三会

Branch directional sets (三会), also called directional combinations, are the four sets of three consecutive same-direction branches: 寅卯辰, 巳午未, 申酉戌 and 亥子丑, producing wood, fire, metal and water. Because the three branches are adjacent in the cycle, the resulting qi is regarded as purer and more concentrated than that of a trinity, whose three branches are drawn from different quarters. Where only two are present the set is partial and weaker. The table is engine-derived.

⚠️ The name is where the difficulty lies. Ziping Zhenquan's chapter on resolving punishment, clash, trinity and harmony (《子平真诠·论刑冲会合解法》) writes 會 for the three-branch gathering, but the example it gives is 申子辰 — the set current usage calls a 三合. So the classical term and the modern term do not pick out the same group. The branch groupings are not in dispute and neither usage is an error; the divergence is in how the two names were assigned. This site follows current usage, and says so in both this entry and the trinity entry rather than resolving the difference silently in one direction.

Worked example. The example chart below carries 卯, 辰 and 寅 across its year, month and day — the complete 寅卯辰 eastern wood set.

Worked example (solar 1975-04-14 2:00, female, computed by this site's engine):

Pattern: 偏印格 · Strength: 偏弱 (engine verdicts)