The Five Elements Correspondence Table of Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches

The Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches are inseparably linked to the Five Elements. What is the correspondence table between the Heavenly Stems, Earthly Branches, and the Five Elements? The mutual generation and restriction of the Five Elements left by the ancients have a non-negligible impact on our lives.

The ten Heavenly Stems are Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, and Gui. The twelve Earthly Branches are Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, and Hai.

Jia represents the timber for pillars, Yi represents the timber for flowers and fruits; Jia and Yi correspond to Wood in the East.

Bing represents the fire of the sun, Ding represents the fire of lamps and candles; Bing and Ding correspond to Fire in the South.

Wu represents the earth of city walls, Ji represents the earth of fields; Wu and Ji correspond to Earth in the Center.

Geng represents the metal of axes, Xin represents the metal of jewelry; Geng and Xin correspond to Metal in the West.

Ren represents the water of rivers, Gui represents the water of rain and dew; Ren and Gui correspond to Water in the North.

The Rat (Zi) belongs to Yang Water, the Pig (Hai) belongs to Yin Water.

The Tiger (Yin) belongs to Yang Wood, the Rabbit (Mao) belongs to Yin Wood.

The Snake (Si) belongs to Yin Fire, the Horse (Wu) belongs to Yang Fire.

The Monkey (Shen) belongs to Yang Metal, the Rooster (You) belongs to Yin Metal.

The Dragon (Chen) and Dog (Xu) belong to Yang Earth.

The Ox (Chou) and Goat (Wei) belong to Yin Earth.