How combinations and clashes resolve each other

In Four Pillars of Destiny (BaZi), the combinations and clashes in one chart act on each other: a six harmony or three harmony can resolve a clash or a punishment, and a clash can break a combination apart. Which prevails turns on order, meaning which branch is bound first, and on closeness, since branches side by side act before distant ones.

Combinations resolve clashes

The True Interpretation of Ziping (子平真诠; Qing dynasty, 18th century) has a chapter on this, and states the general rule:

八字支中，刑冲俱非美事，而三合六合，可以解之。

Our translation: Among the branches of the eight characters, neither punishment nor clash is a good thing, but a three harmony or a six harmony can resolve them.

The book’s example is a Yang Wood Day Master born in a Rooster month, whose Metal is the Day Master’s Direct Officer. A Rabbit in the branches clashes the Rooster. But with a Dog present, the Rabbit combines with the Dog and does not clash; with a Dragon, the Rooster combines with the Dragon; with a Pig and a Goat, the Rabbit joins them in a Wood three harmony; with a Snake and an Ox, the Rooster joins them in Metal. In each case, the book says, the combination resolves the clash.

Punishment works the same way. A Yang Fire Day Master born in a Rat month has its Direct Officer in the Rat, and a Rabbit punishes the Rat. A Dog combining with the Rabbit, an Ox with the Rat, a Pig and Goat joining the Rabbit, or a Monkey and Dragon joining the Rat each resolves the punishment.

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

The reason is simple: a branch that is bound, or drawn into a three harmony, turns to its partner and stops clashing or punishing. The original notes to Dripping Heavenly Marrow (滴天髓) give the same case: the Rat and Horse clash, and an Ox combining with the Rat calms it.

Dripping Heavenly Marrow · Combinations, original notes

Clashes break combinations

It works the other way too. Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping (子平真诠评注; ROC, 1936) says that as combinations resolve punishments and clashes, punishments and clashes resolve combinations. The Snake and Rooster could combine, but a Rabbit right beside the Rooster clashes it, and the combination does not form. Dripping Heavenly Marrow Elucidated (滴天髓阐微; Qing dynasty, 19th century) also says a combination fears a clash above all. So check not only whether a combination is complete, but whether a branch beside it clashes one of its members.

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

Order: resolved, unresolved, or newly made

Because combinations and clashes pull on each other, order matters. List every relation first, then work through them step by step: which branch is bound by which first, and what is left. The book gives three cases.

Resolving one relation makes another. A Yang Wood Day Master born in a Rat month has two Rabbits in the branches. Two Rabbits against one Rat, the book says, are not counted as a punishment. But if a Dog is also present and combines with one Rabbit, what was meant to resolve leaves one Rabbit and one Rat, and these now punish each other. Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping notes that two against one is not without effect, only divided in force; once something makes it one against one, the effect shows.

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

A combination that fails to resolve. In a chart with a Rat year and a Horse month, the Rat and Horse clash. An Ox day branch could combine with the Rat and resolve it. But if the hour branch is a Rooster, the Ox turns to join the Rooster, and the Rat goes back to clashing the Horse. A branch that could resolve a clash can be drawn off by another combination.

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

One clash resolving another. The book says punishments and clashes are never good in the four pillars, and one on the month branch is the most likely to break the structure, so it is better for a punishment or clash elsewhere to draw it off. A Yang Fire Day Master born in a Rat month has a Rabbit punishing the Rat; if a Rooster is also present, it clashes the Rabbit, and the Rabbit can no longer punish the Officer in the month. A Yang Wood Day Master born in a Rooster month has a Rabbit day branch clashing the Rooster; if the hour branch is a Rat, the Rabbit and Rat punish each other, the clash on the month weakens, the Officer remains, and the structure is not broken.

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

Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping sums up that such changes depend on position and on the nature of the branches. Some clashes are so weak they count for nothing; the method is flexible, with no fixed formula.

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

Closeness: side by side acts first

Beside order, look at closeness. Commentary on the True Interpretation of Ziping says a clash between branches side by side acts directly, as control does, while distant ones only stir each other from afar. Dripping Heavenly Marrow Elucidated says a clashing branch pressed right against a combination breaks it, while one set apart only damages it. Combinations behave the same way: two branches with another between them combine weakly. So work through the pairs side by side first, then the separated ones.

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

A stem combined with its own branch: best kept still

One more combination works within a single pillar. In the general discussion of stems and branches, the original notes to Dripping Heavenly Marrow list seven day pillars: Yin Fire Pig, Yang Earth Rat, Yang Wood Horse, Yin Earth Pig, Yin Metal Snake, Yang Water Horse and Yin Water Snake. In each, the day stem combines with a stem hidden in its own branch, as Yin Fire combines with the Yang Water in the Pig, and Yang Earth with the Yin Water in the Rat. What it combines with is the Day Master’s Wealth or Officer, so the Day Master sits on Wealth or Officer; when these are strong, the branch is best kept still, not clashed.

Dripping Heavenly Marrow · General Discussion of Stems and Branches, original notes

If your day pillar is one of these, be mindful of whether the day branch is clashed. What tends to ease such a clash is another combination that binds the clashing branch, or a clashing side too weak to matter, weighed as in the previous lesson.

Try it on your chart

1. List every combination, clash and punishment from the earlier lessons, marked with its position: year, month, day or hour.
2. For each clash or punishment, check whether one of its branches is bound by another branch or drawn into a three harmony. If so, mark it resolved.
3. For each combination, check whether a branch right beside it clashes one of its members. If so, mark it broken.
4. Look for the two turns: a combination that binds one branch and leaves the rest to punish or clash, and a branch that could resolve a clash but is drawn off by another combination.
5. Look closely at the month branch: does a clash or punishment fall on it, and does one elsewhere draw the striking branch away?
6. Check whether your day pillar is Yin Fire Pig, Yang Earth Rat, Yang Wood Horse, Yin Earth Pig, Yin Metal Snake, Yang Water Horse or Yin Water Snake. If it is, note that the day branch is best kept still.
7. When you have worked it through, mark each relation: resolved, still standing, or newly made.

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

See also: Branch clashes, punishments, harms and destruction

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

See also: How a structure forms, breaks and recovers