Cast & Chart

Ox and Monkey

These are traditional rules about the twelve signs. No chart decides a relationship.

The traditional relations

  • 無 No listed relation

    None of the classical relations apply to this pair.

What tradition says

There is a small irony in this unlisted pair. 申 is a metal branch yet belongs to the water group, while 丑 is an earth branch that 五行大義 seats in the metal group as the place metal dies. They lie five steps apart and no table we have joins them, though earth bears metal in the cycle of elements.

In popular sign books the Monkey improvises and the Ox prefers to finish what is in front of it. Popular charts are mixed on these two, and none of that comes from an older text.

Earth bearing metal suggests one person holding steady while the other does the showy work. Ask whether that is true between you and whether the holder is thanked for it. The Monkey of the popular picture may have no idea it is being carried.

No rule connects 丑 and 申, and the mixed scores of modern charts are verdicts on signs that a particular Ox and Monkey never signed up for.

Where this text comes from

The relation tables follow 五行大義 volume 2 and 三命通會 volumes 2 and 3 on Wikisource. The popular readings are modern and come from neither.

The English here is our own plain wording, not a translation of a single source.