相生

xiāngshēng

verb

Meanings

1 to mutually engender / generate one another (Five Elements)
2 (of forces) to complement each other

Characters

to generate / give birth

Examples

五行讲相生相克。

Wǔxíng jiǎng xiāngshēng xiāngkè.

The Five Elements theory speaks of mutual generation and restraint.

木生火，火生土，这就是相生。

Mù shēng huǒ, huǒ shēng tǔ, zhè jiùshì xiāngshēng.

Wood feeds fire, fire creates earth — that's 'mutual generation'.

他们俩八字相生，特别合得来。

Tāmen liǎ bāzì xiāngshēng, tèbié hé de lái.

Their birth charts are mutually nourishing — they get along really well.

Tips

history

Half of the Five Elements (五行) dynamic: 相生 is the generative cycle (wood→fire→earth→metal→water→wood), while 相克 is the restraining cycle. Dates to the Warring States period and underpins TCM, fortune-telling, and fengshui.

Stroke Order

相 xiāng

生 shēng