Strength and interactions
Three Harmonies frame (San He Ju)
By Vi Nhật Sơn · Updated
Tam hợp cục
Three Harmonies frame (San He Ju) — what is it? Three Harmonies frame: branches appearing under particular conditions form one group — Hai Mao Wei Wood, Yin Wu Xu Fire, Si You Chou Metal, Shen Zi Chen Water.
As a concept, the Three Harmonies frame refers to the case where branches appear under particular conditions to form one group, the groups being:
Water frame
Shen – Zi – Chen
Wood frame
Hai – Mao – Wei
Fire frame
Yin – Wu – Xu
Metal frame
Si – You – Chou
Earth alone has no frame.
The conditions for forming a frame
As to the frame, when the branches appear in full under particular conditions, the branches within the frame are counted by the element of the frame. For example: if a hexagram has the lines Yin, Wu and Xu in full under particular conditions, those lines are counted as combining into a Fire frame; then we do not count the Yin line as Wood, the Wu line as Fire and the Xu line as Earth separately, but all of them combine into a Fire frame, and then only the element Fire is counted as moving, not the lines separately.
The particular cases of forming a frame are:
- Three moving lines combining into a frame
- Two moving lines together with the Day or the Month combining into a frame
- A moving line together with the Day and the Month combining into a frame
- A moving line together with the changed line combining into a frame
- A moving line together with the changed line and with the Day or the Month combining into a frame
The frame is in fact a notion hard to grasp whole at the first go, and also a trap of greed for knowledge. So the first requirement for a frame to come about is:
- A moving line
- At least two branches (in the case where 2 branches appear, if the Day and the Month are one of the two it does not count)
This is called the case of a complete frame. Note that cases that are not moving, the Self line included, are not counted within a frame at all. This means there is no such thing as an "illusory frame" with still lines. Besides, if the hexagram has a surplus branch (except the case of lines 1 to 3 all moving, or 4 to 6 all moving, in most hexagrams other than those with the Qian and Kan palaces in the upper or lower trigram, or where the Day or the Month is the branch), it does not count as forming a frame but counts as ordinary moving lines. In this case, if none of the branches within the frame is Void or in Break, and the Target line lies within the frame, the timing will be at the moment the Peak branch of the frame is clashed. For example: on a Ding Mao day, in the Zi month:
| Parents | Wei Earth | Resp. | ||||
| Siblings | You Metal | |||||
| Offspring | Hai Water | |||||
| Siblings | Shen Metal | Self | ○ | Parents · Chen Earth | ||
| Officer line | Wu Fire | |||||
| Parents | Chen Earth | × | Offspring · Zi Water |
The Parents line at Chen Earth, together with Siblings at Shen Metal and Offspring at Zi Water, makes the three branches Shen, Zi and Chen in full and combines into a Water frame.
Supposing Parents is the Target line, then in this hexagram the timing of Parents will be at Wu, because Wu clashes away the Peak branch of the frame, that is, Zi Water.
A frame with a Void or Break line
In cases where a line within the frame is Void or in Break, the moment of timing of the frame, or of the lines within the frame, will be the moment of timing of the line that is Void or in Break. For example: on a Yi Mao day, in the Zi month, with the same hexagram Influence (Xian) changing into Following (Sui) above. This case is as above, except that the Offspring line is Void, so the timing of the Water frame, or of any other branch in the frame taken as the Target line, is all at Zi Water or Wu Fire, that is, the filling or the clash of the Void Zi Water line.
With a frame, once the conditions for forming a frame appear in full, the lines making up the frame are not counted separately but are passed over, and only the element of the frame is counted as acting on the other lines of the hexagram, with a function in its nature like that of a single Prosperous moving line. For example with the hexagram Influence above, we do not count how the Parents line at Chen Earth acts on the other lines, but count only that this is a Water frame; this Water is Prosperous by default and will act on the other lines of the hexagram.
An incomplete frame
The cases of an incomplete frame are:
- Two moving lines lying within one frame, where neither of these two lines changes into control, changes into the Tomb (except the case of Zi moving and changing into Chen), or is Void or in Month Break.
- A moving line and a changed line lying within one frame, where neither line is Void or in Break
With an incomplete frame, the timing will be:
- In the case where the missing branch is not present in the hexagram as a still line, it will answer at the missing branch. For example: Yin moves and Wu moves, and the hexagram has no still Xu line, so the moment of timing will be at Xu (according to the scale of the matter, this Xu may be an hour, a day, a month or a year)
- In the case where the missing branch is present in the hexagram as a still line, it will answer at the moment that clashes that still line, or at the moment of that still line's own branch. In the same case as above, if Xu appears in the hexagram and is still, the moment of timing will be at Chen or at Xu.
