Cast & Chart

Tiger and Monkey

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

The traditional relations

  • 六沖 Six Clashes

    Two branches that sit opposite each other on the circle of twelve.

  • 三刑 Three Punishments

    Two branches from a punishment group in the old tables. The name is a label, not a forecast.

What tradition says

寅 and 申 stand opposite, east and west, and so are one of 六沖, the Six Clashes. They are also linked in 三刑, the Three Punishments, where 申 is said to punish 寅 as part of a loop with 巳. 三命通會 treats clashes as broadly unlucky, yet when it takes 壬申 and 庚寅 as its example of one side overcoming the other, metal cutting wood, its comment is rather flattering and speaks of fine looks and free bearing.

Popular zodiac books see two competitors here, the forceful Tiger and the wily Monkey. They often say each wants to win and neither likes losing to a trick. This is the modern layer speaking, with the opposition on the circle as its only link to older ideas.

The punishing arrow points from Monkey to Tiger, which gives you something specific to test. If the popular picture of a teasing Monkey fits at all, does the teasing travel mostly one way between you, and does it stop at the right moment? Talk about a joke that went a step too far and what would have made it land better.

Opposite seats and a one-way arrow are all the rule has to say about 寅 and 申, and a given Tiger or Monkey lies beyond it.

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.