Branch clashes, punishments, harms and destruction

In Four Pillars of Destiny (BaZi), earthly branches can clash, punish, harm or destroy one another, and of these the clash weighs most. Punishment, harm and destruction are lighter, are weighed case by case, and need not break a chart’s structure. All four describe friction between branches; they are not predictions of events.

Weigh first

The True Interpretation of Ziping (子平真诠; Qing dynasty, 18th century) says a Direct Officer structure needs Wealth and Resource to support it, and no punishment, clash, destruction or harm. Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping (子平真诠评注; ROC, 1936) separates their weight: the clash is heaviest, because a clash is control, while the other three are weighed with care.

刑破害须酌量衡之，非必尽破格也

Our translation: Punishment, destruction and harm must be weighed with care; they need not all break the structure.

The True Interpretation of Ziping · On the Useful Element: Formed, Broken and Remedied; Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping · On the Useful Element: Formed, Broken and Remedied

In its chapter on punishments and clashes, the same commentary calls punishment and harm shallow relations, and the stem combinations, six harmony, three harmony and clash very heavy ones. Dripping Heavenly Marrow (滴天髓) also puts the clash first, saying punishment and harm sometimes stir a branch and sometimes do not. The original notes give the reason: a clash is always control, so it always stirs; some pairs in punishment or harm generate or combine with each other, so whether they stir is not fixed.

Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping · On Resolving Punishments, Clashes and Combinations; Dripping Heavenly Marrow · Earthly Branches; Dripping Heavenly Marrow · Earthly Branches, original notes

Comprehensive Guide to the Three Fates (三命通会; Ming dynasty, 16th century), on the Direct Officer, sets clash, punishment, destruction and harm one by one against the Officer in the month. All four are checked, and the question is whether they strike a character the chart relies on.

Comprehensive Guide to the Three Fates · On the Direct Officer

Clash

Each branch clashes with the seventh branch from it, the one opposite it in the ring, giving six pairs:

Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping says a clash is a branch meeting the one opposite it, and a clash is control. Dripping Heavenly Marrow Elucidated (滴天髓阐微; Qing dynasty, 19th century) is more specific: the stems hidden in the two branches control each other, as Yin Water in the Rat controls Yin Fire in the Horse, and Yang Metal in the Monkey controls Yang Wood in the Tiger. The Dragon and Dog, and the Ox and Goat, are Earth clashing Earth. How much a clash weighs depends on which side is stronger and what it strikes, the subject of the next lesson.

Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping · On Resolving Punishments, Clashes and Combinations; Dripping Heavenly Marrow Elucidated · Earthly Branches

Punishment

The True Interpretation of Ziping lists punishment first among the branch relations, naming the three-way punishment with the Rat and Rabbit, and the Snake and Monkey, as examples. Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping gives the full list:

The True Interpretation of Ziping · On Resolving Punishments, Clashes and Combinations; Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping · On Resolving Punishments, Clashes and Combinations

On why it is called punishment, The True Interpretation of Ziping admits the reasoning is uncertain, and says not knowing it does no harm when working with a chart. So a punishment is nothing mysterious: weigh it as a lighter friction. Two of the Tiger, Snake and Monkey, or of the Ox, Dog and Goat, often hold another relation too: the Tiger and Monkey clash, the Tiger and Snake are a harm, the Snake and Monkey a six harmony, and the Ox and Goat clash. Where one pair holds several relations, note them all.

The True Interpretation of Ziping · On Resolving Punishments, Clashes and Combinations

Harm

Harm has six pairs: Rat and Goat, Ox and Horse, Tiger and Snake, Rabbit and Dragon, Monkey and Pig, Rooster and Dog. Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping says harm comes from the six harmony: in each pair, one branch clashes the other’s six harmony partner. The Rat combines with the Ox and the Goat clashes the Ox, so the Rat and Goat harm each other; the Ox combines with the Rat and the Horse clashes the Rat, so the Ox and Horse harm each other. The other four pairs work the same way.

Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping · On Resolving Punishments, Clashes and Combinations

Destruction

Destruction also has six pairs: Rat and Rooster, Horse and Rabbit, Snake and Monkey, Tiger and Pig, Dragon and Ox, Dog and Goat. It is the lightest of the branch frictions, weighed case by case with punishment and harm. Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping weighs it alongside them, and Comprehensive Guide to the Three Fates lists it beside clash, punishment and harm.

Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping · On the Useful Element: Formed, Broken and Remedied; Comprehensive Guide to the Three Fates · On the Direct Officer

Destruction often overlaps other relations. The Tiger and Pig, and the Snake and Monkey, are also six harmony pairs; the Snake and Monkey also belong to a three-way punishment, and so do the Dog and Goat. Where relations overlap, note them all, then see which weighs more in the chart.

How to hold these relations

What matters is which character the friction strikes. If it strikes a character the chart relies on, be mindful of it; if it strikes one the chart does not want, it can even help. Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping says a clash on the useful element or a favorable one is unwelcome, while a clash on an unfavorable element can let the structure form.

Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping · On Resolving Punishments, Clashes and Combinations

What tends to ease these frictions is another combination in the chart: a three harmony or six harmony can resolve a clash or a punishment, as a later lesson explains.

Try it on your chart

1. Write your four branches in a row: year, month, day, hour.
2. Look for clashes: Rat and Horse, Ox and Goat, Tiger and Monkey, Rabbit and Rooster, Dragon and Dog, Snake and Pig.
3. Look for punishments: the Rat and Rabbit; all three of the Tiger, Snake and Monkey, or of the Ox, Dog and Goat; a Dragon, Horse, Rooster or Pig appearing twice.
4. Look for harm and destruction, and write down every relation a pair holds. The Snake and Monkey, for example, are both a six harmony and a destruction.
5. Put the clashes first; the next lesson weighs them.
6. Beside each punishment, harm and destruction, note which character it strikes. Whether your chart welcomes that character is judged after strength and structure.

See also: Weighing a clash: uprooted or unharmed, and the storage branches

See also: How combinations and clashes resolve each other

See also: Branch combinations: six harmony, three harmony, seasonal and bridged combinations

See also: How a structure forms, breaks and recovers