As to information
As to information, a frame signals a group, an organisation, a body — generally speaking, many links joined together.
- If the frame generates the Self line, there is a group of people helping one
- Likewise, the frame generating the Target line means there is a group of people helping the matter one is concerned with
- The frame controlling the Self line reports many people joining into one block who mean to harm one; this is the opposite of the Opposing line moving and changing into generation. The frame reports many people, while a line changing into generation reports only two.
- The same with the frame controlling the Target line: many people mean to harm one
- The same with the cases of the Draining line and the Hostile line
- If the Self line lies within the frame, one is oneself within some group of people bearing on the event of concern; what its character is still depends on the relation of the Self line to the lines within the frame. For example: the Self line generating the frame means one is worn out, spending oneself on the common body; and from that one adapts to the other cases. If this frame controls the Target line, one will certainly be carried along by it and drawn away, and the matter being aimed at is spoilt.
Besides, if the changed line of the Self line is the Opposing line, and another line also controls the Self line, then the matter is certainly dangerous to life. For example:
| Offspring | You Metal | |||||
| Wealth | Hai Water | |||||
| Siblings | Chou Earth | Resp. | ||||
| Siblings | Chen Earth | × | Offspring · Shen Metal | |||
| Officer line | Yin Wood | |||||
| Wealth | Zi Water | Self | ○ | Siblings · Chen Earth |
Likewise, if the changed line of the Target line and another line also control the Self line, the matter is spoilt in the same way — for example the same hexagram Return (Fu) changing into Modesty (Qian) above.
This case is likewise with the Target line or the Self line changing into the Tomb with the Tomb at a moving line: it will certainly be spoilt; the Self line means oneself spoilt and the Target line means the other person spoilt.
- In the case where a line within the frame is Void, it means the action has not yet happened
- If a line within the frame is in Month Break, then people's hearts are certainly not looking the same way, and the cause will come from the line in Month Break; but at the moment of that Break line's own branch or combination, everything will be all right
When the Target line or the Self line lies within the frame
In a hexagram with a Three Harmonies frame, the reading differs from an ordinary hexagram if the Target line or the Self line lies within the frame. Then we add one further step: we judge the final result of the chain of moving lines together with the Target line and the Self line themselves, instead of passing the Target line and the Self line over. The Target line and the Self line are then still acted on by this result and by the changed line. For example: the hexagram Fellowship (Tong Ren) moving at lines 1 and 3, reading Parents. Line 1, Parents at Mao Wood, changes into Wei Earth, and together with line 3 at Hai Water moving they combine into a Wood frame. We then count Parents as entering the Tomb at the changed line of line 1 (Wood is in the Tomb at Wei), and not the Wood frame as entering the Tomb. This is so as to count that the Wood frame still acts on the other lines like an ordinary moving line without having to wait for the moment the Tomb is clashed; however, the Target line, Parents, has entered the Tomb, so the timing of Parents is the moment the Tomb is clashed, that is, Chou.
| Offspring | Xu Earth | Resp. | ||||
| Wealth | Shen Metal | |||||
| Siblings | Wu Fire | |||||
| Officer line | Hai Water | Self | ○ | Parents · Mao Wood | ||
| Offspring | Chou Earth | |||||
| Parents | Mao Wood | ○ | Offspring · Wei Earth |
And what about the case where the hexagram has a frame missing a branch, or a branch within the frame that is Void or in Month Break? Then, before the special moment of timing of the frame, the remaining lines within the frame are also read as lost. If the Target line or the Self line lies within the frame in this case, it is read as temporarily lost, and the timing will go along with the moment the frame appears in full. If the Opposing line sits on the Self line and lies within this incomplete frame, we judge that if the Target line is Prosperous the matter still succeeds, because the Opposing line on the Self line has for the time being been lost — as in the case of the Opposing line being Void or entering the Tomb.
The characteristics of a frame
To understand the Three Harmonies frame better: when a Three Harmonies frame, or frame for short, appears in a hexagram, the branches within the frame are at the same time counted together as one group with the element of the frame as its chief representative, and we name the frame by the element and the Six Relation of the frame — for example a Fire frame, or an Offspring frame, that is a frame combining into Offspring. That frame then acts on the other lines of the hexagram with the nature of this representative element, and the other lines of the hexagram are not counted. Besides, we take this frame as Prosperous by default, because a frame always contains a Birth. We do not divide frames into strong and weak; that is entirely meaningless. Prosperous is Prosperous; there is no such thing as strongly Prosperous or weakly Prosperous. We consider the separate lines within the frame only when those lines are the Target line or the Self line; otherwise we do not consider them. Besides, there is no Earth frame.
