Objective To explore the occurrence rule of depressive phase and manic phase in depression based on the five movements of six climates

to provide new ideas for the understanding of pathogenesis and preventive treatment of depression. Methods A total of 180 cases of depression cases were included

of which 74 cases were major depression

106 cases were bipolar disorder. The dominant movement

the dominant climate

the guest movement and the guest climate were deduced according to each onset to obtain the occurrence rule between the time of onset and the five movements and six climates as well as the occurrence rule between the depressive phase

manic phase and the five movements and six climates. Results Firstly

the dominant movements of depression were mainly fire and gold

with the least earth（P < 0. 01）; the guest movements were mainly metal and earth with the least wood（P< 0. 05）; the dominant climate was mainly Yangming dry metal with the least Taiyang cold water（P < 0. 01）; there was no obvious difference among guest climates（P > 0. 05）. Secondly

the dominant movements of depression were most metal movement and least earth movement（P < 0. 01）; the dominant climates were most Yangming dry metal and least Taiyang cold water（P < 0. 01）; the dominant movement of manic phase was mainly fire（P < 0. 05） while the dominant climate was mainly Shaoyin monarch fire（P < 0. 05）; there was significant difference in the distribution of dominant movement and dominant climate between depressive phase and manic phase in general（P < 0. 05）.Thirdly

the dominant movement of depressive phase in bipolar disorder was mainly gold

while the manic phase was mainly fire; the dominant climate of depressive phase was mainly Yangming dry metal

while that of manic phase was mainly Shaoyin monarch fire

both had the least Taiyang cold water; regarding the guest climates of both depressive phase and manic phase in Taiyin damp earth and Shaoyang ministerial fire

the depressive phase occurred significantly more frequently than the manic phase（P < 0. 01）

and there was a significant difference in the guest climate in bipolar disorder between the depressive phase and the manic phase（P < 0. 05）. Conclusion The onset of depression seems to have obvious rules in terms of the five movements and six climates

with different rules between the depressive phase and the manic phase.