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相生

xiāngshēng
verb

Meanings

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

Examples

HSK 3
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'.
HSK 4
他们俩八字相生，特别合得来。
Tāmen liǎ bāzì xiāngshēng, tèbié hédelái.
Their birth charts are mutually nourishing - they get along really well.
HSK 7-9
五行讲相生相克。
Wǔxíng jiǎng xiāngshēng xiāngkè.
The Five Elements theory speaks of mutual generation and restraint.

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