# Five elements (五行)

> The five elements are Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth, linked by two cycles. Generating: Wood feeds Fire, Fire makes Earth, Earth bears Metal, Metal carries Water, Water nourishes Wood. Controlling: Wood controls Earth, Earth controls Water, Water controls Fire, Fire controls Metal, Metal controls Wood.

- Vietnamese: Ngũ hành
- English: Five elements
- Chinese: 五行
- Chinese characters: 五行
- Also called: Ngũ hành · Wu Xing

## Explanation

On the compass, every mountain and trigram carries an element. In the standard elements of the 24 mountains: Ren, Zi, Gui and Hai are Water; Jia, Yi, Yin, Mao and Xun are Wood; Bing, Ding, Si and Wu are Fire; Geng, Xin, Shen, You and Qian are Metal; Chen, Xu, Chou, Wei, Gen and Kun are Earth.

A reading compares the element of a sector with the element of what is placed there — a stove is Fire, water is Water.

## How Home Check uses it

Each mountain page in this knowledge base lists its element; when checking feng shui, Home Check uses the elements of the sector and of the item to explain why a position is good or needs adjusting. — [Feng shui check & fix](https://myhomecheck.ai/feng-shui)

## Related terms

- [24 Mountains](https://myhomecheck.ai/learn/glossary/twenty-four-mountains): The 24 mountains divide the 360° compass into 24 equal sectors of 15°, each called a mountain.
- [Bagua](https://myhomecheck.ai/learn/glossary/bagua): The bagua are the eight three-line trigrams of the I Ching: Qian, Kan, Gen, Zhen, Xun, Li, Kun and Dui.

## Questions

### Is a mountain's element always the same as its trigram's?

Mostly, but not always: the Yin mountain lies in the Gen trigram (Earth) yet Yin itself is Wood. So both are checked.

### Is a controlling relationship always bad?

No. Control is a relationship, sometimes used to restrain an energy that is too strong. Good or bad depends on position, degree and the item.

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Original page: https://myhomecheck.ai/learn/glossary/five-elements  
Other languages: [Tiếng Việt](https://myhomecheck.ai/vi/tri-thuc/thuat-ngu/ngu-hanh/index.md) · [中文](https://myhomecheck.ai/zh/learn/glossary/five-elements/index.md)  
Updated: 2026-10-21