Saju Compatibility Beyond Day Masters: The Six Branch Relations (Hap, Chung, Hyeong, Pa-Hae)
"Are our day masters compatible?" is only half the story. A quarter of a compatibility score comes from how the two day branches relate — one of six patterns: yukhap, samhap, banghap, chong, hyeong, or pa-hae. Five real pairs, engine-verified.
Ask about compatibility and the first question is almost always "are our day masters compatible?" The day master post covered generating and controlling cycles, but that's only 25% of a compatibility score. Another 25% comes from the day branches — the earthly branch of each person's birth day — and how those two branches relate to each other.
That relationship isn't one thing. It's one of six patterns, roughly ranked from most favorable to most abrasive: yukhap (六合) > samhap (三合) > banghap (方合) > pa-hae (破害) > hyeong (刑) > chong (沖). But reading that order as simply "good to bad" misses the point. Each relation produces a different texture of connection, not just a different score.
Pulling all six from real charts
Running real birth date pairs through the saju engine surfaces all six relations directly. (All computed with true solar time, Asia/Seoul.)
Yukhap (六合) — 卯+戌, score 0.83
A person born 1991-02-14 20:00 (day branch 卯, Rabbit) paired with one born 1985-03-12 14:00 (day branch 戌, Dog). 卯 and 戌 form a yukhap pair, scoring the highest of the six branch relations (0.83) and landing an overall compatibility score of 80 (Magnetic Match). Tradition calls yukhap "secret magnetism" for a reason — it's a bond that completes with exactly two branches, no third element required, the kind that can look unremarkable from the outside while pulling unusually hard between the two people involved.
Samhap (三合) — 戌+寅, score 0.9
戌 (from the pair above) paired with 寅 (Tiger) from a 1965-11-20 22:00 birth. 戌 and 寅 both belong to the 寅午戌 samhap group (a shared elemental triad), scoring even higher than yukhap at 0.9, with an overall score of 78. Samhap reads as "same team energy" — less a magnetic pull between two people and more a natural alignment toward the same goal. Pairs that click unusually well as business partners or collaborators, more than as romantic matches, often show this pattern.
Banghap (方合) — 辰+寅, score 0.75
A 1990-05-15 (辰, Dragon) pairing with the same 1965-11-20 (寅, Tiger) birth. 辰 and 寅 share the 寅卯辰 banghap group (a seasonal cluster), scoring 0.75 with an overall score of 80. Banghap is weaker than samhap or yukhap, but "homeground comfort" describes it well — not a dramatic pull, just an oddly easy sense of ease being around each other. In this pair, other axes (elemental generation) carried more of the overall score; banghap itself doesn't stand out, but it steadies a chart that's already doing well elsewhere.
Chong (沖) — 辰+戌, score 0.18
1990-05-15 (辰) and 1985-03-12 (戌) — a direct clash, the lowest of the six relations at 0.18, dropping the overall score to 47 (Growth Partners). Looking at this pair's year branches too reveals something worth noting: 午 and 丑 form a separate pa-hae relation, meaning both branch axes (day and year) land on friction patterns for this couple. Chong means exactly what it sounds like — opposites that collide, a relationship where each person keeps stirring the other one up, rather than settling into calm. Not necessarily bad, but far from restful.
Hyeong (刑) — 巳+寅, score 0.35
1978-04-01 06:00 (巳, Snake) and 1965-11-20 (寅, Tiger). 巳寅 is one of the three punishment (三刑) combinations, scoring 0.35 — but this same pair's year branches (午 and 巳) fall into a banghap relation, lifting the overall score to 66 (Slow-Burn Chemistry). Hyeong is a sharper, recurring friction rather than a full collision. Tradition calls it "growth through friction" for a reason: the friction repeats, but instead of always scraping the same spot, it often files down rough edges on both sides over time.
The six relations at a glance
| Relation | Example branches | Score | Nickname | Texture |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yukhap (六合) | 卯戌 | 1.0 | Secret Magnetism | A pull unique to just the two of you |
| Samhap (三合) | 戌寅 (with 午) | 0.9 | Same Team Energy | Natural alignment toward shared goals |
| Banghap (方合) | 辰寅 (seasonal 卯 group) | 0.75 | Homeground Comfort | Easy, but not dramatic |
| Pa-hae (破害) | 子酉 / 子未, etc. | 0.3 | Push and Pull | Ongoing tug-of-war tension |
| Hyeong (刑) | 巳寅 | 0.25 | Growth Through Friction | Repeated friction that can sharpen both people |
| Chong (沖) | 辰戌 | 0.15 | Opposites Collide | Direct, restless stimulation |
Why the day branch alone isn't the whole picture
Here's the part that's easy to miss: the table above is all day branch relations, but the saju engine separately computes the year branch relation and factors it in too. In the real examples above, the chong pair's year branches also landed on pa-hae — a double dose of friction — while the hyeong pair's year branches landed on banghap, actually cushioning the sharper day-branch friction. One rough axis doesn't ruin the whole reading, and one smooth axis doesn't guarantee it either. A full compatibility score adds up five axes — elemental generation (30%), day master relation (25%), day branch relation (25%), ten gods (15%), and star matches (5%) — and only the sum tells the real story.
And to be clear: a chong or hyeong relation doesn't mean "break up." Charts with friction on this axis and strength elsewhere show up as long, stable pairings often enough in the engine's outputs. Branch relations describe texture, not a verdict.
This is entertainment content and does not predict the outcome of any relationship. No single chart element determines whether a relationship works.
Related: Saju Day Master Compatibility: Generating and Controlling Cycles