The action of a frame has the character of an element acting and not of a branch acting, and this gives rise to the characteristics of a frame:
- A frame is not subject to a clash from the Day, from a moving line, or from another changed line
- A frame is not subject to combination
- Two frames only control each other; they do not clash each other.
A frame missing a branch, and the timing of a frame
In the cases of a frame missing a branch, that is, where only two lines of the frame move, or where a moving line and a changed line lie within the frame, we need to note the following most carefully:
In the case of a frame missing a branch, if one of the two branches is spoilt, then we no longer count a frame at all, but drop the spoilt branch and keep the remaining one.
As to the timing of a frame — this is important, so note it — in the situation where we need the timing of a branch within the frame, and that branch is not in the Tomb and does not change into control, that is, no special point exists, we take the moment of timing at the branch that clashes the Peak branch. And in all other cases, such as a frame with a Void line, even if that line is the changed line of another moving line, the moment of timing of the line lies at the moment of the filling of the line with the problem. For example:
| Officer line | Si Fire | |||||
| Parents | Wei Earth | |||||
| Siblings | You Metal | Self | ||||
| Wealth | Mao Wood | |||||
| Officer line | Si Fire | × | Parents · Chen Earth | |||
| Parents | Wei Earth | Resp. |
On a Yi Mao day, in the Wei month, asking about money: in this hexagram we have the Self line in Hidden movement, joining with the moving Si Fire line to make a Three Harmonies frame missing the branch Chou; so in principle we wait for Chou to appear and the Three Harmonies to be made. In this case the lines within the frame are for the time being not counted as moving, and the timing of the moving lines within the frame is all counted together at this point of filling in, that is, Chou. So with this hexagram, the person asking is concerned about money, that is, Wealth is the Target line, and we have Wealth clashing the Self line, meaning money coming unexpectedly; but at present the Self line lies within an incomplete frame, so one has to wait for the missing branch Chou for the frame to be made real, which is also the making real of the Self line, and then there is money. Besides, we have the rule of a frame that everything is counted as one element and counted like a Prosperous moving line, after which we take the result of the chain of interaction of that cluster referred to the Self line and the Target line; and there is also the action of the changed line on the moving line it came from, in the case where that moving line is the Self line or the Target line.
So in this case, do we count Si Fire as controlling the Self line at You Metal? It cannot control it, because to control a line within the frame there is only the changed line, and not another moving line within the frame.
And can this Metal frame, which is a Siblings frame, control Wealth? The answer is no, because this situation is like the case of the Opposing line sitting on the Self line and moving, which does not count as controlling the Target line; this case is read as a special case in the Yi.
For the case of Three Harmonies missing a branch, before this branch appears at the Day or the Month, or before the branch present in the hexagram is clashed, the lines within the Three Harmonies are read as standing still, and then the interactions of other moving lines with the moving lines within the frame do not happen either.
With the example above, supposing the hexagram had a Chou line, then the appearance of the branch in full would include not only the Day and the Month but also the moment of the clash of the branch missing from the frame, which here is Wei. So the question arises: is it only the clash, or does the own branch count too? Clash or own branch, both are usable; whichever is nearer is taken.
Dividing the stages by the mark of the frame
So in the case of continuous events, or of events happening once in the future at a determined moment, how do we divide the stretches? Then the first thing is to find the mark of timing of the missing branch, and to divide into the following 4 cases:
Case 1: the Self line and the Target line lie outside the frame
Then the moment the frame appears is the mark; before this moment we read the hexagram as one without a frame and without the other lines in the frame. Remember the rule: if the frame is missing a branch, then before the moment of filling in the branch we do not count those lines as moving, and the moving lines will be counted together by the element of the frame when the missing branch appears. We then divide into two stages — stage 1: no frame; stage 2: frame. The result of the matter is then also divided into 2 stages (for a continuous event), or the result depends on which stage the mark of time of the event falls in, and the result goes with that stage.
