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Zodiac compatibility table
— Three Harmony, Six Harmony, clash and Wonjin on one page
Zodiac compatibility is determined by how many places apart two animals sit on the circle of the twelve branches. The positions that harmonize are two Three Harmony animals + one Six Harmony animal, and the positions that collide are clash and Wonjin. But a clash isn't a breakup; it's the size of the change.
In this article 7 topics
How is zodiac compatibility determined?
Among the twelve zodiac animals there are set relationship names. They weren't assigned by looking at personality; they're determined mechanically by placing the twelve branches in a circle and counting how many places apart they are. So the answer doesn't vary from person to person.
| Name | Rule | What tone it suggests |
|---|---|---|
| Three Harmony (三合) | Three animals four places apart on the circle | The strongest harmonizing position. A tone of shared goals |
| Six Harmony (六合) | Two animals that form a pair | A pair just for the two. A tone of being comfortable side by side |
| Clash (chung 沖) | Directly opposite, six places apart | A colliding position. A tone of bigger movement |
| Wonjin (怨嗔) | Right next to the clash | A tone of being out of sync in ways that are hard to explain |
| Break (破) | Animals three places apart | A tone in which a knot comes undone once and gets retied |
| Punishment (刑) | A group of three animals entangled with one another | A tone of dealing with the same issue over and over |
None of these is good or bad. Harmony is closer to "sticking together," clash to "moving." Some good things need you to stay together, and some things only get resolved by moving.
Which zodiac animals suit mine?
Three positions: two Three Harmony animals and one Six Harmony animal. Three Harmony is where three animals come together into one element, so your goals align; Six Harmony is where just two pair up, so everyday life gets easier.
| Three Harmony group | Element formed | What the tone is like |
|---|---|---|
| Pig · Rabbit · Sheep | Wood (木) | They come together around starting and expanding things |
| Tiger · Horse · Dog | Fire (火) | They come together around picking up speed |
| Snake · Rooster · Ox | Metal (金) | They come together around organizing and wrapping things up |
| Monkey · Rat · Dragon | Water (水) | They come together around gathering and thinking things through |
There are six Six Harmony pairs — Rat & Ox, Tiger & Pig, Rabbit & Dog, Dragon & Rooster, Snake & Monkey, Horse & Sheep. With only one partner each, it's seen as a narrower but deeper position than Three Harmony.
Full compatibility table for all twelve animals
Just find your own animal's row and read across.
| My zodiac animal | Three Harmony | Six Harmony | Clash | Wonjin | Break | Punishment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rat Ja (子) | Monkey · Dragon | Ox | Horse | Sheep | Rooster | Rabbit |
| Ox Chuk (丑) | Snake · Rooster | Rat | Sheep | Horse | Dragon | Dog · Sheep |
| Tiger In (寅) | Horse · Dog | Pig | Monkey | Rooster | Pig | Snake · Monkey |
| Rabbit Myo (卯) | Pig · Sheep | Dog | Rooster | Monkey | Horse | Rat |
| Dragon Jin (辰) | Monkey · Rat | Rooster | Dog | Pig | Ox | Dragon (same animal) |
| Snake Sa (巳) | Rooster · Ox | Monkey | Pig | Dog | Monkey | Tiger · Monkey |
| Horse O (午) | Tiger · Dog | Sheep | Rat | Ox | Rabbit | Horse (same animal) |
| Sheep Mi (未) | Pig · Rabbit | Horse | Ox | Rat | Dog | Ox · Dog |
| Monkey Sin (申) | Rat · Dragon | Snake | Tiger | Rabbit | Snake | Tiger · Snake |
| Rooster Yu (酉) | Snake · Ox | Dragon | Rabbit | Tiger | Rat | Rooster (same animal) |
| Dog Sul (戌) | Tiger · Horse | Rabbit | Dragon | Snake | Sheep | Ox · Sheep |
| Pig Hae (亥) | Rabbit · Sheep | Tiger | Snake | Dragon | Tiger | Pig (same animal) |
I've left "Harm (害)" out of the table. Many of its pairs overlap with Wonjin, so listing it separately would only add confusion. The Harm pairs are Rat–Sheep, Ox–Horse, Tiger–Snake, Rabbit–Dragon, Monkey–Pig and Rooster–Dog.
Should I avoid someone whose animal clashes with mine?
Not at all. A clash isn't a breakup; it's an amplitude. It means change gets bigger when you're together, which can be tiring when you want stability and actually helpful when something needs to change.
Quite a few long-lasting couples actually have a clash relationship. The thinking is that because they stand in different places, they don't make the same mistakes. The problem isn't the clash itself but when you're both worn out.
If we have Wonjin, should we break up?
No. Wonjin is a name for being out of sync in ways that are hard to explain, not a verdict on the relationship. Saying "it can't work because of Wonjin" rests on thin grounds.
There are six Wonjin pairs. In terms of combinations, that's just over 9% of all pairings. If all of that 9% broke up, statistics would have shown it long ago.
Wonjin is useful when you know in advance that "there are points where we often get out of sync" and set some ground rules. For example, a couple who keep fighting over tone of voice might sort things out by text and then talk in person. Avoid services that try to scare you into buying something — I've described that pattern in How Saju apps charge.
Mutal Unnie doesn't pass judgment on a relationship based on compatibility. It never concludes "this person isn't right for you." Instead, it shows where the two of you are likely to clash and on which days it's good to bring up important conversations.
What does zodiac compatibility miss?
It looks at only one of each person's eight characters. The zodiac animal is just the lower character of the birth year. Judging two people's compatibility by zodiac animal alone means judging by 2 characters out of 16.
What matters more in real compatibility is the day pillar — the two characters of the birth day. The position that stands for "you" in Saju is the Day Master, so the Ten Gods relationship between the other person's Day Master and yours tells you far more than zodiac animals do.
You also look at whether your Five Elements complement each other. When the energy one person lacks is abundant in the other, being together feels easier. Use the zodiac compatibility table as a starting point, and if you really want to know, look at the full eight characters. For the next step, Day Master relationships, I've put together a 10×10 table in How to read Saju compatibility.
See it through sixteen characters, not two
Add the other person, and the app compares day pillars, Five Elements and Ten Gods to show the tone between you two.
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How do I find the zodiac animals that suit me?
Look at two Three Harmony animals + one Six Harmony animal. For example, if you're a Rabbit, Pig and Sheep are your Three Harmony animals and Dog is your Six Harmony animal. Just read across your own animal's row in the full table above.
Is it wrong to marry someone whose zodiac animal clashes with mine?
No. A clash is not a breakup but an amplitude. It means change gets bigger, which can be tiring in stable periods and a source of strength in times of change. Judging a marriage on two zodiac characters is too much of a stretch.
What is Wonjin, and how many pairs are there?
It's the spot right next to a clash. There are six pairs: Rat–Sheep, Ox–Horse, Tiger–Rooster, Rabbit–Monkey, Dragon–Pig, Snake–Dog. It's a name for crossed wires that are hard to explain, not a verdict telling you to break up.
Is zodiac compatibility alone enough?
It isn't. Zodiac animals are two characters out of sixteen. What matters more in compatibility are the two characters of each person's birth day, the day pillar, and the two people's Five Elements distribution. Use the zodiac compatibility table as a starting point.