Branch geometry · 三合 Sān Hé
Chinese zodiac compatibility
Compare two animals through the branches beneath their familiar names. The reading keeps every fixed relation that applies, then shows how their phases, trines and chart positions change the picture.
How the patterns differ
- 三合 Sān Hé · four three-branch groups
- 六合 Liù Hé · six paired harmonies
- 六冲 Liù Chōng · six opposing axes
- 78 canonical pairs · including same-animal pairs
- All relationship guides →
Each name describes a different geometric relationship between fixed positions on the cycle.
Two branches, one complete comparison
Compare two zodiac animals
Choose any pair, including the same animal twice. The reading checks every fixed branch relation, then adds the phases and trines each position carries.
Four groups around one cycle
The four trines
Each trine gathers three animals traditionally read as sharing a temperament. The descriptors below summarize the traditional themes attached to each group.
- 01水
Water trine
The strategists: initiative, wit and momentum.
Open the Water trine - 02金
Metal trine
The stewards: patience, craft and endurance.
Open the Metal trine - 03火
Fire trine
The adventurers: courage, warmth and independence.
Open the Fire trine - 04木
Wood trine
The diplomats: empathy, calm and cooperation.
Open the Wood trine
The full atlas
Each trine in full
The geometry behind the grouping, what each member carries, and the three branches the group stands opposite.
Two core pair sets in view
Harmony and opposition
Trines are the best-known grouping and not the only one. These two ledgers show the one-to-one matches and opposing axes; the full relationship atlas continues through seasonal meetings, harms, breaks and punishments.
Open all branch relationship guidesThe six harmonies
Six pairs whose positions balance across the cycle. Each pair sums to a constant place on the twelve, which is the whole of the rule.
The six clashes
Six pairs sitting directly opposite, six places apart. Because they are opposite, the two never share a season, a direction or an hour.
All three groupings come from the same twelve positions counted differently: four places apart makes a trine, six places apart makes a clash, and the harmony pairs are the six that balance across the circle. Nothing in any of them is derived from what the animals are like — the geometry comes first and the character reading comes after.
One branch system
Where the trines sit
A year animal is one layer of several. The trines rest on the same twelve earthly branches that drive the calendar, the hour periods and the month animals — so a trine is a statement about positions in that cycle, and it reaches a chart the same way every other branch relation does.
Every unordered pair, once
Browse all 78 pair readings
Each pair has one canonical page, so Rat with Ox is the same reading as Ox with Rat. Same-animal comparisons are included because a branch can repeat across chart layers.
子 Rat pairs
丑 Ox pairs
寅 Tiger pairs
卯 Rabbit pairs
辰 Dragon pairs
巳 Snake pairs
午 Horse pairs
未 Goat pairs
申 Monkey pairs
酉 Rooster pairs
戌 Dog pairs
亥 Pig pairs