Metal (wuxing)

Classical elements
Hellenistic 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)
European alchemy Air Water Fire Aether Earth Sulphur Mercury Salt
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In Chinese philosophy, metal or gold (Chinese: 金; pinyin: jīn) is one of the five concepts that conform the wuxing. It is the return or the declining stage, and is associated with the west, dusk, autumn, loss, grief, and the White Tiger. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Metal is the lesser yin symbol of Yinyang character, its motion is going inwards and its energy is contracting. It is also related to lungs, the large intestine, noses, and skin. The archetypal metals are silver or gold.