Branches are the positional system of ba zi: they set the month, the hour and the direction, and they carry the hidden stems and the relations between positions. This page lays out every structural fact of all twelve, each with its own page — every number here is computed by the same engine.
Open any branch for its full page: hidden stems, harmony and clash, punishment, trine and meeting, the ten-stem stage table, and the five pillars that contain it.
The same data read a few different ways shows the skeleton of the system:
| Elements | Wood 2 · Fire 2 · Earth 4 · Metal 2 · Water 2 — Earth takes four branches (the four tombs Chen, Wei, Xu, Chou); the other four elements take two each |
|---|---|
| Polarity | 6 yang, 6 yin — which is why a yang branch only ever pairs with yang stems and a yin branch with yin stems, so only 60 of the 120 stem-branch combinations exist |
| Months | the Yin branch opens the first month, then forward in order; Zi is the 11th and Chou the 12th — the month pillar changes at the solar term, not at the new moon |
| Hours | the Zi hour starts at 23:00–01:00; two hours per branch, twelve branches covering the full day |
The rule is plain: count six positions from any branch and you have its clash. The trines and meetings are fixed membership tables the same way.
In every trine, the three branches are exactly the Birth, Prosperity and Tomb positions of that element's yang stem — the trine table and the twelve-stage table corroborate each other.
The birth date alone is enough. The day branch is the second character of the day pillar — the spouse palace.
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.