Five-Element Classification of the Heavenly Stems (天干五行)
Map each Heavenly Stem to Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, or Water and learn how phase pairs support relation, Ten-God, and strength analysis.
Overview
Jia and Yi are Wood, Bing and Ding are Fire, Wu and Ji are Earth, Geng and Xin are Metal, and Ren and Gui are Water. This classification supplies the phase relation used for generation, control, and Ten-God derivation. The map is fixed, while actual strength and usefulness remain contextual questions that require season, roots, and the whole chart.
At a glance
- Wood
- Jia and Yi
- Fire
- Bing and Ding
- Earth
- Wu and Ji
- Metal
- Geng and Xin
- Water
- Ren and Gui
- Boundary
- Classification does not equal effective strength
Every phase owns one yang and one yin stem
The ten-stem sequence is arranged as five elemental pairs: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water.
The mapping never changes with location, season, language, or school-specific interpretation.
- Store one canonical mapping.
- Keep yang and yin within each phase pair.
The map drives generation and control
Once phase is known, the generating and overcoming cycles determine the basic direction between two stems.
Direction is not outcome: a generating stem may be too weak to support, and a controlling stem may fail or meet counter-control.
- Name source and target.
- Assess capacity after identifying relation.
Ten Gods add polarity to phase relation
The Day Stem is the reference point, and each other stem is classified by whether it shares, generates, controls, is generated by, or controls the Day Stem.
Polarity then separates the paired Ten-God labels. This derivation must not be replaced by memorized personality keywords.
- Derive from the Day Stem.
- Separate calculation from interpretation.
Element labels are not substances or diagnoses
A Metal stem is not literal metal in the body, and a Water stem is not a measurement of bodily fluid or emotion.
Do not prescribe objects, foods, colors, medicine, or investments merely because a phase appears absent or abundant.
- Keep symbolic and physical claims separate.
- No remedy from classification alone.
Sources and editorial basis
- 《禮記・月令》《禮記・月令》按季節配木火土金水，提供五行時序的古典脈絡An early classical source for the seasonal grouping of Jia-Yi, Bing-Ding, Wu-Ji, Geng-Xin, and Ren-Gui.
- 《御定星曆考原》卷一《星曆考原》天干五行：甲乙木、丙丁火、戊己土、庚辛金、壬癸水A historical source for stem and branch Yin-Yang, Five Phase, direction, seasonal, and calendrical correspondences.
- OpenFate Editorial Methodology天干五行分類頁把固定映射、生剋方向、十神推導、旺衰用途四層分開OpenFate separates deterministic chart calculation, traditional interpretation, and modern editorial explanation.