Branches That Pull Together
六合 三合 三会 · Combining, Gathering, Meeting
Where stems pair off, branches gather in crowds. Three traditional patterns describe how branches pull power together: the Six-Combines (六合), the Triple Combines (三合) and the Directional Meetings (三会). All three are simple geography on the branch wheel — and all three are beloved shorthand in real readings.
The Six-Combines: six pairs, face to face
Six pairs of branches sit directly opposite each other and are said to combine:
- 子-Zi with 丑-Chou
- 寅-Yin with 亥-Hai
- 卯-Mao with 戌-Xu
- 辰-Chen with 酉-You
- 巳-Si with 申-Shen
- 午-Wu with 未-Wei
Each pairing actually has a mechanism: two of them (子丑, 卯戌) genuinely transform into a new element (Earth and Fire respectively), while the other four are "close combines" — each pairing element that produces the other, like partners who lean on each other. Readers use the Six-Combine the way they use any strong pairing: two energies that, when present together, work as a unit.
The Triple Combines: three branches, one team
Four trios — each three branches apart on the wheel — combine into a single powerful element:
- 申-Shen, 子-Zi, 辰-Chen → Water
- 亥-Hai, 卯-Mao, 未-Wei → Wood
- 寅-Yin, 午-Wu, 戌-Xu → Fire
- 巳-Si, 酉-You, 丑-Chou → Metal
A Triple Combine is traditionally read as the strongest of the three patterns: three characters pooling into one element, the way a river takes three streams. When a chart (or a season, or a match between two charts) assembles a full trio, readers sit up — though in most charts you will see two of the three and a "half" combine, which already colors the text.
The Directional Meetings: the four corners of the map
- 寅寅-Yin, 卯-Mao, 辰-Chen → Wood (the spring direction)
- 巳-Si, 午-Wu, 未-Wei → Fire (summer)
- 申-Shen, 酉-You, 戌-Xu → Metal (autumn)
- 亥-Hai, 子-Zi, 丑-Chou → Water (winter)
These are simply the three months of one season, gathered. A Directional Meeting is the seasonal climate at its fullest — the reading equivalent of pointing at the calendar. When present, it usually dominates the elemental weather of that part of the chart.
How to use (and not use) them
These patterns matter most in two places: inside your own chart, where they concentrate an element's presence, and in Da Yun and year-level timing, where a passing branch can complete a trio the chart has been "waiting" for. But three cautions keep it honest. First, most charts are not finished puzzles — partial combines are normal. Second, two combines can clash with each other in the same chart; priority is a judgment call schools argue about. Third, a combine describes concentration of energy, not an event. It is a nudge toward a theme, never a fixed outcome.
Check your chart for combines — combinations between your branches are listed automatically, with every trio named.
Related reading
- Heavenly unions & clashes — the stem-level version of pulling together
- Clashes, harms & punishments — the branch patterns that push apart
- Critical years — when a passing year completes or trips a combine