Zodi Animal· The Elements· Metal 金· Big metal and small metal

A room of Metal · 金

One of the five phases behind your Primal Zodiac Animal

Big metal and small metal

gēng and xīn

Metal splits into a yang face and a yin face, and Chinese metaphysics gives each its own name: 庚 (gēng) the great metal and 辛 (xīn) the fine metal. One is the raw sword, the other the finished jewel.

庚金, the great metal

The yang Metal. Its images are the sword, the axe, the halberd, and the raw ore, 剑戟斧钺 (jiàn jǐ fǔ yuè), hard unrefined metal made to cut and to hew. Tradition paints 庚金 people as decisive and tough, loyal and righteous, straight-talkers who act where others hesitate.

Its shadow is the blade turned destructive: rigid, aggressive, stubborn, and over-blunt, cutting where it should hold.

辛金, the fine metal

The yin Metal. Its images are jewelry, gold, gems, and the needle, 珠玉首饰 (zhū yù shǒu shì), refined and finished metal made to adorn and to mend. Tradition paints 辛金 people as elegant and sharp-minded, tasteful and meticulous, quietly persuasive to the last detail.

Its shadow is the jewel turned cold: vain, hypersensitive, sharp-tongued, and perfectionistic, so fixed on flaw that it chills the room.

One phase, two edges

The point is balance, not ranking. Whether a Metal runs too hard or too fine is always relative to the rest of a chart. That is the question BaZi takes up in the next room.

Where Metal sits

Leave Metal in any direction

The five phases are one lens on your Zodi Animal, the creature you get when your Western Sun sign crosses your Chinese zodiac year.