Earth is the element of the center. In the five phases (오행 ohaeng) it is the pause between the others, the ground everything stands on and returns to. It is also the phase of ripening, when summer's growth turns into something you can store.
Earth has no single season. It rules the last weeks of each season, which is why four of the twelve branches are earth: the Dragon 辰, the Goat 未, the Dog 戌 and the Ox 丑. Its direction is the center and its color in 오방색 obangsaek is 황 hwang, yellow, once reserved for the ruler at the center of the realm. Of the classical virtues it is linked with 신 信, trust.
In the cycles, fire makes earth and earth bears metal, the way ore forms in rock. Earth dams water, and wood breaks up earth. Two stems carry earth, the mountain Mu 戊 and the field Gi 己.
A lot of earth
An earth heavy chart is often read as steady, patient and dependable, and sometimes slow to move. The tradition looks for wood to loosen the soil and metal to carry the extra weight into something useful.
Little or no earth
Little earth is common and usually read as a chart that moves quickly between things. Earth years, luck pillars and people can feel grounding. Nothing is lacking in you because an element is quiet in your chart.
In Korean life
Yellow sits in the middle of the 오방색 scheme and appears in 색동 saekdong stripes and in the egg yolk strips of the five color garnish. Earth's place at the center is echoed in the traditional house, where the courtyard (마당 madang) is the open ground everything faces.