Home › I Ching & Five Elements › Stem and Branch Relations (干支合冲刑害)
Stem and Branch Relations (干支合冲刑害)
Finds the traditional relations among a set of heavenly stems (天干, tiangan) and earthly branches (地支, dizhi): stem combinations (五合, wuhe) and clashes (相冲, xiangchong), branch six-combinations (六合, liuhe), three-harmony frames (三合局, sanheju, incl. 半合 banhe), directional combinations (三会, sanhui), clashes (六冲, liuchong), harms (六害, liuhai), punishments (相刑 xiangxing, 自刑 zixing) and destructions (相破, xiangpo).
When to use
You have stems or branches from a Bazi chart, a date or a Liu Yao chart and need to list which of them combine, clash, harm or punish each other.
Do not use when: You need the abstract five-element relation between two elements (use five-elements) or the stems and branches of a date (use sexagenary-cycle or bazi-four-pillars).
Formula
天干五合: 甲己→土, 乙庚→金, 丙辛→水, 丁壬→木, 戊癸→火; 天干相冲: 甲庚, 乙辛, 丙壬, 丁癸; 地支六合: 子丑→土, 寅亥→木, 卯戌→火, 辰酉→金, 巳申→水, 午未→土; 三合: 申子辰水, 亥卯未木, 寅午戌火, 巳酉丑金 (半合 = the peak branch with one other); 三会: 寅卯辰木, 巳午未火, 申酉戌金, 亥子丑水; 六冲: branches 6 apart; 六害: 子未 丑午 寅巳 卯辰 申亥 酉戌; 相刑: 寅巳申, 丑戌未, 子卯, 自刑 辰午酉亥; 相破: 子酉 丑辰 寅亥 卯午 巳申 未戌
Tables follow the standard Ziping (子平) conventions used in Bazi and Liu Yao; 午未合 is reported as Earth. Only relations among the given characters are listed, each once. Traditional cultural reference calculation; not a prediction and not medical, legal or financial advice.
Inputs
| Parameter | Type | Unit | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
characters | string_list | yes | 2–8 stems or branches: Chinese characters (甲 … 癸, 子 … 亥; a pair such as 甲子 is split into both), pinyin (jia, zi …; wu is ambiguous, write 戊/午 or stem_wu/branch_wu) or zodiac animals (rat, ox …). |
Outputs
| Output | Type | Unit | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
items | list | One row per character: character, pinyin, type (stem/branch), element, yin/yang and zodiac animal (branches). | |
relations | list | One row per relation: pair_or_group, kind, relation_cn, relation_en and result (element produced or the relation class). | |
relation_count | integer | How many relations were found. | |
summary | string | Short summary of the relations found. |
Example
甲 己 子 午: {"characters":["甲","己","子","午"]} → {"relation_count":2,"relations":[{"pair_or_group":"甲己","relation_cn":"天干五合(甲己合化土)","result":"Earth (土)"},{"pair_or_group":"子午","relation_cn":"六冲(子午相冲)","result":"clash (冲)"}]}
申 子 辰 (three-harmony Water): {"characters":["申","子","辰"]} → {"relation_count":1,"relations":[{"pair_or_group":"申子辰","relation_cn":"三合水局(申子辰)","result":"Water (水)"}]}
GET https://tttkmbb.com/api/v1/calculate/stem-branch-relations?characters=%E7%94%B2%2C%E5%B7%B1%2C%E5%AD%90%2C%E5%8D%88
Machine access
- API:
GET https://tttkmbb.com/api/v1/calculate/stem-branch-relations(query parameters) orPOSTwith a JSON body{"inputs": {...}} - Schema: https://tttkmbb.com/api/v1/calculators/stem-branch-relations · Markdown: https://tttkmbb.com/yijing/stem-branch-relations.md · JSON definition: https://tttkmbb.com/yijing/stem-branch-relations.json
- MCP: server
https://tttkmbb.com/mcp, toolrun_calculator with calculator_id="stem-branch-relations" - OpenAPI operationId:
analyze_stem_branch_relations - Freshness:
static. Authentication: none. Rate limit: fair use (see rate limits).
Sources
- Wikipedia – Sexagenary cycle (reference)
- Wikipedia – Wuxing (Chinese philosophy) (reference)
FAQ
What is a 半合 (half combination)?
A three-harmony frame needs its three branches (e.g. 申子辰 for Water). When only the peak branch (子, 卯, 午 or 酉) and one of the two others are present, the pair is reported as a half combination of that frame.
Why is the pinyin wu rejected?
wu is the pinyin of both the stem 戊 and the branch 午; write the character, or stem_wu / branch_wu.
Related calculators
- Five Elements Relation (五行生克) — Generating and controlling relation of the resulting elements.
- Sexagenary Cycle Calculator (干支) — Stem and branch of a year, month, day or hour.
- Bazi Four Pillars (八字) — The four pillars whose characters are analysed here.