When referring to ” L os Five Elements ” we must distinguish two aspects: Ying and Yang. The Yin (-) aspect refers to the calm, passive, receptive, flexible and soft. The Yang (+) aspect refers to the active, moving, generating, robust, rigid. Imagine the element Water in its Yin aspect, quiet: a lake, a pond or in its Yang aspect, agitated: the raging sea. Yin or Yang does not mean good or bad but they are two expressions of the same element and one could not exist without the other.

From the Yin or Yang expression of the Five Elements ten characters appear called Celestial Stems. See Fig. 17.