TWELVE EARTHLY BRANCHES
Branch 9 of 12
- Yang Metal
- Monkey
- Early Autumn
- 15:00–17:00
- Zodiac animal
- Monkey
- Month
- Start of Autumn
- Hour
- 15:00–17:00
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Shen — Metal with Water Inside
A branch can open the Metal season and also be the birth corner of a Water frame. Shen does both. Its main Yang Metal is accompanied by Yang Water and Yang Earth, giving the ninth Earthly Branch an interior that is more varied than the familiar image of a hard, cutting tool.
At a glance
- Element
- Yang Metal
- Zodiac animal
- Monkey
- Hidden stems
- Yang Metal · Yang Water · Yang Earth
- Month
- Start of Autumn · 08/08–09/07
- Hour
- 15:00–17:00
- Direction
- West-southwest
- Seasonal frame
- Autumn · 申酉戌
- Three Harmony frame
- 申 · 子 · 辰 → Water
A new seasonal authority
Beginning of Autumn marks Metal's entry into seasonal command. This is a calendar transition, not a promise of cold weather on that date; summer heat can still be present.
An outlet within the structure
Metal produces Water, and Shen already contains that outlet as a hidden stem. In symbolic terms, a tool can deliver an output instead of merely holding an edge.
Movement has conditions
Shen belongs to the four branches associated with movement, alongside Tiger, Snake and Pig. Whether it actually functions as a Traveling Horse depends on another branch used as the reference.
What is hidden inside
- Yang Metal50%Primary qi · Metal
- Yang Water33%Middle qi · Water
- Yang Earth17%Residual qi · Earth
The order is Yang Metal as main qi, Yang Water as middle qi and Yang Earth as residual qi. Earth supports Metal, while Metal produces Water: the branch includes both support and an outlet. The 50/33/17 graphic is a relative weighting, not a universal elemental measurement.
Where it falls in the year and in the day
- 寅
- 卯
- 辰
- 巳
- 午
- 未
- 申
- 酉
- 戌
- 亥
- 子
- 丑
- 子
- 丑
- 寅
- 卯
- 辰
- 巳
- 午
- 未
- 申
- 酉
- 戌
- 亥
Shen covers 15:00–17:00 and the solar month from Beginning of Autumn to White Dew, roughly August 8–September 7. Use the actual solar-term instant for a birth near a boundary; an afternoon birth and an autumn birth occupy different pillar fields.
申 and the other eleven
Snake–Monkey Six Harmony is assigned to Water. This same pair is also linked by punishment in the relation table; closeness and tension are not mutually exclusive, and neither proves transformation.
- 申 · 巳Water
申 in each of the four pillars
Year branch
The year position supplies background and one possible reference for Traveling Horse calculation. Being born in a Monkey year does not, on its own, establish that a person will travel or emigrate.
Month branch
At the month position, autumn Metal has seasonal support. Yang Water inside Shen creates a potential outlet, but whether that outlet is useful depends on the Day Master, visible stems and the rest of the chart.
Day branch — spouse palace
A day branch of Shen puts Yang Metal, Yang Water and Yang Earth in the spouse palace. For a Yang Wood Day Master these are Seven Killings, Indirect Resource and Indirect Wealth; another Day Master changes all three roles.
Hour branch
In the hour position, Shen describes the chart's later-life and long-term-output layer. It is not evidence of Metal season: only the month branch establishes that seasonal context.
The five 申 day pillars
Each stem that can sit on this branch makes a different pillar. Open one for the full profile.
- Yang Wood MonkeyYang Wood faces Yang Metal as Seven Killings, but hidden Yang Water also offers Indirect Resource. The pillar contains more than the image of Metal cutting Wood.
- Yang Fire MonkeyYang Fire meets Yang Metal as Indirect Wealth and Yang Water as Seven Killings; hidden Yang Earth adds Eating God. These roles identify a structure, not guaranteed financial success.
- Yang Earth MonkeyYang Earth's main outlet here is Yang Metal as Eating God. Yang Water is Indirect Wealth and the residual Yang Earth is Companion.
- Yang Metal MonkeyYang Metal sits on its own main root, with Yang Water as Eating God and Yang Earth as Indirect Resource. Strong rooting still needs the full seasonal context.
- Yang Water MonkeyYang Water finds a same-stem root inside Shen and receives Metal support. Yang Metal is Indirect Resource; Yang Earth remains Seven Killings.
A classical note
Shen means that Yin takes command and begins to diminish living things; hence the name Shen.
Records of the Grand Historian, Treatise on Pitch Pipes
The forceful wording describes autumn's reduction of summer growth in an ancient seasonal account. It is not a moral judgment on Monkey-born people. Branch polarity remains Yang Metal even though the annual cycle is entering its Yin-dominant half.
Frequently asked questions
Why can Yang Metal contain Water?
A branch's main element and its hidden stems are different levels of description. Shen has Yang Metal as main qi and also contains Yang Water and Yang Earth.
Is Shen always a Traveling Horse?
No. In the standard grouping, Shen is the Traveling Horse for a reference branch in the Tiger–Horse–Dog group. The reference is commonly taken from the year or day branch, depending on the method; record which is being used.
Are Snake and Monkey harmonious or in punishment?
Both relationships appear in the table. Their Six Harmony does not erase punishment, and punishment does not remove the combination. Positions, season and the other branches decide how to interpret the overlap.
Is Monkey hour the same as Monkey month?
No. The hour covers 15:00–17:00; the month runs from Beginning of Autumn to White Dew. An hour branch does not give Metal the seasonal authority of a month branch.
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