The Five Elements Theory believes that there is a relationship between the five elements: generation, restraint, multiplication and insult. The mutual generation and mutual restraint of the five elements can explain the interconnection between things, while the multiplication and mutual opposition of the five elements can be used to express the mutual influence after the balance between things is broken.
Mutual growth means mutual support and mutual reinforcement. The order of the five elements is: wood generates fire, fire generates earth, earth generates metal, metal generates water, and water generates wood. The mutual generation relationship can also be called the mother-child relationship, such as wood giving birth to fire, that is, wood is the mother of fire, and fire is the son of wood.
Mutual restraint means mutual restraint and mutual restraint. The order of mutual restraint of the five elements is: wood overcomes earth, earth overcomes water, water overcomes fire, fire overcomes metal, and metal overcomes wood.
Mutual generation and mutual restraint are inseparable. Without generation, things cannot occur and grow; without restraint, things are unrestrained and normal coordination relationships cannot be maintained. Only by maintaining a dynamic balance of mutual generation and mutual restraint can things occur and develop normally.
If the five elements are too strong or too weak to each other, the normal relationship between the five elements will be destroyed, and the situation will be multiplied or contradictory. Multiplication means that one of the five elements restrains the other element too much. For example, if wood is too strong and metal cannot restrain wood normally, wood will restrain earth excessively and make earth weak. This is called wood multiplying earth. Mutual insult means that one of the five elements is too excessive, so that the element that restrains it cannot restrain it, but is restrained by it, so it is also called counter-restraint or counter-inflict. For example, under normal circumstances, water restrains fire, but when there is too little water or too much fire, water not only cannot restrain fire, but will be burned dry by fire, that is, fire restrains or insults water.
Quoted by Wu Guozeng