Five-Element Basic Concept

Yin and Yang must be in balance  

The ancient Chinese YIN-YANG scholars believed that there are two natural, complimentary and contradictory forces in our universe. The scholars named them 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 of things. YIN and YANG are continually in the state of flux and are always looking for the BALANCE point. One moves, the other responds. Therefore, ancient scholars treated this natural phenomenon as the 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 them 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, CHANGEABILITY 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 the five elements are slow and stable when they are in balance. If they are out of balance, 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 unlucky and out of control when the five elements are out of balance. If you want to be a lucky person, you have to move to an environment that brings your five elements into balance.

In the fortune-telling system, we use metal, water, wood, fire and earth as the five elements to explain everything. Metal represents mineral, gold, jewelry, iron, rock or something hard. Water represents liquid or something cold. Wood represents trees or something to do with wood. Fire represents sun, fire, heat, light or something hot. Earth represents soil, dust or ground. There are affinity and enmity relationships between the five elements.

The affinity relationship means supporting, helping, producing, etc.

• Water can help Wood (tree) grow.
• Wood can help Fire to burn.
• Fire can help to produce Earth (dust).
• Earth can help Metal (mineral) 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 Earth (ground), but Earth can bury Wood too.
• Fire can melt Metal, but Metal might not melt before Fire is extinguished.
• Earth can absorb Water, but Water can cover the Earth (land).
• 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.

Since the ancient scholars applied the Five-Element theory to the Chinese Calendar, we can convert each birthday and time using the 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 ancestors or your early age. The Month column is the information about your parents or your growing years. The Day column is the information about you (upper row) and your spouse (lower row) or your adult years. The Hour column is information about your kids or your later years. In the example above, because the Day column represents you, you would be Female Water, not the Male Soil from the Year column.

From the Chinese Fortune Calendar, we can convert the Eight Characters into Five Elements.

• The first column in the chart is YOU. 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 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 that support or protect you. So MOM is our best friend.

There are many ways (theories) to do this. Here are some simple ways. The basic concept is balancing the five elements.

Smallest Score

The lucky element in the Five Element Chart is the smallest score. In the above example Metal has a score of only 18, so Metal is the lucky element.

Foe and Friend

As we discussed above, your foe is Money and Job, which gives 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. For example, 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 in the Five Element Chart above 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 the 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 the 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 give you more strength. If the score of You is much greater than the score of Money, then the Kid is the lucky element to release the energy of You and make more Money for you.

Disease and Medicine

Examine any defect in the birth chart and find a medicine as the solution to cure the disease. Please find the detail information at the disease and medicine chart.

Chinese Fortune-Telling begins from here

When 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 could not 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), your spouse helps you in your career, business or financial area. When you find the lucky elements in the Hour column, your children will do well 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 easily hurt people like your spouse or your father.

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 as the natural law of the universe. To search for your lucky elements (Years, days), go to the Five-Element Menu. Remember you have your lucky elements and you have your bad-omen elements too. You can find your bad years from the Five-Element Menu too. You can also find related lucky elements from the Five-Element Chart.

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