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Relations · Punishment (Xing)

Punishment (Xing): every pair, derived

The punishments are the one relation that needs a hand-verified truth table (the calendar library carries none): three three-branch groups plus four self-punishing branches. This page lists all seven with names and readings.

Computed facts (engine-verified + build-time assertions)

This page is generated from engine vv0.14.0; the pairs follow convention R35 on the methodology page, and the generator refuses to render if any cross-check fails. Audit item by item.

Groups3 three-branch groups + 4 self-punishing branches
Self-punishingChen and Wu and You and Hai — the same branch twice
Why hand-verifiedthe calendar library carries no punishment table (its ZHI_XING is the 12 officers, a misleading name) — this truth table is hand-verified, independent of the library
SourcePUNISH_GROUPS + SELF_PUNISH (engine constants)

The complete table

One row per pair or group: members, nature and a one-step derivation. Nothing omitted — the table is the full set.

GroupNameReading
寅 Yin · 巳 Si · 申 ShenPunishment of Arrogancethe full trio or any pair within, read as a group by the tradition
丑 Chou · 戌 Xu · 未 WeiPunishment of Ingratitudethe full trio or any pair within, read as a group by the tradition
子 Zi · 卯 MaoPunishment of Discourtesythe full trio or any pair within, read as a group by the tradition
辰 Chen ×2 · 午 Wu ×2 · 酉 You ×2 · 亥 Hai ×2Self-punishmentthe same branch twice (Chen-Chen, Wu-Wu, You-You, Hai-Hai)

School differences (printed openly)

The weight of punishment: the tradition applies Xing more conservatively than clash or harmony — a full trio is read strongly, a bare pair lightly by some schools, and the four self-punishing branches are even dismissed from structure-reading by some. This page gives structure and names, not verdicts; the weighing belongs to a full chart.

Scan your own four pillars

Enter your birth moment (time optional). The page finds every hit of this relation among the six pairwise combinations of your four pillars.

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

Why can't the punishments be reconciled with the calendar library?
The standard library carries no punishment truth table — its ZHI_XING constant is the twelve officers (a duty-cycle system), a misleading name. This site therefore hand-verifies the table and lists it row by row, independent of the library.
How do I remember the groups?
Three trios: Yin-Si-Shen (arrogance), Chou-Xu-Wei (ingratitude), Zi-Mao (discourtesy); four self-punishing branches: Chen, Wu, You, Hai — the same branch twice. All seven are in the table; no mnemonic required.
Is punishment worse than clash?
This site does not rank severities. If anything the tradition applies punishment more conservatively: a full trio is read strongly, and some schools drop the self-punishments from structure-reading entirely. Structure and names here; the weighing belongs to a full chart.

The other seven relation pages

Heavenly Stem Combination →  ·  Heavenly Stem Clash →  ·  Six Harmony (Liu He) →  ·  Six Clash (Liu Chong) →  ·  Six Harm (Liu Hai) →  ·  Three Harmony (San He) →  ·  Half Combination (Ban He) →

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.