A misnomer. See Wikipedia for a very good explanation, and a list of the most typical correspondences.

The correspondence system did not begin with Zou Yan, but he was the brilliant categorizer and explainer.

Professor Liu Yanchi says westerners would benefit from thinking of wuxing in terms of systems theory. Everything from cybernetics to living systems theory could be beneficial, and less likely to be misinterpreted.

Actually, autopoiesis has more of a natural affinity, as Chinese philosophy thinks of the universe as self-organizing.

Common misconceptions

Chinese “elements” don’t correlate with Greek ones. The Greek elements were physical: earth, air, water, fire — and quintessence, the stuff that heavenly bodies were made of (the “element of perfection”).

Wuxing developed from astronomy and prognostication. For example, the Shang universe was cruciform-shaped and oracle bones were presented to the four directions. The Five Palaces are older than wuxing (the Dragon, Tiger, and Beidou were interred at Puyang, 4000 BCE). It would be easy to develop a system of “phases” based on the cyclical movements of the heavens.