三合 · one of four trines
The Metal trine
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
Three branches, six coordinates each
What each member brings
The three do not share a phase of their own — each branch carries its own. What they share is the phase the group governs together.
What each member of the Metal trine carries: phase, hours, month, direction, clash and harmony
Snake
- Own phase
- Fire
- Hours
- 09:00–10:59
- Month opens
- 立夏 Lìxià
- Direction
- South-southeast
Rooster
- Own phase
- Metal
- Hours
- 17:00–18:59
- Month opens
- 白露 Báilù
- Direction
- West
Ox
- Own phase
- Earth
- Hours
- 01:00–02:59
- Month opens
- 小寒 Xiǎohán
- Direction
- North-northeast
The phase at the triangle's centre
Why this group governs Metal
Each trine is assigned one of the five phases. Earth sits at the turn between seasons, while the other four phases each govern a trine.
The three branches span the seasons that metal governs, and the middle member of the group sits at that phase's peak. Twelve branches divide into four groups of three, so there are four trines — and Earth, which the tradition places at the turn of every season rather than in one of them, governs none.
What the Metal phase generates and controlsAcross the diameter
What the group stands opposite
Each member has a clash — the branch six places away. Taken together those three form the opposing trine, which is why the two groups are read as a pair rather than as rivals.
Complete the cycle