Chinese Five-Element Basic Concept
The ancient Chinese YIN-YANG scholars believed that three are two natural, complementary and contradictory forces in our universe. The scholars named them as YIN and YANG. YIN represents the female, negative, darkness, softness, moisture, night-time, even numbers and docile aspects of things. YANG represents the male, positive, brightness, hardness, dryness, day-time. odd numbers and dominant aspects. YIN and YANG are continually in the state of flux and always looking for the BALANCE point. One moves , the other responses. Therefore, ancient scholars treated this natural phenomenon as a natural universal law.
These scholars also believed that our universe consisted of five basic elements, which are Metal, Water, Wood, Fire, and Earth (Soil). Everything, including humans, in the universe (between Heaven and Earth) must have a relationship with these five elements. So they tried to apply the five elements not only to every physical thing in the world, but also to the Colors, Directions, Seasons and Sounds. They even applied to the Years, Months, Days, Hours, Minutes and Seconds of the Chinese Calendar. Now, people are able to know their five-element weights from their birth date and time. Based on the combination of these five-element weights plus the concept of the natural phenomenon, they can tell the rise and fall of human destiny (fate) cycle.
FIVE ELEMENTS does not only mean metal, water, wood, fire and soil. The "element" in Chinese also means MOVEMENT, CHANGEABLE and DEVELOPMENT. These elements have their Yin and Yang sides too. They are moving, waning, waxing and changing all the time. Just like Yin and Yang, the movements of five elements are slow and stable when they are in kind of balance. If they are out of balance, then the movements are unstable and unpredictable. When a person is in a stable (five-element) environment, he should live peacefully. When a person is in an unpredictable environment, he is easily out of control. A person will feel lucky when everything is under control. A person will feel bad luck when everything is out of control. If you want to be a lucky person, you have to move to an environment to bring your five elements into balance.
Five Element Relationships
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In the fortune-telling system, we want to use metal, water, wood, fire and earth as the five elements to explain everything. Metal stands for mineral, gold, jewelry, iron, rock or something hard. Water stands for liquid or something cold. Wood stands for tree or something to do with wood. Fire stands for Sun, fire, heat, light or something hot. Earth stands for soil, dust or ground. There are affinity and enmity relationships between five elements.
The affinity relationship means supporting, helping, producing, etc.
- Water can help tree (Wood) grow.
- Wood can help Fire to burn.
- Fire can help to produce dust (Earth).
- Earth can help mineral (Metal) to form.
- Metal can hold Water.
We can say that :-
- Water is the supporting element of Wood. Wood can release the power of Water.
- Wood is the supporting element of Fire. Fire can release the power of Wood.
- Fire is the supporting element of Earth. Earth can release the power of Fire.
- Earth is the supporting element of Metal. Metal can release the power of Earth.
- Metal is the supporting element of Water. Water can release the power of Metal.
The enmity relationship means fighting, conflicting, rejecting, etc.
- Water can extinguish Fire, but Fire might evaporate Water.
- Wood can break the ground (Earth), but Earth can buries Wood too.
- Fire can melt Metal, but Metal might not melt before Fire is extinguished.
- Earth can absorb Water, but Water can cover the land (Earth).
- Metal can cut Wood, but Metal might become dull before breaking Wood.
We can say that :-
- Water and Fire are enemies. Water overwhelms the movement of Fire.
- Wood and Earth are enemies. Wood overwhelms the movement of Earth.
- Fire and Metal are enemies. Fire overwhelms the movement of Metal.
- Earth and Water are enemies. Earth overwhelms the movement of Water.
- Metal and Wood are enemies. Metal overwhelms the movement of Wood.
Five Elements and Astrology Birth Chart
Since the ancient scholars apply the Five-Element theory to Chinese Calendar, so we can convert each birthday and time using Chinese Fortune Calendar.
There are four columns and eight Chinese characters. Chinese call this chart Four Pillar or Eight Characters. The Year column is the information about your ancestor or early age. The Month column is the information about your parents or growing age. The Day column is the information about you (upper character) and your spouse (lower character) or adult age. The Hour column is the information about kids or late age. Because the Day column represents you, you are black cow (water cow), not brown tiger from year.
From the Chinese Fortune Calendar, we can convert Eight Characters into Five Elements.
- The first column in the chart is YOU. YOU is the element of your same type. So YOU includes you and your brothers (sisters) and friends.
- The second column is KIDS. KIDS is the element that comes out from YOU. So KIDS includes your children, your expression to the outside world or something that comes out from your mind or body.
- This third column is MONEY. MONEY is made by something coming out from your brain or body. That's why MONEY hurts your body. MONEY is our enemy. Sometimes MONEY has the information about our father, because he brings the money to our family.
- This forth column is JOB. JOB is something that gives YOU pressure or trouble. So JOB is your job, something that may make you nervous and sometimes is your children (i.e. You have the pressure to support them). That's why JOB hurts you. JOB is our enemy.
- This fifth column is MOM. MOM includes your mother, baby sitter, mentor and the persons support or protect you. So MOM is our best friend.
Find the Lucky Element
There are many ways (theories) to do this. Here are some simple ways. The basic concept is balancing the five elements.
Smallest Score
Find the smallest score for the lucky element. Metal has only 18. So Metal is the lucky element.
Foe and Friend
Foe is Money and Job, which give you pressure all the time. Mom is your friend always. If the scores from Foe are much greater than the scores from You and your friend, then You and Mom are the lucky elements. If the scores from Foe are much less than the scores from You and your friend, then Money and Job are the lucky elements. The total of Metal and Water is 18+49 = 67 and the total of Fire and Soil is 30+226 = 256. Therefore the lucky elements are Metal and Water.
Cold and Hot
If the scores from Metal and Water are much greater than the scores from any other elements, then the combination of five elements is too cold and the lucky element is Fire. If the scores from Fire and Earth are much greater than the scores from any other elements, then the combination of five elements is too hot and the lucky element is Water.
Bottleneck
If the score of Job is much greater than the score of You, then the Mom is the lucky element to release the power of Job and gives you more strength. If the score of You is much greater than the score of Money, then the Kid the lucky element to release the energy of You and makes more Money for you.
Strong and Weak
If the power of Money and Job is much greater than the power of You and your Mom. You were born poor, because on the date of your birth You cannot handle the power of Money. You can be richer when your lucky elements come into your life.
When you find the lucky elements in your columns of Year and Month, you were born into a good family, have a good relationship with them and your parents support you in your early age. When you find a lucky element in the column of spouse (Day), you spouse helps you in your career, business or financial area. When you find the lucky elements in the Hour column, your children will do good in their life and/or you will have a nice late years.
If the power of You and Mom is much greater than anything else, you are a person with strong will and good health. You can be a leader, because you can handle the pressure, but you might hurt people like your spouse or father easily.
If the power of You and Mom is much less than anything else, you are weak on determination and easily get sick. You should be a team player. You shouldn't do business on your own, because you cannot handle the pressure unless the lucky elements come into your life all the time.
All the concepts here are based on the affinity and enmity charts of the five elements. You can think more clearly by following the nature law of the universe. Remember you have your lucky elements and you have your bad-omen elements too. To find the related lucky stuff is from Five-Element Chart.