Among the Earthly Branches, there are distinctions of the Five Elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. The producing and overcoming relationships between them can only transform their energies through Penalties, Clashes, Combinations, and Harms. This achieves the goal of increasing the strength of one Five Element while reducing another. These interactions then influence the producing and overcoming relationships of the Heavenly Stems that appear in the chart.
We know that Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches are integrated and inseparable; Heavenly Stems are the external manifestation, while Earthly Branches are the internal substance. Compared to the pure Five Element attributes of Heavenly Stems, the Earthly Branches and their hidden Stems possess greater complexity and variability. Therefore, the same Five Element producing, overcoming, and transforming interactions, while applicable to Heavenly Stems, cannot fully achieve the energy transformation between Earthly Branches. If the Heavenly Stems were to fully reflect all the information and energy contained within the Earthly Branches through simple Five Element producing and overcoming interactions, then the relationships between Earthly Branches could not be handled by direct Five Element producing and overcoming. Among the Earthly Branches, only through the different forms of Penalties, Clashes, Combinations, and Harms can all specific energies and information be fully reflected in the mutual transformations of Heavenly Stems. If this relationship is not clearly understood, it leads to conflating Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, fundamentally denying their interdependent and complementary roles, and neglecting the complexity and variability of Earthly Branches and their hidden Stems. Furthermore, it ignores the distinct forms, specificity, and purpose of Penalties, Clashes, Combinations, and Harms. The different forms of interaction among Earthly Branches reflect different details and outcomes in the development of events.
In practical application, the prosperity and decline (旺衰) of the Five Elements play a crucial role in the energy transformation during Earthly Branch Penalties, Clashes, and Combinations. Each Five Element, in different seasonal nodes (节令), and even different regions, will exhibit varying degrees of differences and changes. Such a subtle factor can directly lead to inaccurate predictions. For example, just as oranges grown south of the Huai River differ from those grown north of it, and considering the formation of the Three Harmony Combinations (三会局) of Yin-Mao-Chen in spring versus Shen-You-Xu, their strengths are entirely different. Whether an element is “in season” (得令) or “in location” (得地) determines that the same Five Element will have completely different strength and authority in different seasons or monthly commands.
By the same token, for instance, if three Shen clash one Yin, and it’s in the Yin month, the Metal of Shen can only clash away the Five Element energy of Yin Wood, but it cannot clash away the “seasonal energy” (得令之气) of Yin Wood. The Chou-Wei-Xu Three Penalties may form conditions to overcome Water, but they do not necessarily indicate misfortune in the Hai or Zi months. The time of misfortune often occurs when the favorable god (用神) or the Five Element supporting the favorable god is in a state of rest, decline, death, or extinction (休囚死绝), lacking qi, and then further meets a clash or overcoming. Of course, for Five Elements that suddenly become extremely prosperous, causing imbalance, it is necessary to carefully distinguish between the principles of producing and overcoming and the actual unfolding of events. One cannot blindly assume fortune or misfortune simply because the conditions for Penalties, Clashes, or Combinations are met; that is pure dogmatism. Yiology (study of I Ching/Changes) originates from life, and we must find life’s direction, purpose, and conditions within it.
The concepts inherent in Earthly Branch Penalties, Clashes, and Combinations have fully integrated both principle (理) and manifestation (象). Precisely for this reason, many people develop one-sided understandings, declaring misfortune upon seeing a Penalty and fortune upon seeing a Combination, making blind conjectures that mislead others and harm themselves. Principle and manifestation are fundamentally inseparable; principle fully serves manifestation, and manifestation exists entirely for principle. Therefore, in the practical application of Penalties, Clashes, Combinations, and Harms, one must adopt a flexible approach.
A Combination (相合) does not merely signify harmony; it is often laden with utilitarian and practical implications. After transforming into another Five Element, it uses its unified, powerful force to produce or overcome the next Five Element. A Clash (相冲) represents opposition, confrontation, and impact, where both sides simultaneously and equally suffer loss of strength, scattering residual qi, highlighting self-interest and an exclusionary trend. A Penalty (相刑) is a form of punishment; to achieve the goal of controlling the next Five Element, it integrates energies through coercive means, making the original qi intensely strong, multiplying its power, and exhibiting a fission-like effect, while simultaneously eradicating the strength of the Five Elements being controlled.
The relationships among Earthly Branch Penalties, Clashes, Combinations, and Harms are not as distinct as their conceptual definitions might suggest; sometimes, their interactions are quite entangled.
For example, the Chen-Xu-Chou-Wei Clash can be seen as a Six Combination for Earth. Superficially, it gains the same energy transformation as Earthly Branches in a combination through the form of an Earthly Branch Clash, but in reality, it fulfills the function of a Penalty.
Although the conditions for the formation and application of Earthly Branch Penalties, Clashes, Combinations, and Harms are all built upon the principles of Five Element producing and overcoming, their use, under more complex conditions, pushes the principles of Five Element producing and overcoming to a more extreme and specific level.
In this chart, during the Bing-Zi (丙子) luck pillar and the Ding-Mao (丁卯) flowing year, the natal chart and the luck pillars/flowing year not only form a Jia-Ji Combination (甲己合) and a potential Bing-Xin Combination (丙辛有相合之象) among the Heavenly Stems, but also form two Xu combining with one Mao (两戌合一卯), a Zi-Mao Penalty (子卯相刑), a Mao-You Clash (卯酉相冲), and a You-Xu Harm (酉戌相害) among the Earthly Branches.
When the distinct characteristics of Penalties, Clashes, Combinations, and Harms interact with the natal chart through luck pillars and flowing years, no matter how complex and changeable the situation, as long as they are analyzed separately according to their respective conditions, correct predictions can ultimately be made.
Two Xu combine with one Mao, You comes to clash and disperse it, and the Zi-Mao Penalty successfully makes Jia Wood prosperous, clashing away You Metal. The Heavenly Stems Bing Fire and Ding Fire of the luck pillar and flowing year control Geng Metal, so Metal cannot overcome Wood. Wood being prosperous then overcomes Earth. This indicates that in this natal chart, the Day Master is strong, and the Resource element is even stronger. Therefore, Eating God/Output producing Wealth is taken as the favorable god (用). During the Bing-Zi luck pillar and Ding-Mao year, Wealth and Resource elements contend, and the favorable god is in place. In reality, the chart holder successfully participated in and was admitted to the college entrance examination that year, achieving a “carp leaping over the dragon’s gate” transformation.
Yi Hun Bazi Chapter 3, Section 1: On Earthly Branch Combinations