五行Wu xing, the Five Phases
The Five Elements in Chinese Medicine
The Five Elements of Chinese medicine, also called the Five Phases (wu xing), are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. The Huangdi Neijing, the 2,000-year-old classic of Chinese medicine, links each one to an organ system, a season, an emotion, a color and a flavor, and describes a personality type for each.
Find your phaseBy Zander Mai · Updated October 2026
The five phases and their personality types
The Five Elements and their organs, seasons and emotions
The classical correspondences of the Huangdi Neijing. Traditional theory, offered for education, not a diagnosis.
| Phase | Organ system | Season | Emotion | Color | Flavor | Sense organ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wood | Liver and Gallbladder | Spring | Anger | Green | Sour | Eyes |
| Fire | Heart and Small Intestine | Summer | Joy | Red | Bitter | Tongue |
| Earth | Spleen and Stomach | Late summer | Pensiveness (overthinking) | Yellow | Sweet | Mouth |
| Metal | Lung and Large Intestine | Autumn | Grief (letting go) | White | Pungent | Nose |
| Water | Kidney and Bladder | Winter | Fear | Black | Salty | Ears |
How the five phases feed and check each other
The generating cycle
Each phase feeds the next.
- Wood feeds Fire: wood is what fire burns.
- Fire feeds Earth: fire leaves ash, and ash becomes soil.
- Earth feeds Metal: metals form inside the earth.
- Metal feeds Water: cool metal gathers water, like dew.
- Water feeds Wood: water is what makes trees grow.
The controlling cycle
Each phase keeps another in balance.
- Wood keeps Earth in check: roots break up the soil.
- Fire keeps Metal in check: fire melts metal.
- Earth keeps Water in check: banks and dams hold water.
- Metal keeps Wood in check: the axe cuts the tree.
- Water keeps Fire in check: water puts out fire.
Questions about the Five Elements
What are the Five Elements in Chinese medicine?
Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water, also called the Five Phases. They describe how things grow, peak, settle, refine and rest, and each is tied to an organ system, a season and a temperament. Wood is spring and the Liver. Water is winter and the Kidneys.
Which organs go with each element?
Wood: Liver and Gallbladder. Fire: Heart and Small Intestine. Earth: Spleen and Stomach. Metal: Lung and Large Intestine. Water: Kidney and Bladder.
Why are they called phases?
Wu xing is closer to "five goings" than "five elements": xing means to walk or move. The elements are stages that turn into one another through the year, like spring turning into summer, more than fixed substances. That is why we say Five Phases.
What element am I?
Take Find Your Phase, a free 13-question quiz based on the five body types of the Huangdi Neijing. It takes about two minutes.