阴阳五行 · Yin-Yang & the Five Elements

BaZi · The Four Pillars, lesson 2: The laws the whole system runs on: how the elements generate and control one another

第一模块 · 基础 · Module 1 · Foundations · 约 18 分钟，另有约 75 分钟的动手练习 about 18 minutes, plus a hands-on exercise of about 75 minutes

八字的底层只有两条规则。第一条是阴阳：万物都有明暗两面，白天与黑夜、进攻与防守、发与收。第二条是五行：木、火、土、金、水——请在这里就把最重要的一句话记死：五行不是五种物质，而是五种“运动方式”。木是生长伸展，火是升腾发散，土是承载转化，金是收敛肃杀，水是下行潜藏。

All of BaZi rests on just two rules. The first is yin and yang. Everything has a light side and a dark side, like day and night, moving forward and holding back, or expanding and contracting. The second is the Five Elements (五行): Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. Learn the most important point of this lesson right now: the five elements are not five substances. They are five kinds of movement. Wood grows and stretches out. Fire rises and spreads. Earth carries and transforms. Metal draws in and cuts back. Water sinks and stores.

相生与相克 The generating and controlling cycles

五行之间有两个循环。相生（外圈）：木生火（柴助燃）、火生土（灰烬成土）、土生金（土中藏矿）、金生水（金凝露水）、水生木（水润草木）。相克（内圈五角星）：木克土（根破土）、土克水（堤拦水）、水克火（水灭火）、火克金（火熔金）、金克木（斧伐木）。记住：生不全是好，克不全是坏——树苗需要修剪，洪水需要堤坝。

The five elements are linked by two cycles. The generating cycle runs around the outer ring. Wood generates Fire, as firewood keeps a fire burning. Fire generates Earth, as ash turns into soil. Earth generates Metal, as ore forms in the ground. Metal generates Water, as dew forms on metal. Water generates Wood, as water makes plants grow. The controlling cycle is the five-pointed star inside. Wood controls Earth, as roots break up the soil. Earth controls Water, as a bank holds back water. Water controls Fire by putting it out. Fire controls Metal by melting it. Metal controls Wood, as an axe cuts down a tree. Remember that generating is not always good and controlling is not always bad. A young tree needs pruning, and a flood needs a dam.

两个循环用读的容易混，用看的一眼分明。本课的讲解视频把五行画成一个环：先走外圈的相生，再走里面的相克，每一步都配着那句口诀。

The two cycles are easy to mix up when you read about them, and easy to tell apart when you see them drawn. The video at the top of this page draws the five elements as a ring. It goes around the outside first for the generating cycle, then across the inside for the controlling cycle, with a short phrase to help you remember each step.

看完视频，请把注意力放在方向上：相生是顺着一环接一环，相克是隔一位跨过去。方向记住了，五行才真正装进脑子里。

After the video, pay attention to direction. The generating cycle moves around the ring one step at a time. The controlling cycle skips one element and cuts across the ring. Once you know the two directions, you really know the five elements.

为什么“运动方式”四个字这么要紧？因为把五行当物质，是初学者卡壳的第一原因。命里“缺水”不是让您多喝水，而是说盘里少了“向下收藏、灵活变通”的那股势能；“火旺”也不是身体里着火，而是升腾发散之势过了头。从这一课起，凡是谈到某个五行，请在心里自动翻译成：哪种运动多了，哪种运动少了。

Why does "kinds of movement" matter so much? Because treating the elements as physical substances is the most common reason beginners get stuck. If a chart is "short of Water", that does not mean you should drink more water. It means the chart lacks the movement that sinks, stores and adapts. "Too much Fire" does not mean your body is on fire. It means the rising, spreading movement has gone too far. From this lesson on, whenever an element is mentioned, translate it in your head: which kind of movement is there too much of, and which is there too little of?

再进一层：生克都有“过与不及”。水生木是好事，水多了却把木泡烂，叫“水多木漂”；火生土是好事，火太烈则土焦裂。克也一样：金克木本是修剪，但木太旺、金太弱，斧头砍不动反被崩了口——这叫“反克”（也称反侮）。所以看一张盘，不能只问“谁生谁、谁克谁”，还要问双方的分量。这条“看分量”的思路，正是第6课判强弱、第8课取用神的地基。

Now one step further. Both cycles can go too far, or not far enough. Water generating Wood is good, but too much water rots the wood. The classical phrase is "too much water, and the wood floats away" (水多木漂). Fire generating Earth is good, but a fire that is too fierce scorches the earth until it cracks. Controlling works the same way. Metal controlling Wood is normally like pruning. But if the Wood is very strong and the Metal very weak, the axe cannot cut, and its own blade chips instead. This is called reverse control (反克, fan ke). Some books call it fan wu (反侮). So when you read a chart, it is not enough to ask which element generates or controls which. You also have to ask how much there is of each. This habit of weighing is the foundation for judging strength in Lesson 6, and for choosing the Useful God, the element a chart needs most, in Lesson 8.

初学者在这一课最常摔的一跤，是拿八个字数数量：数出三个木、零个金，就宣布“木旺缺金”。数量只是第一层，位置与季节才是权重。生在秋天的一个金字，胜过生在春天的三个金字；月令上的那一个字分量最重，常常抵得过别处的三个字。真正的读法是“称”，不是“数”——从下一课的地支藏干开始，您会一步步学会怎么上秤。

The most common mistake at this stage is simply counting the characters. A student counts three Wood and no Metal, and announces that the chart is strong in Wood and missing Metal. Counting is only the first layer. Position and season decide how much each character weighs. One Metal character in a chart born in autumn outweighs three Metal characters in a chart born in spring. And the single character that sets the month, the branch of the month pillar, weighs the most of all. It often outweighs three characters elsewhere. The real method is to weigh, not to count. Starting with the hidden stems in the next lesson, you will learn step by step how to weigh a chart.

看懂只是第一步，还要练成反射。下面的练习随机抽问生克关系——练到不假思索、张口就对。

Understanding the cycles is only the first step. You also need to know them by reflex. The drill below asks random questions about the two cycles. Keep practicing until the right answer comes to you without thinking.

本课要点 · Key takeaways

• 五行是五种运动方式，不是五种物质
  The five elements are five kinds of movement, not five substances
• 相生：木→火→土→金→水→木
  Generating: Wood→Fire→Earth→Metal→Water→Wood
• 相克：木→土→水→火→金→木
  Controlling: Wood→Earth→Water→Fire→Metal→Wood
• 生克本身无好坏，平衡才是目标
  Neither generating nor controlling is good or bad in itself. Balance is the goal

看我的五行 · See my five elements

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