Heavenly Stems, Earthly Branches, and the Five Elements
The ten Heavenly Stems and twelve Earthly Branches, their elements and yin or yang, and how the Five Elements generate and control each other.
The ten Heavenly Stems (天干) are Jia (Yang Wood 甲), Yi (Yin Wood 乙), Bing (Yang Fire 丙), Ding (Yin Fire 丁), Wu (Yang Earth 戊), Ji (Yin Earth 己), Geng (Yang Metal 庚), Xin (Yin Metal 辛), Ren (Yang Water 壬), and Gui (Yin Water 癸). The Five Elements (五行) attributes of the ten Heavenly Stems are: Jia belongs to Wood (木), Yi belongs to Wood, Bing belongs to Fire (火), Ding belongs to Fire, Wu belongs to Earth (土), Ji belongs to Earth, Geng belongs to Metal (金), Xin belongs to Metal, Ren belongs to Water (水), and Gui belongs to Water. The yin and yang attributes of the ten Heavenly Stems are: Jia, Bing, Wu, Geng, and Ren are yang; Yi, Ding, Ji, Xin, and Gui are yin.
The Twelve Earthly Branches (地支): Rat (Zi 子), Ox (Chou 丑), Tiger (Yin 寅), Rabbit (Mao 卯), Dragon (Chen 辰), Snake (Si 巳), Horse (Wu 午), Goat (Wei 未), Monkey (Shen 申), Rooster (You 酉), Dog (Xu 戌), Pig (Hai 亥). The Five Elements attributes of the Twelve Earthly Branches: Rat belongs to Water, Ox belongs to Earth, Tiger belongs to Wood, Rabbit belongs to Wood, Dragon belongs to Earth, Snake belongs to Fire, Horse belongs to Fire, Goat belongs to Earth, Monkey belongs to Metal, Rooster belongs to Metal, Dog belongs to Earth, Pig belongs to Water. The yin and yang attributes of the Twelve Earthly Branches: Rat, Tiger, Dragon, Horse, Monkey, and Dog belong to yang; Ox, Rabbit, Snake, Goat, Rooster, and Pig belong to yin.
The Five Elements (五行): Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth; the mutual generation of the Five Elements: Metal generates Water, Water generates Wood, Wood generates Fire, Fire generates Earth, Earth generates Metal; the mutual control of the Five Elements: Metal controls Wood, Wood controls Earth, Earth controls Water, Water controls Fire, Fire controls Metal;
Yin and yang, the Five Elements, the ten Heavenly Stems, and the twelve Earthly Branches form the core foundation of traditional Chinese divination. In particular, their Five Elements attributes must be firmly memorized, as this is the fundamental knowledge required to learn and master traditional divination arts.
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