THE FIVE ELEMENTS IN CHINESE PHILOSOPHY: WUXING
Although the ideas of the Five Elements were first described in around 1,100 BC, the study of the Elements flourished in the Qin and Han Dynasties, and they were combined with the Yin-Yang Doctrine, henceforth called the study of Yin-Yang Wuxing.
Since then, almost everything from time (seasons and Ganzhi - Stems & Branches) and space (directions), weather, numbers, deities, Bagua, to tunes, colours, tastes, smells, organs, farm animals, food, weapons, etc., were associated with the Five Elements.
It is the study of the compatibility and relationship between different elements behind the symbols of Ganzhi that created the Ziping School of (Four Pillars) destiny analysis methodology.
In terms of Ziping study, everyone of us is represented by one of the five Elements, viz., Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. It is decided by the Stem of the Day Pillar, of the four Pillars of our Bazi.
HEAVENLY STEMS, TIANGAN & EARTHLY BRANCHES, DIZHI
Ancient Chinese calendar uses 22 characters to denote time. They are the Ten Heavenly Stems, Tiangan, and the Twelve Earthly Branches, Dizhi.
Each denotation is the pairing of a Tiangan and a Dizhi, called Ganzhi in short, and there are 60 pairs, hence 60 combinations, and each pair is also called a Pillar.
Tiangan is so called because they are always written on top of Dizhi, which are always written below, in a pairing.
In the beginning, Ganzhi was only used to denote days, and the cycle repeats every two months. Later, it was expanded to also denote months, years and two-hour periods. Hence, our birth date and time are made up of four pairs of Ganzhi, denoting the year, month, day and time of birth. However, until the Ganzhi were allotted with the Five Elements, they were mere symbols of time.
To make things easier for the lay people, twelve animals were associated with the Dizhi. The animals in order are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.
This association of animal signs to Ganzhi has become so deeply rooted in Chinese way of life that everyone is equipped with at least the basic knowledge of the personality trait each animal sign represents, and it has also become the sensational way to attract Westerners to Chinese astrology, though it is the most superficial approach to Chinese astrology with some 4,000 over year history.
