Pine

Pine is read as constancy — evergreen, and therefore the standard image for something that holds through winter. Pine is Wood that does not shed. Traditional reading pairs it with longevity and with steadiness under conditions that strip other trees.

Natural features are read by state and conditions. Pine is read as constancy — evergreen, and therefore the standard image for something that holds through winter. Traditional readings look at whether it is calm or disturbed, near or distant. A pine growing alone on open ground is a recorded variant, read as constancy without the shelter of a stand.

Chinese sources group pine with bamboo and plum as the three friends of winter, each read for endurance in a different register. It is grouped under Wood (木) in the five-element system.