三合

Branch trinities (三合) are the four three-branch combinations that form a single elemental configuration: 申子辰, 亥卯未, 寅午戌 and 巳酉丑, producing water, wood, fire and metal respectively. The middle branch of each set is the element's peak. Where only two of the three are present the result is a half-combination, weaker than the full set. The table on this page is engine-derived and includes each set's element and peak branch.

Ziping Zhenquan's chapter on resolving punishment, clash, trinity and harmony (《子平真诠·论刑冲会合解法》) treats a three-branch gathering as a company of friends, against a harmony's adjacency, and it is one of the two configurations the chapter allows to resolve a clash or a punishment. Its cases are specific: a 卯 clashing a 酉 is neutralised if 亥 and 未 are present to draw the 卯 into their set, or if 巳 and 丑 are present to draw the 酉 into theirs.

⚠️ One point of vocabulary matters, because the witness and current usage disagree. The chapter names 申子辰 as a 三會 — a meeting — where present-day usage calls that a 三合 and reserves 三會 for a same-direction set such as 寅卯辰. The branch groupings themselves are not in dispute; only which name attaches to which. This site follows current usage, keeps both entries, and states the divergence in both rather than silently resolving it.

Worked example. The example chart below carries 辰, 子 and 申 across its year, day and hour — the complete 申子辰 water trinity, with 子 as its peak.

Worked example (solar 1976-07-11 16:00, female, computed by this site's engine):

Pattern: 正财格 · Strength: 偏弱 (engine verdicts)