the five elements

The Wu Xing, (五行 wŭ xíng) also known as the Five Elements, Five Phases, the Five Agents, the Five Movements, Five Processes, and the Five Steps/Stages, is a fivefold conceptual scheme that many traditional Chinese fields used to explain a wide array of phenomena, from cosmic cycles to the interaction between internal organs, and from the succession of political regimes to the properties of medicinal drugs. The "Five Phases" are Wood (木 mù), Fire (火 huǒ), Earth (土 tǔ), Metal (金 jīn), and Water (水 shuǐ). This order of presentation is known as the "mutual generation" (xiangsheng 相生) sequence. In the order of "mutual conquest" (xiangsheng 相勝) or "mutual overcoming" (xiangke 相剋), they are Wood, Earth, Water, Fire, and Metal.

Cycles

The doctrine of five phases describes two cycles, a generating or creation (生, shēng) cycle, also known as "mother-son", and an overcoming or destruction (剋/克, kè) cycle, also known as "grandfather-nephew", of interactions between the phases. Within Chinese medicine the effects of these two main relations are further elaborated: a. Inter-promoting (mother/son) b. Inter-acting (grand-mother/grand-son) c. Over-acting (Ke cycle) d. Counter-acting (Reverse Ke)

Generating

The five elements are usually used to describe the state in nature:

• Wood/Spring: a period of growth, which generates abundant wood and vitality
• Fire/Summer: a period of swellness, flowering, which overbrews with fire and energy
• Earth: the in-between transitional seasonal periods, or a separate 'season' known as Late Summer or Long Summer - in the latter case associated with leveling and dampening (moderation) and fruition
• Metal/Autumn: a period of harvesting and collecting
• Water/Winter: a period of retreat, where stillness and storage pervades

The common memory jogs, which help to remind in what order the phases are:

• Wood feeds Fire
• Fire creates Earth (ash)
• Earth bears Metal
• Metal carries Water (as in a bucket or tap, or water condenses on metal)
• Water nourishes Wood

Other common words for this cycle include "begets", "engenders" and "mothers."

Overcoming

• Wood parts Earth (such as roots; or, Trees can prevent soil erosion)
• Earth dams (or muddies or absorbs) Water
• Water extinguishes Fire
• Fire melts Metal
• Metal chops Wood

This cycle might also be called "controls", "restrains" or "fathers