The Five Elements is an ancient Chinese philosophical framework holding that everything in the universe is formed and driven by five basic elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. It underlies many East Asian disciplines including Bazi, feng shui, Tu Vi astrology, and traditional medicine.
The Generating Cycle describes elements that nurture one another: Wood feeds Fire, Fire feeds Earth, Earth feeds Metal, Metal feeds Water, Water feeds Wood.
The Overcoming Cycle describes elements that control one another: Wood overcomes Earth, Earth overcomes Water, Water overcomes Fire, Fire overcomes Metal, Metal overcomes Wood.
Quick reference, each element is generated by one element and overcome by another: Metal is generated by Earth and overcome by Fire; Wood is generated by Water and overcome by Metal; Water is generated by Metal and overcome by Earth; Fire is generated by Wood and overcome by Water; Earth is generated by Fire and overcome by Wood.
Practical applications include choosing colors that match one's element (e.g., a Fire-element person favors red, orange, purple), choosing career direction, naming children to supplement a missing element in their Bazi chart, and combining with the Stems-and-Branches system to compute yearly or daily fate elements.
