The 5 Elements have also been correlated to the eight trigrams of the I Ching:
Element Wood Fire Earth Metal Water
I Ching Wind, thunder Fire Earth, mountain Sky, lake Water
Trigrams :|| (☴ 巽 xùn) |:: (☳ 震 zhèn) |:| (☲ 離 lí) ::: (☷ 坤 kūn) ::| (☶ 艮 gèn) ||| (☰ 乾 qián)||:(☱ 兌 duì)
:|: (☵ 坎 kǎn)
Courtesy of Wikepedia