Metal Monkey
Gēng Shēn, yang
- Stem
- 庚 metal, yang
- Branch
- 申 monkey
- 納音
- 石榴木 Pomegranate Wood
- Years
- 1920, 1980, 2040, 2100
Each listed year runs from its boundary to the next one, and it depends on the convention. Early dates in the calendar year can belong to the year before.
About this year
Metal stands on metal in 庚申: yang 庚 above 申, the Monkey. The two halves agree and no cycle acts between them. Examples are 1980 and 2040.
Pomegranate Wood is the 納音, and for once Sanming Tonghui stops to admit the contradiction. It says this pair belongs to metal by its elements and wood by its 納音, and that the name was taken through the overcoming relation.
Among woods, the handbook goes on, only the pomegranate has a pungent nature, the flavor it links to metal. Most trees are said to die at 午 while this one thrives there, a mark of its odd temperament. Here the distance between stem and label is openly discussed by the source.
Where this text comes from
The 納音 name follows the Wikisource text of 三命通會, volume 1, the only witness we found for the full set of names. The polarity of the stems and branches and the generating and overcoming cycles follow 五行大義 volume 2.
- 三命通會 卷一 (Wikisource 三命通會/卷一, SIMPLIFIED script as stored on Wikisource)
Retrieved 2026-11-09
- 五行大義 卷二 (Wikisource 五行大義/2, traditional script)
Retrieved 2026-11-09
The English here is our own plain wording, not a translation of a single source.