Learn / The Twelve Branches
The Pig 亥 in BaZi
Nature
The Pig (亥) is a Yin Water branch, and it carries the soft, gathering quality of water at the start of winter. Its month runs from about 8 November to about 7 December, the month that opens winter, when the year turns inward and the days grow short. Its two hours are 21:00 to 23:00, the quiet time when households settle, lights dim, and the day hands itself over to rest.
In BaZi, the Pig is like a still pond at dusk, deep enough to hold a great deal without showing it. It has a receptive, unhurried presence, more about absorbing than asserting. Where other branches push or announce themselves, the Pig tends to wait, watch, and let things surface in their own time. This makes it a branch that can carry patience and a certain inner richness, like a field resting under frost, storing what it will need later.
The Pig is also the branch that opens winter, so it carries a sense of beginning beneath a quiet surface. It is not flashy, but it is fertile in its own way, holding moisture and the promise of growth once the season turns. In a chart, it often colours a person with a calm exterior and a private, thoughtful inner life, someone who may seem easygoing but who holds strong currents underneath.
As with every branch, the whole chart decides what the Pig actually does for a person. Its water can nourish wood, cool a fire, or soften a dry chart, depending on what surrounds it. The pig branch in bazi is never a fixed promise, only a tone that the rest of the chart tunes.
Hidden stems
The Pig hides two stems within it 藏干, and they appear in this order: 壬 Yang Water, then 甲 Yang Wood. The first, 壬 Yang Water, is its main energy. This is the deep, moving water of rivers and winter rains, the kind that flows steadily and finds its own path. It gives the Pig its core character, a quiet but persistent force that does not easily dry up.
The second hidden stem, 甲 Yang Wood, is like a tall tree rooted by the water's edge. It adds a quality of growth and uprightness to the Pig, a tendency to support things that need to sprout. In a chart, this wood can come alive when the Pig meets fire or earth, turning the branch's stillness into something that can reach upward.
Together, these two stems make the Pig a branch of preparation. The water stores, and the wood waits for the right season to grow. This is why the Pig often feels like a patient presence, holding resources and possibilities that may not be visible on the surface.
Because the water is the main energy, the Pig leans toward depth before action. The wood inside gives it a gentle, supportive side, but it is the water that sets the tone, making the branch more about endurance than speed.
Clashes and combinations
The Pig has several key relationships in BaZi, each with a different flavour. Its six-combination 六合 is with 寅 Tiger, a Yang Wood branch, and together they move toward Wood. This combination feels like a meeting of water and growing timber, where the Pig's moisture feeds the Tiger's drive. When these two appear near each other in a chart, a luck pillar, or a year, there tends to be a sense of support and mutual benefit, as if one partner quietly fuels the other's ambitions.
The Pig also clashes 沖 with 巳 Snake, a Yin Fire branch. This clash is between water and fire, and it tends to feel like a sudden disruption. Where the Pig is calm and deep, the Snake is sharp and bright, and their meeting can stir things up, bringing hidden tensions to the surface. In a year or luck pillar, this clash often signals a time of change, when old patterns are shaken loose and need to be reworked.
The Pig is harmed 害 by 申 Monkey, a Yang Metal branch. This harm is subtler than a clash, more like a slow friction. Metal generates Water, so the Monkey is not an enemy to the Pig, but the relationship can feel uneasy, as if one supports the other while also creating a low hum of irritation. In practice, this tends to show up as minor misunderstandings or a sense of being helped but not quite comfortable.
Finally, the Pig has a self-punishment 自刑, which happens when it meets itself. This is not a clash with another branch, but an internal repetition, where two Pigs in a chart or across pillars can create a loop of overthinking or hesitation. It tends to feel like being stuck in one's own quiet, going over the same ground without moving forward.
In each pillar
When the Pig sits in the year pillar 年柱, it colours the roots of a person's life, the family background, and how others first see them. It tends to suggest a childhood shaped by calm and privacy, perhaps a home that valued patience over noise. Others may first perceive someone with a Pig year pillar as gentle, approachable, and a little hard to read, someone who does not reveal much at first meeting.
In the month pillar 月柱, the Pig speaks to work and the season of birth. Being born in its month, from about 8 November to about 7 December, places the Pig at the very opening of winter. This tends to give a person a working style that is steady and enduring, better at long tasks than quick bursts. They may prefer roles that let them work quietly and thoroughly, without constant pressure to perform.
When the Pig is the day pillar 日柱, it sits directly under the Day Master and colours the house of the partner. This is a deeply personal placement, and it tends to make relationships feel like a still harbour, a place of rest and acceptance. A person with this placement often seeks a partner who brings calm rather than excitement, and they may themselves offer a steady, undemanding presence in return.
In the hour pillar 時柱, the Pig relates to later life, children, and the hours of 21:00 to 23:00. It tends to suggest a late phase that is peaceful and reflective, with less striving and more quiet satisfaction. If children are part of the picture, they may be seen as gentle and self-contained, and the later years often carry the same unhurried rhythm as the Pig itself.
With other signs
The Pig belongs to two larger groups, each pulling it in a different direction. Its three-harmony 三合 is with 卯 Rabbit and 未 Goat, and together they move toward Wood. This group feels like a team that builds slowly, where the Pig provides the water, the Rabbit the growth, and the Goat the soil. When people with these year branches meet, there tends to be a natural sense of cooperation, as if each one quietly completes what the others began.
Its directional 三會 is with 子 Rat and 丑 Ox, and this group moves toward Water. This is a stronger, more seasonal bond, tied to the winter months themselves. When the Pig, Rat, and Ox come together, they amplify the deep, still quality of water, and the connection tends to feel familiar and instinctive, like people who understand each other without many words.
When two people's year branches meet, the Pig gets along best with the Tiger, Rabbit, Goat, Rat, and Ox, all of whom share a combination or group with it. With the Snake, there is likely to be friction, and with the Monkey, a mild but persistent unease. With another Pig, the self-punishment may bring a quiet, circular dynamic that needs conscious effort to keep moving.
If you want to see how the Pig plays out between two people, the clearest way is to put two charts side by side and look at their year branches, then their month and hour branches as well. The combinations and clashes are only the first layer, but they give a solid starting point for reading the relationship.
The Pig at a glance
| Six-combination 六合 | 寅 Tiger, toward Wood |
|---|---|
| Clash 沖 | 巳 Snake |
| Harm 害 | Monkey |
| Punishment 刑 | Itself 自刑 |
| Three-harmony 三合 | 亥卯未 (Pig, Rabbit, Goat), toward Wood |
| Directional 三會 | 亥子丑 (Pig, Rat, Ox), toward Water |
| Hidden stems 藏干 | 壬 Yang Water 甲 Yang Wood |
All Twelve Branches
Your own chart
Where does the Pig 亥 sit in your chart, and does it clash or combine with someone else's? Your chart shows the first, a compatibility check the second.
Compatibility puts two charts side by side, clashes and combinations included: free scores, and your first reading is free. The Year Reading reads the year against your chart, month by month: $3.99.