Chinese Zodiac Elements

[Rebecca Hessey]

Chinese Zodiac five elements, 'Wu Xing' in Chinese (pinyin: wuxíng) refers to the five elements - Jin (metal), Mu (wood), Shui (water), Huo (fire), and Tu (earth). It is also named the Five Movements, Five Phrases, Five Steps or Five States of Change.

The theory of the five elements thinks that the world is composed of these five elements and changes with their generation or controlling relationships. It not only affects the human’s destiny but also makes the universe and its creatures cycle constantly. In China, the theory is a very important part of traditional Chinese culture and mostly used in philosophy, traditional Chinese medicine as well as fortune-telling.

Generating and Controlling Cycle

The five elements go in a specific order and one creates or controls the next.

The Generating Cycle (sheng)
(Inter-promoting, begetting, engendering, mothering or enhancing cycle)
Generating: Wood makes Fire burn; Fire creates Earth; Earth bears Metal; Off of Metal runs the Water; Water makes Wood grow.

The Controlling Cycle (kè)
(Destructing, overcoming or inter-restraining or weakening cycle)
Fire melts Metal; Metal chops down Wood; Wood breaks the Earth; Earth soaks up Water and blocks its flow; Water controls Fire.

Characteristics/Personality of Five Elements

Words to describe the people of Five Elements:
Wood – Exceptionally gifted, Idealists, Planner, Owl
Water – Sympathetic, Perfectionist, Coordinator, Chameleon
Fire – Courageous, Passionate, Good at research, King, Koala
Earth – Kindness, Tolerant, Honest, Leader, Peacock
Metal – Determined, Persistent, Workaholic, Manager, Tiger

12 Chinese Zodiac Animals and Five Elements

Each of 12 Chinese zodiac animal signs is associated with one of the five elements. Check the following table to find out the fixed element for each sign:

Five Elements	Zodiac Animal Signs
Metal	Monkey, Rooster
Wood	Tiger, Rabbit
Water	Rat,Pig
Fire	Snake, Horse
Earth	Ox, Dragon, Sheep, Dog

Also, each animal sign is further divided into the five elements, depending on the year that the sign occurs. Following shows you the corresponding element for each animal in different years. By clicking one of the following links, you could get the personality and destiny for the people with the corresponding element and sign. Each of the sign has a name in Chinese astrology, e.g. Metal Rat is 'Rat on the Roof' and Fire Tiger is 'Tiger Passing through the Forest'. Get to know your name by clicking Names for Chinese Zodiac Signs. 

• 
  Rat

  Metal Rat (1960, 2020)
  Wood Rat (1924, 1984)
  Water Rat (1912, 1972)
  Fire Rat (1936, 1996)
  Earth Rat (1948, 2008)

• 
  Ox

  Metal Ox (1961, 2021)
  Wood Ox (1925, 1985)
  Water Ox (1913, 1973)
  Fire Ox (1937, 1997)
  Earth Ox (1949, 2009)

• 
  Tiger

  Metal Tiger (1950, 2010)
  Wood Tiger (1914, 1974)
  Water Tiger (1962, 2022)
  Fire Tiger (1926, 1986)
  Earth Tiger (1938, 1998)

• 
  Rabbit

  Metal Rabbit (1951 2011)
  Wood Rabbit (1915 1975)
  Water Rabbit (1963 2023)
  Fire Rabbit (1927 1987)
  Earth Rabbit (1939 1999)

• 
  Dragon

  Metal Dragon (1940 2000)
  Wood Dragon (1904 1964)
  Water Dragon (1952 2012)
  Fire Dragon (1916 1976)
  Earth Dragon (1928 1988)

• 
  Snake

  Metal Snake (1941 2001)
  Wood Snake (1905 1965)
  Water Snake (1953 2013)
  Fire Snake (1917 1977)
  Earth Snake (1929 1989)

• 
  Horse

  Metal Horse (1930, 1990)
  Wood Horse (1954, 2014)
  Water Horse (1942, 2002)
  Fire Horse (1966, 2026)
  Earth Horse (1918, 1978)

• 
  Sheep

  Metal Sheep (1931, 1991)
  Wood Sheep (1955, 2015)
  Water Sheep (1943, 2003)
  Fire Sheep (1907, 1967)
  Earth Sheep (1919, 1979)

• 
  Monkey

  Metal Monkey (1920 1980)
  Wood Monkey (1944 2004)
  Water Monkey (1932 1992)
  Fire Monkey (1956 2016)
  Earth Monkey (1908 1968)

• 
  Rooster

  Metal Rooster (1921 1981)
  Wood Rooster (1945 2005)
  Water Rooster (1933 1993)
  Fire Rooster (1957 2017)
  Earth Rooster (1909 1969)

• 
  Dog

  Metal Dog (1910 1970)
  Wood Dog (1934 1994)
  Water Dog (1922 1982)
  Fire Dog (1946 1906)
  Earth Dog (1958 2018)

• 
  Pig

  Metal Pig (1911 1971)
  Wood Pig (1935 1995)
  Water Pig (1923 1983)
  Fire Pig (1947 2007)
  Earth Pig (1959 2019)

Chinese Zodiac Five Elements Chart

Each element associates with some properties or aspects of nature. The following chart shows you their associations.

Elements	Metal	Wood	Water	Fire	Earth
Zodiac signs (yang)	Monkey	Tiger	Rat	Horse	Dragon/Dog
Zodiac signs (yin)	Rooster	Rabbit	Pig	Snake	Ox/Sheep
Hours	3pm-7pm	3am-7am	9pm-1am	9am-1pm	1am-3am,7am-9am,1pm-3pm,7pm-9pm
Seasons	Autumn	Spring	Winter	Summer	Intermediate
Climate	Dryness	Wind	Cold	Heat	Dampness
Colors	White	Green	Black	Red	Brown
Numbers	4, 9	3, 8	1, 6	2, 7	5, 0
Directions	West	East	North	South	Central
Organs (Yin)	Lungs	Liver	Kidneys	Heart	Spleen
Organs (Yang)	Large Intestine	Gall Bladder	Urinary Bladder	Small Intestine	Stomach
Body Part	Skin, Body Hair	Tendons, Ligaments	Bones, Bone Marrow, Teeth, Hair	Blood Vessels	Muscles
Sense Organs	Nose	Eyes	Ears	Tongue	Mouth
Diseases	Dry	Wind	Cold	Hot	Wet
Tastes	Spicy	Sour	Salty	Bitter	Sweet
Smell	Rotten	Rancid	Putrid	Scorched	Fragrant
Sounds	Crying	Shouting	Groaning	Laughing	Singing
Emotion	Greif	Anger	Fear	Joy	Worry
Mental Quality	Intuition	Sensitivity	Spontaneity	Creativity	Clarity
Energy	Contracting	Generative	Conserving	Expansive	Stabilizing
Planets	Venus	Jupiter	Mercury	Mars	Saturn
Heavenly Creatures	White Tiger	Green Dragon	Black Tortoise	Vermilion Bird	Yellow Dragon
Heavenly Stems	Geng Xin	Jia Yi	Ren Gui	Bing Ding	Wu Ji
Year Ends with	0, 1	4, 5	2, 3	6, 7	8, 9

[Rebecca Hessey]

I forgot to put the source

[Rebecca Hessey]

I'm a rat, born in '72. My element is water.