Metal (wuxing)

Classical elements
Greek Air Water Aether Fire Earth
Hinduism / Jainism / Buddhism Vayu Ap Akasha Agni Prithvi
Chinese Wood (木) Water (水) Fire (火) Metal (金) Earth (土)
Japanese Wind (風) Water (水) Void (空) Fire (火) Earth (地)
Medieval Air Water Fire Aether Earth Sulphur Mercury Salt
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In Chinese philosophy, metal or gold (Chinese: 金; pinyin: jīn), the fourth phase of Wu Xing, is the decline of the matter, or the matter's decline stage.^[1] In Traditional Chinese Medicine Metal is yin in character, its motion is going inwards and its energy is contracting. It is associated with the west, dusk, autumn or fall, it governs the Yin, Zang organ the Lung and the Yang, Fu organ colon, nose and skin, pungent smell, maturing of age, the planet Venus, the color white, dry weather, and the White Tiger (Bai Hu) in Four Symbols. The archetypal metals are silver or gold.