Metal

Metal element compatibility: its best match is the stem union, 庚 Yang Metal + 乙 Yin Wood. Metal is the element of edges, decisions and clean lines. Its yang stem (庚) is pictured as an iron axe or raw ore — strong, blunt, made for hard work — and its yin stem (辛) as a polished jewel, refined, precise and a little sensitive to scratches. Metal people are sketched as principled, organized and direct, the friend who tells you the truth and expects the same. The axe can cut too fast; the jewel can be hard to please. In the cycles metal is fed by earth and feeds water, so earth and water years tend to read as support. Metal tames wood and is tamed by fire, which the tradition reads as friction. In our scores each metal stem's best match is its union: yang metal with yin wood (乙庚) and yin metal with yang fire (丙辛).

Feeds

Water

Fed by

Earth

Tames

Wood

Tamed by

Fire

Points are our own design on top of the traditional cycles: stem union 92, generating 86, same element 76, controlling 58, ±2 for yin and yang. Year stem only — not a saju reading.