Chinese believe that the FIVE BASIC ELEMENTS form everything in the UNIVERSE. According to their philosophy, the five elements are divided into "conductive" and "controlling" interrelationship.
A conductive form of interrelationship means that these five elements will produce one another and help nourish each other. We get FIRE from WOOD because fire is produced by burning wood.
EARTH from FIRE because fire can fire everything into ashes. METAL from EARTH because all metal has to be extracted from the earth. WATER from METAL because metal will change into liquid when heated. And from WATER produces WOOD because water nourishes trees.
A controlling form of interrelationship means that these five elements can control or be destroyed by another element. FIRE controls METAL because metal melts because of the heat produced by fire.
METAL controls WOOD because trees can be chopped down by a metal tool like the blade of an ax.
WATER controls FIRE because water is used to put out fires. EARTH controls WATER because earth can absorb water and also block its running through natural phenomena or man made dykes.
WOOD controls EARTH because trees draw nourishment out of the earth.
Under this view, there is no strongest or weakest element. They are depended on one another and equal in importance to one another.
The Chinese ZODIAC is based on a TEN-YEAR SUN-MOON cycle conforming its agricultural calendar. The cycle is divided into the FIVE ELEMENTS: Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and the TWELVE ANIMALS : Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig, which represent each year (the beginning and the end are encircling the ten year cycle starting with the rat and ending with the pig.
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