三合 · one of four trines

Metal Trine 三合 (Snake, Rooster, Ox): Frame & Meaning

Snake, Rooster, Ox form the Metal trine 三合; its central frame is Rooster 酉, the branch carrying Metal. The three members are spaced four positions apart in the twelve-branch cycle.

Snake · Rooster · Ox

Snake, Rooster, Ox are grouped because of where they sit, not because of what they are like. Each is four places from the next on the twelve branches — a third of the cycle, so the three stand at the corners of an equilateral triangle. The shared temperament the tradition reads from that comes afterwards, and is the interpretive part.

Branches

Three

Spacing

Four places

Governing phase

Metal