What do the five elements mean?

The Five Elements, also known as the Five Elements Theory, is a fundamental way of understanding the world. The meaning of the Five Elements encompasses the five basic dynamics that lend themselves to the evolutionary process of yin and yang: gold (for convergence), wood (for curvature), water (for infiltration), fire (for heat), and earth (for biochemistry). Chinese philosophers used the theory of the five elements to explain the formation of all things in the world and their interrelationships.