While on-yomi makes it hard to understand how the ten stems corresponds to yin-yang and the Five Elements, kun-yomi (the Japanese reading of kanji) makes it easy to do so because these readings refer to each element; kinoe, kinoto, hinoe, hinoto, tsuchinoe, tsuchinoto, kanoe, kanoto, mizunoe, mizunoto (wood [ki], fire [hi], earth [tsuchi], and metal [ka], water [mizu]).
音読みでは陰陽と五行にどう対応しているか分かりにくいが、訓読みにすると、きのえ、きのと、ひのえ、ひのと、つちのえ、つちのと、かのえ、かのと、みずのえ、みずのと、となり、五行が明解になる（かのえ、かのと、は金）。