Example:
| Officer line | Yin Wood | |||||
| Wealth | Zi Water | Resp. | ||||
| Siblings | Xu Earth | |||||
| Siblings | Chen Earth | ○ | Parents · Wu Fire | |||
| Officer line | Yin Wood | Self | ||||
| Wealth | Zi Water | ○ | Officer line · Yin Wood |
Following the formula of Theory number 8, if the Zi Water line is Resting or below then this moving line counts as lost, and this situation is not read as a frame missing a branch, but only as a hexagram with an ordinary moving Chen Earth line. We read it the same way in the following situations as well:
- A Resting line in the Tomb or at Extinction
- A line changing into control
- A line that is Void or in Month Break, or changes into Void or Month Break.
- A Resting line changing into control or into combination, such as Zi changing into Chou
This case is counted in the situation where only two branches of the group forming the frame appear; where all 3 branches are complete in the hexagram we do not count it that way. We understand it thus: for one missing, the two remaining factors have to be perfect; if one of the two is spoilt then no frame is formed, and the remaining part is kept. The situation of a moving line changing into a changed line is the same. If the Resting line is drained, or the moving line is Void or in Break, or the changed line is Void or in Break, no frame is formed either, and it counts only as a hexagram with an ordinary moving line and changed line, as in all other cases.
We have seen that punishment combines with the Flying line; so does this happen with Three Harmonies? The answer is no, because a Hidden line still counts only as a still line, and a still line does not take part in the interaction that forms a frame.
Back to the example above: supposing Zi and Chen are Prosperous, meaning the Water frame lacks only the branch Shen, we take Shen as the mark; so in this situation we judge the following two stages with Shen as the mark:
- In the stage before Shen appears, supposing we are reading a career, with the Officer line as the Target line, then this Officer line, however Prosperous, is unusable. Why? Because the Source line of the Officer line moves, but for want of a branch it becomes unmoving; and with a hexagram, if the Source line moves but is spoilt (Weak, changing into control, entering the Tomb, combined), or if the Source line moves but is for the time being not counted (Void, Month Break, changing into Void, changing into Break, a branch missing in the frame), then this Target line is read as spoilt. In this situation the Source line lacks a branch to become a Source frame generating the Target line, so in this stage the Target line is spoilt
- Stage two: from Shen onwards. In this stage we have a Source frame generating the Self line, and from here we read it as we would a moving Source line in an ordinary hexagram, with this Source line Prosperous by default
So this event will be divided into two stages with Shen as the frame of reference, and from that we divide it as we would the two stages of the Tomb. For an event happening once without a determined time, this Shen is the timing of the event; note that in this situation we cannot divide the stages and intervene, but must accept by default the result of this event, with the ordinary way of behaving corresponding to the nature of the Target line and the Self line at the end.
These special timing points are extremely important in events with a determined time, or in continuous events that have not yet begun. With continuous events that have not yet begun, we can choose the moment of opening to correspond with the special timing point in order to achieve the greatest effect. If we cannot choose this point, we are obliged to choose a point in the later stretch of the two stages, because continuous events are matters determined to run on in time, so by default the Target line and the Self line must be perfect before one begins; avoid haste, or one will regret it later.
Case 2: the Target line lies within the frame
Then, by the formula above, before the moment the branches are complete this Target line is read as unmoving. This unmoving state is like the special situations of the two stages of Void, Month Break or entering the Tomb: there, for events happening once at a determined time, in the first stage before the moment of filling in the branch, the nature of the Target line is reversed. But one note in this situation: supposing the Target line is the element of the frame, then by default after the filling in of the branch this Target line is Prosperous, so in this case, before the moment of filling in the branch, we read the Target line as Weak, which amounts to failure. And what if the final result of the frame is failure, as in this example:
| Siblings | Wei Earth | × | Siblings · Xu Earth | |||
| Offspring | You Metal | Self | ||||
| Wealth | Hai Water | |||||
| Siblings | Chen Earth | ○ | Parents · Wu Fire | |||
| Officer line | Yin Wood | Resp. | ||||
| Wealth | Zi Water | ○ | Officer line · Yin Wood |
There are two questions with this hexagram. If all the moving lines and changed lines are in a perfect state, that is, strong enough to make up a frame, then:
- For the situation of an event happening once without a determined moment, what do we conclude about Wealth, and when? For hexagrams without a determined time, we confirm by default that the frame exists — in this situation a Water frame — and then Siblings changing into Advancing controls the frame, and the frame is lost. Supposing the question is about money, with Wealth as the Target line, then Siblings changing into Advancing controls away the Target line, and the matter is spoilt. Once the result of the event is determined, we have the moment of timing coinciding with the moment the remaining branch of the frame appears. Here the conclusion is that money will be lost at the moment of Shen Metal
- So then, for the situation of an event happening once at a determined time, or of continuous events, what are the results of the two stages, before Shen
and from Shen? This case is like the case of a moving line controlling a still Void line: both are a change of nature with the mark of time at the special
timing of the state in question, and then we read it as follows:
- Step 1: read the hexagram as usual; in the case of a line that is at present still because it is acted on by a state, we suppose this line appears straight away and then work out the result of this hexagram. With the example above, we read it as in the situation of an event happening once, given above.
