Saju Branch Relationships: Clash, Combine and Harm (Chart Only)
saju clash combine · Education
The four Earthly Branches on a saju chart do not sit in silence. Classical methods describe fixed pair patterns between branches — most often clash (충 / 冲), combine (합 / 合) and a cluster of harm / penalty style links (해·형 and related labels). This guide introduces those patterns as structure inside one chart: relationships among the year, month, day and hour branches you already have. It is not a person-to-person compatibility reading, and it does not cover a match or gunghap product.
Map your four branches first (free, no account): run the Saju calculator and write the four lower characters in order. You will compare those four to one another. The free chart shows pillars only; it does not draw clash or combine arrows for you.
For branch names and elements, keep Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches nearby. For what each pillar position is traditionally about, see The Four Pillars of Saju.
Chart structure versus people-matching
Korean fortune practice often uses the word gunghap (궁합) for compatibility between two people. That is a different product shape: two charts, compared on purpose. PillarAtlas guides on fortune categories mention that door in Korean Fortune Telling; this page does not teach gunghap, does not walk a match flow, and does not promise a couple score.
Here the only question is: among the four branches on one birth chart, which classical pairs show up? A clash between your month branch and day branch is a structural note on your chart. It is not a forecast about a partner, a breakup or a fight with a named person.
If you want relationship themes on a solo chart (for example reading the day-branch position as a traditional partnership palace), that is still one chart. The soft Love reading flow is a separate solo-theme path; it is not required for learning clash and combine, and it is not a two-person match tool.
Clash pairs (육충 / 六冲)
The six clashes are opposite branches on the twelve-branch circle. If both members of a pair appear among your four pillars, readers mark a clash.
| Pair | Branches | Rough elemental tension often taught |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 子 ↔ 午 | Water ↔ Fire |
| 2 | 丑 ↔ 未 | Earth ↔ Earth |
| 3 | 寅 ↔ 申 | Wood ↔ Metal |
| 4 | 卯 ↔ 酉 | Wood ↔ Metal |
| 5 | 辰 ↔ 戌 | Earth ↔ Earth |
| 6 | 巳 ↔ 亥 | Fire ↔ Water |
How seriously a clash is taken depends on where the two branches sit (month versus day is watched closely in many schools), whether a combine softens the picture, and whether the Day Master is involved through the pillars those branches occupy. None of that collapses into "bad chart."
Six combines (육합 / 六合)
The six combines are a different pairing list. When both sides appear, readers often speak of binding, merging or a change of elemental colour — with school-specific rules for whether a combine "succeeds."
| Pair | Branches |
|---|---|
| 1 | 子 + 丑 |
| 2 | 寅 + 亥 |
| 3 | 卯 + 戌 |
| 4 | 辰 + 酉 |
| 5 | 巳 + 申 |
| 6 | 午 + 未 |
Beginners only need to spot whether a listed pair is present. The advanced questions (does the combine transform? which element wins?) vary by handbook and are easy to over-claim.
Harm and penalty labels (high level)
Beyond clash and combine, classical lists include harm (해 / 害) and penalty / punishment patterns (형 / 刑), plus other branch manners with names that sound harsher in English than they behave in careful teaching. For literacy:
- Treat them as additional pair catalogues, not as moral verdicts.
- Do not diagnose life events from a single harm label on a free chart.
- When two educational sites disagree on whether a pattern applies, note the rule each one used.
This page stops at awareness. You can list clash and combine first; add harm/penalty only when a trusted method spells out its exact list.
Worked example (solo chart)
Same sample: 10 February 2024, 12:00 → 甲辰 · 丙寅 · 甲辰 · 庚午.
Branches in order: 辰, 寅, 辰, 午.
Checklist against the tables:
- Clash: none of the six opposite pairs both appear (there is no 戌 to clash 辰, no 申 to clash 寅, no 子 to clash 午).
- Combine: none of the six combine partners of 辰 / 寅 / 午 appear in the other pillars either (for example 辰 would look for 酉; 寅 would look for 亥; 午 would look for 未).
- Repeated branch: 辰 appears twice (year and day). Repetition is not the same as clash or combine; it is simply a doubled earth branch in two positions, each still read through its pillar role.
So this sample is a clean "no clash / no six-combine" beginner chart for structure practice. That does not mean the chart is empty of meaning — stems, season and ten gods still apply — only that these particular branch-pair flags are off.
How to practice
- Generate your free chart and list the four branches.
- Scan the clash table for any complete pair.
- Scan the combine table for any complete pair.
- Note which pillars hold the pair (year–day, month–hour, and so on). Position matters more than the pair name alone in most teaching.
- Write structural notes ("month 卯 combines with day 戌") rather than life headlines ("you will marry / break up").
Saju Reading is the boundary guide for what a reading should refuse to guarantee. Free Saju Reading reminds you what the free surface includes.
What this page will not do
- No two-person compatibility steps. No gunghap walkthrough, no match product, no couple score.
- No paid cart or price talk. Structure literacy does not need a purchase path.
- No auto-arrows on the free calculator. You compare the four branches by eye.
- No fear copy. Clash is a technical pair, not a curse label.
Next step
Run the Saju calculator, list your four branches, and mark any clash or six-combine pairs from the tables. Keep the notes structural. When you want pillar-position context, return to The Four Pillars of Saju.
CTA: List your four branches with the free Saju calculator
Entertainment-only disclaimer
PillarAtlas charts and guides are for learning, self-reflection and entertainment. They are not medical, psychological, financial or legal advice, and no outcome is guaranteed.