Heavenly Stem · 5 of 10
Wu戊
/wuː/
Wu is the fifth of the ten Heavenly Stems, and the character itself means "fifth". It is yang Earth and belongs to the centre. Wu has no cell of its own on the chart: it lodges on Snake with Bing, so wherever the chart shows Snake, read Wu.
- 甲JiaYang Wood
- 乙YiYin Wood
- 丙BingYang Fire
- 丁DingYin Fire
- 戊WuYang Earth
- 己JiYin Earth
- 庚GengYang Metal
- 辛XinYin Metal
- 壬RenYang Water
- 癸GuiYin Water
Term details
| Chinese | 戊 |
|---|---|
| Pinyin | wù |
| Standard name | Wu |
| First mention | Wu (Yang Earth 戊) |
| Order | 5 of 10 |
| Element | Earth |
|---|---|
| Yin or yang | yang |
| Lodges on | Snake 巳 of the Earth Plate |
| Patron by day | Ox 丑 |
| Patron by night | Goat 未 |
Etymology
In oracle-bone script 戊 pictures a long-handled axe or halberd, sharing its origin with 戉 and 戌. A weapon was its first sense, and later the character was used only as a stem.
The Shuowen Jiezi, the Han dynasty dictionary, assigns it to the centre and reads the form as "six Jia and five dragons coiled around each other", a Han dynasty explanation through the Five Elements rather than the character's true origin. It adds that the character pictures the ribs. From "the fifth" comes the sense "fifth".
The Old Chinese pronunciation is reconstructed as *m(r)uʔ-s (Baxter and Sagart). Middle Chinese was muwH, with an initial m that today's wù has lost. Wu is pronounced exactly like the branch 午, and both are written wu in English; on this site Wu in running text always means the stem, and the branch is called Horse.
Significations
- direction and time
- the centre
Source text
Of the Heavenly Stems, Jia and Yi are Wood of the east, Bing and Ding Fire of the south, Wu and Ji Earth of the centre, Geng and Xin Metal of the west, Ren and Gui Water of the north. In setting up a chart, Jia lodges on Tiger, Yi on Dragon, Bing and Wu on Snake, Ding and Ji on Goat, Geng on Monkey, Xin on Dog, Ren on Pig, Gui on Ox. (Da Liu Ren Zhinan, book 1)
天干者甲乙東方木，丙丁南方火，戊己中央土，庚辛西方金，壬癸北方水。入式之法：甲課在寅，乙課在辰，丙戊課在巳，丁己課在未，庚課在申，辛課在戌，壬課在亥，癸課在丑。
Sources: 大六壬指南 卷一、卷四神煞指南; 六壬直指 戊寅日卯将、戊申日子将、戊子日寅将; 毕法赋注解 迍福课