- Step 2: find the special mark of timing. In this case it is Shen, for the filling of the Water frame. Then we divide the event into two stages. Stage 1, that is, before the special point of timing, where the result will be the opposite of the final result. Stage 2 corresponds to the special point of timing onwards, where the result will coincide with the final result
Cases 3 and 4: the Self line lies within the frame
With the third situation, the Self line lies within an incomplete frame; this case is like the one above. But taking the two cases together there is one note: the Self line and the Target line are still acted on by the changed line within the frame, and by the final result of the chain of action of the moving lines on one another. So with the case of Three Harmonies we shall find it harder than in other cases to reach a final conclusion, since it is more complex. The stages are still divided as above.
With the fourth situation, the Self line and the Target line both lie within the frame — in fact it is still like the two cases above; just remember to divide the stages.
Three Harmonies complete in branches but with two spoilt lines
With the case of two lines within a frame missing a branch we count as above; but what about the case of Three Harmonies complete in branches where two of the lines within the Three Harmonies are spoilt — for example one Void and one in Month Break? Is there still a frame? The answer is yes. The different cases within a frame are as fine-grained as this, differing bit by bit. In this case we do not take the nearest point, but choose the further of the two nearest points standing for the two states. To make it clearer, let us go through an example:
| Wealth | Zi Water | Resp. | ||||
| Siblings | Xu Earth | |||||
| Offspring | Shen Metal | |||||
| Officer line | Mao Wood | Self | × | Wealth · Hai Water | ||
| Parents | Si Fire | |||||
| Siblings | Wei Earth | × | Officer line · Mao Wood |
Read on a Gui Si day, in the You month, we have Wei Earth Void and Mao Wood in Month Break. Supposing we take the Day as the frame of reference, we have two points of timing for the Void line, Wei and Chou, and for Month Break, Mao and Xu. We then have this order:
- The nearest timing of each group of states
- The further of the two nearest points within the separate groups of states is chosen as the mark
So in this case, the nearest timing from the present is Wei Earth, and then Xu Earth; so what stands for the state of Void is Wei Earth, and then Xu Earth for Month Break; so among the nearest timings, Month Break is the further. We then take the state of Month Break as the standard, and take the nearest point of Month Break, Xu, as the frame of reference. So in this case we take the timing at Xu as the frame of reference for the situation of an event with a determined time and for continuous events, and it is the mark of timing for an event without a determined time, still by the rule that the result is reversed before the timing. This is a little difficult, so read it carefully.
The Tomb within a frame
As for the Tomb in particular: if the Target line and the Self line lie within a frame and the changed line is the Tomb, with another moving line also being the Tomb, then this still counts as entering the Tomb twice over and still counts as spoilt, as usual. For example the hexagram Return (Fu) changing into Modesty (Qian) above: if Chen Earth has no problem and Shen Metal likewise, then this Self line still counts as entering the Tomb twice over, and then the character and the result are as with entering the Tomb twice over in other situations.
The same with the Target line: we count it in the same way. The point to note here is that if the frame generates the Target line or the Self line, then we come back to the character of a line entering the Tomb twice over that is generated by a moving line, and then the timing of getting out is at the moment the Tomb is clashed.
Near and distant timing, and the information of a frame
Timing has only 2 forms: near and distant. Most often the near timing is taken; only where two points with a problem appear do we choose the further of the two nearest points standing for the two states.
As to information, a frame signals the coming together of a group heading towards one aim, and that aim is represented by the element of the frame. Then all the factors within the frame are not counted, and only the element of the frame is counted. The information conveyed is then that a group will act on us; and whether that action is good or bad comes back to the story of the moving line — because in fact, in its nature, the Three Harmonies frame and a moving line act on the lines by nearly the same mechanism, differing only in the information, and in that the nature of a Three Harmonies frame is always Prosperous by default.
See also
- Combination and clash of lines, Three Punishments (San Xing)
- Moving line, Several moving lines — frames in a hexagram with several moving lines
- Void, Month Break, Tomb
- Timing, Life stages