Five Elements 五行, Earth 土
Lucky colors of the Earth element
In the texts quoted here, Earth is the only element placed at the center instead of an outer direction, and its color is yellow
Earth in the Five Elements texts
- Direction
- Center
- Season
- Late summer
Color in the texts
- Element coloryellow 黃
The center and the color yellow
Instead of a direction, 《素問》 writes 中央黃色, the center with yellow. 《禮記·月令》 calls this time 中央土, in late summer, and lists four yellow items: 駕黄駠 horses, 載黄旂 a banner, 衣黄衣 a robe and 服黄玉 jade.
This was ceremonial equipment. This page tells them as custom only, not as advice about who wears yellow. Liu An ties Earth to 黃龍.
Earth comes from Fire and yields to Wood
Fire leads here through 火生土, and this element leads on to Metal through 土生金. For overcoming, 《五行大義》 cites 《白虎通》 and 《春秋繁露》: 土剋水 has Earth over Water, and 木剋土 has Wood over Earth.
戊 is yellow, 己 is green
戊, a yang stem, has 黃, the color of the element. 己, a yin stem, has 綠 (lǜ), green, a different character from the 青 of Wood.
- 戊yellow 黃Yang stem, true color
- 己green 綠Yin stem, mixed color
Stem colors are the colors in the text, not lucky colors of the year.
These colors are traditional belief, not a prediction.