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Branch 5 of 12 · Chen (Dragon)

The Dragon branch (辰) — Yang Earth, Southeast, 07:00–09:00

The Dragon branch is number 5 of the twelve: yang Earth, the animal Dragon, the 3rd month (beginning at Clear and Bright), the hour 07:00–09:00, direction Southeast, season Spring. Below are the structural facts — hidden stems, six-harmony, clash, harm, punishment, trine and meeting — plus which of the twelve stages each of the ten stems occupies on this branch. All of it is computed and checkable; none of it is a personality verdict.

Computed facts (engine-verified)

This page is generated from the engine v0.14.0, not hand-written; structural facts reconcile against the methodology page.

Branch Chen (Dragon) · position 5 of 12
Polarityyang (odd position — consistent with the stem pairs in the sixty-cycle)
ElementEarth 土
AnimalDragon 龙
Month3rd month · begins at Clear and Bright (清明)
Hour07:00–09:00
DirectionSoutheast (东南)
SeasonSpring
Hidden stems Wu Yang Earth (main, Earth); Yi Yin Wood (middle, Wood); Gui Yin Water (residual, Water)

How this branch relates to the others

Branch relations are fixed tables — combination, clash, harm, punishment, trine and meeting each have a defined membership. This site computes them from those tables and does not add the popular "once combined, everything improves" clause.

Six harmony You (Rooster) — combines into Metal
Six clash Xu (Dog)
Six harm Mao (Rabbit)
PunishmentSelf-punishment (one of Chen, Wu, You, Hai)
Three harmonyWater trine: Shen (Monkey) Zi (Rat) Chen (Dragon)
MeetingEast Wood meeting: Yin (Tiger) Mao (Rabbit) Chen (Dragon)

Where the ten stems stand on this branch

The twelve stages describe how strong a stem is on a given branch. Yang stems run forward, yin stems run backward, so each of the ten stems lands on exactly one stage per branch. The ten rows below are computed; the stage names link to their full definitions.

StemStage on this branchPosition
Jia Yang Wood (yang Wood)Decline6 of 12
Yi Yin Wood (yin Wood)Attiring3 of 12
Bing Yang Fire (yang Fire)Attiring3 of 12
Ding Yin Fire (yin Fire)Decline6 of 12
Wu Yang Earth (yang Earth)Attiring3 of 12
Ji Yin Earth (yin Earth)Decline6 of 12
Geng Yang Metal (yang Metal)Nourishment12 of 12
Xin Yin Metal (yin Metal)Tomb9 of 12
Ren Yang Water (yang Water)Tomb9 of 12
Gui Yin Water (yin Water)Nourishment12 of 12

The five pillars containing this branch

Each branch appears in five of the sixty pillars (a yang branch only pairs with yang stems, a yin branch only with yin stems). Every pillar has its own page:

Wu Chen · Geng Chen · Ren Chen · Jia Chen · Bing Chen

A note on what this page deliberately does not do: the popular versions of this material assign a fixed personality to each term — one character per branch, one destiny per stage. This site rejects that framing. What is published here is a structural position: which element sits where, on what kind of ground, with which tenants inside. The same term reads differently under a different month command, and no meaningful judgement exists without the other characters of the chart. Where the tradition offers a reading it is labelled as the tradition's; this site's own contribution is that every number and term on this page is computed, versioned and checkable against the methodology page.

Frequently asked

What is the Dragon branch?
It is number 5 of the twelve branches: yang Earth, the animal Dragon, the 3rd month (beginning at Clear and Bright), the hour 07:00–09:00, direction Southeast. Its hidden stems are Wu + Yi + Gui.
Which hours belong to the Dragon hour?
The Dragon hour covers 07:00–09:00. This site treats the hour as a two-hour block and publishes both conventions for the 23:00 day change (the mainstream Zi Ping rule that rolls to the next day, and the midnight rule) — see the methodology page.
Which branches combine with or clash with Dragon?
Six harmony: You (Rooster) (combining into Metal). Clash: Xu (Dog). Harm: Mao (Rabbit). Trine: Shen (Monkey), Zi (Rat), Chen (Dragon). Meeting: Yin (Tiger), Mao (Rabbit), Chen (Dragon). These are fixed table relations and every one of them is checkable on this page.
Is the Dragon branch good or bad?
A single branch is neither. Dragon is a structural position: its element, its hidden stems and its relations to the other branches only mean something inside a whole chart. Any source that grades an individual branch as lucky or unlucky is claiming more than the system itself does.

Nearby branches

Mao (Rabbit) ←  ·  → Si (Snake)

Reference index

Every enumerable component of ba zi has its own page here. Each page is computed by the same engine and can be checked item by item — none of it is a personality table.