Branch Combinations and Other Interactions in BaZi

Besides clashes, the BaZi tradition knows several other ways in which Earthly Branches "recognise" each other: combinations, Three Harmony and seasonal combinations, punishments and harms. The Heavenly Stems have a separate set of rules of their own. This article gathers all the tables and describes how the tradition reads these interactions.

First, the limits. In a Bazi.uz reading the Six Combinations and the Three Harmony combinations are reference information, without interpretation: the reading text draws no conclusions from them. Punishments and harms are not used in the reading at present. The reason is simple: these rules differ most between schools, and we do not want to present one interpretation as final. Everything said below about meaning is how the tradition reads it.

The Six Combinations 六合

A combination is a pair of branches that attract each other and, by the classical rule, produce a new element. The tradition describes a combination as a bond, an agreement, a mutual attachment between two areas — and at the same time as something that "ties the hands": a branch busy with a combination performs its usual role less well.

Many schools hold that the new element truly "emerges" only with support — for example, if it is strong in the birth season (the month branch) or visible among the stems. Otherwise the combination remains a bond without transformation.

Three Harmony combinations 三合 and half combinations

A Three Harmony combination unites three branches four steps apart: the branch where an element is born, the branch of its peak and the branch of its "storehouse".

If the chart contains only two of the three branches, this is called a half combination. The tradition treats half combinations that include the central branch (子, 卯, 午 or 酉) as genuine: for example 寅–午 or 午–戌 for Fire. Many schools consider a pair of the outer branches without the centre (寅–戌) weak or ignore it altogether. The third branch can also arrive from outside — with an annual pillar or a Luck Pillar — and the tradition then speaks of a temporarily "assembled" combination.

Seasonal combinations 方合

A seasonal combination is made of the three branches of one season. It is considered the most concentrated: the whole trio reinforces a single element.

Punishments 刑 and harms 害

Punishments and harms are subtler and more disputed interactions. Their traditional names sound harsh, but they describe not events but the character of a tension: hidden friction, mutual grievances, recurring situations.

Harm 害 consists of six pairs, each of which interferes with a combination of one of its branches: 子–未, 丑–午, 寅–巳, 卯–辰, 申–亥, 酉–戌. The tradition describes harm as an obstacle and a misunderstanding rather than an open conflict.

To repeat: punishments and harms are not currently used in a Bazi.uz reading. The tables are here so that you can recognise these combinations in the literature and not mistake them for a "verdict".

Stem combinations 天干五合

The Heavenly Stems have pairs of their own: each Yang stem combines with the Yin stem that it controls.

For stems the tradition pays special attention to adjacency: a combination of neighbouring stems is considered strong, while if the Day Master stands between them the bond is weakened. If the Day Master itself takes part in a combination, many schools describe this as its close involvement with the god it combines with.

Example: one chart, several interactions

The pillars of the example are 丙寅 (hour), 甲申 (day), 辛巳 (month) and 庚午 (year). It shows how densely interactions can interweave.

• 巳–申 — a 六合 combination (Water). Month and day, adjacent pillars. For a 甲 Day Master Water is the Resource and one of the favourable elements. The tradition would say the combination softens the 寅–申 clash, but transformation into Water is doubtful: the 巳 season is Fire and there is no visible Water among the stems.
• 寅–巳–申 — a full triple punishment. All three branches are in the chart: hour, month, day. The 寅–巳 pair also forms a harm.
• 寅–午 — a half Fire combination from the Three Harmony 寅午戌, with the central branch 午. For 甲, Fire is Output (Eating God and Hurting Officer), and the chart already has plenty of it.
• 丙–辛 — a stem combination (Water) between hour and month, but the Day Master 甲 stands between them, so the tradition would consider the bond weak.

Under the Bazi.uz methodology the 巳–申 combination and the 寅–午 half combination are reference information, while the reading interprets the 寅–申 clash, the Day Master's strength and the Ten Gods. That is the difference between "what is in the chart" and "what the reading relies on".

How the tradition weighs interactions

When a chart contains several bonds at once, the tradition ranks them by strength. The usual order is: a seasonal combination is stronger than a Three Harmony combination, a Three Harmony combination is stronger than the Six Combinations, and a half combination is weaker than a full one. A clash is comparable in strength to a combination, so when both appear in one chart they always need a separate look.

The second criterion is distance. Branches of adjacent pillars interact more noticeably than branches separated by one or two pillars. The bond between the day branch and the month branch is usually considered the weightiest: the month branch sets the birth season, and the day branch is the spouse palace (see Palaces of the Chart).

The third is timing. Many combinations "come together" only when the missing branch arrives with a year or a Luck Pillar. In the example chart, for instance, 巳 and 午 are already present; the year 丁未 (2027) brings 未, and the tradition would see a temporarily complete seasonal Fire combination 巳午未, while 午–未 would also form a combination between the year branch of the chart and the branch of the annual pillar. This describes which element becomes more prominent in such a year, not a promise of events. More about the year in 2027 — the Ding Wei year.

Finally, the tradition looks at the result in relation to the Day Master. A combination that produces a favourable element is read as support, and one that reinforces an already excessive element as an imbalance. Such conclusions are not drawn without first assessing the Day Master's strength.

How to use these tables

• Do not start with them but with the Day Master, the season and the Ten Gods: interactions refine the picture but do not replace it.
• If a pair of branches both combines and clashes, do not add up the conclusions mechanically — schools resolve this differently.
• Look at which Hidden Stems sit in the branches involved: they show which gods the bond concerns.