Sand in Earth (Shā Zhōng Tǔ)

Shāzhōng tǔ is a type within the Sixty Jiazi Nayin Five Elements, corresponding to the years of Bǐngchén and Dīngsì. Its imagery derives from the soil contained within sand and gravel; it is not fertile farmland or thick mountain soil. Traditionally, although this earth's texture is impure, it is still considered a form of earth and possesses earth's fundamental properties. In fate analysis, its characteristics are often summarized as a state requiring washing and refining, or being mixed with sand and gravel. Old almanacs used this kind of imagery to explain its generative and destructive relationships with the other Five Elements. Today, this concept is mostly seen in explanations of traditional culture.