---
type: Index
title: "The Five Elements (四柱五行)"
description: "The five elements carried by the four pillars, and how they generate and restrict each other."
resource: https://localpapa.com/tools/yizhang.html
tags: [yizhang, palm-sutra, five-elements, wu-xing]
timestamp: 2026-06-21T00:00:00Z
---

# The Five Elements · 四柱五行

Each of the four pillars’ earthly branches belongs to one of the five elements — **Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water**. Their distribution across the four pillars (which element is abundant or missing) and the **generating (相生)** and **restricting (相剋)** relationships between adjacent pillars give an advanced reading of how the stages of life support or strain one another.

## Generating & restricting cycles

- **Generates 相生:** Wood → Fire → Earth → Metal → Water → Wood.
- **Restricts 相剋:** Wood → Earth → Water → Fire → Metal → Wood.

## The five

- [木 (Wood)](./wood.md) — 寅, 卯
- [火 (Fire)](./fire.md) — 巳, 午
- [土 (Earth)](./earth.md) — 辰, 戌, 丑, 未
- [金 (Metal)](./metal.md) — 申, 酉
- [水 (Water)](./water.md) — 亥, 子

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*[The four pillars](../pillars/index.md) · [Palm Sutra knowledge base](../index.md)*