Monkey and Pig:
nourishing and wounding at once

This is one of the most curious cases in the table of sign compatibility. Metal generates Water (金生水); the Monkey 申 is the "cradle" of Water, and the Pig 亥 is Water come into full strength. It seems you could not design it better. Yet in the classical lists of interactions, between 申 and 亥 there stands 六害 (liù hài), the "Six Harms," specifically 申亥害.

The paradox breaks the usual schemes, and so it deserves its own discussion. We will sort out what a harm 害 is, why these two branches ended up as its pair, and how it feels in living relationships: in love, friendship, work, and in 2027, when the Goat year works on the Pig as an arching half alliance.

1 What a harm 害 is and why it arises here

The word 害 (hài) means "harm," "damage." Unlike the clash 沖, which strikes directly, a harm works through an intermediary: it interferes with the relationships that a branch builds with another. The classical explanation of the mechanics is this: a 害 arises when one branch "breaks the alliance" of another. Every branch has an ally in the Six Harmony 六合, and the harm is done by whoever clashes with that ally.

For the pair 申亥 it works in both directions. The ally of the Monkey 申 is the Snake 巳 (巳申合). The Pig 亥 clashes with the Snake (巳亥沖), so it strikes the Monkey's ally. In the other direction: the Pig's ally is the Tiger 寅 (寅亥合), and the Monkey clashes with the Tiger (寅申沖), so it strikes the Pig's ally. That is why a harm is called mutual and quiet: the branches do not hit each other directly; each "crosses out" the other's closest ally. A full breakdown of all six harms is in the article on the Six Harms 害.

In life it looks like a strange phenomenon: the couple does not seem to quarrel, yet each feels that the other "did not help at the right moment," "did not support my family," "did not value what matters to me." A harm does not explode. It accumulates. And since neither sign likes open quarrels, they go a long time without calling things by their names.

2 What connects them: Metal generates Water

At the same time the bond between the Monkey and the Pig is far from empty. The Monkey hides three stems: 庚 (yang Metal), 壬 (yang Water) and 戊 (yang Earth). The Pig hides two: 壬 (yang Water) and 甲 (yang Wood). The common stem is 壬: big water, a river, an ocean. That is why these signs often feel a shared scope, a taste for travel, curiosity and freedom.

In the birth cycle (長生), Water is "born" in 申 and "takes office" (臨官) in 亥. So the Pig is the adult, mature version of what is only starting in the Monkey. In a relationship this feels like teacher and pupil or elder and younger, and not by age: the Pig often seems deeper and calmer to the Monkey, and the Monkey seems faster and more resourceful to the Pig.

Inside the branch 亥 there is also 甲, yang Wood, and the Monkey's Metal (庚) by the logic of the Five Elements controls Wood (金克木): axe and trunk. A small detail, but it explains why the Pig sometimes feels the Monkey is "pruning" its plans, although the Monkey generally does nothing bad.

More on the two branches: the Monkey 申 and the Pig 亥.

3 Love and marriage

In a romantic version the Monkey and Pig couple looks almost ideal at the start. There are many shared interests, ease in communication and mutual generosity. The Pig admires the Monkey's resourcefulness; the Monkey values the Pig's kindness and breadth. Both know how to enjoy life, and that is attractive.

The classic problem begins a year or two later, when the "close allies" get involved: relatives, friends, former partners. For the Pig it matters that the Monkey accepts its circle. For the Monkey it matters that the Pig does not demand turning friends into family. Recall the mechanics of 害, and this is exactly where quiet disagreements arise: each feels the other does not look after what is dear to them carefully enough.

What to do? First of all, name the topic aloud. A good formula: "It matters to me that you treat my people in such-and-such a way. What matters to you?" Draw up a short list: which family holidays are obligatory, which friends you see together and which separately, how to react to the parents' criticism. It sounds bureaucratic, but for a couple with a harm this works better than any "I feel, I don't feel."

The second weak knot is money. The Pig is generous, the Monkey is practical, but both love comfort and beautiful things. If you do not keep a shared budget, spending quickly gets out of control. On general principles of reading a partner by the chart, see marriage in BaZi.

4 Friendship and work

Friendship

As friends the Monkey and the Pig are very good. Friendship does not require merging lives and shared relatives, which means the mechanics of the harm barely switch on. They have fun together, trade ideas and pass each other contacts. One condition: do not promise what you will not do. For a pair with a 害, a broken promise sounds louder than for others.

Work and business

In business the Pig brings scope and the trust of clients, the Monkey brings promptness and resourcefulness. Services, trade, tourism, hospitality, education and brokering suit them well. The key risk is blurred obligations. If rights and duties are not written down, both will believe they do more than the other. The cheapest way to prevent harm in a business link is a written agreement and regular short review meetings. The principles of business compatibility are gathered in who to go into business with, by BaZi.

5 Typical conflicts and how to defuse them

1. "You didn't support mine." The most characteristic conflict for a 害. Fix: discuss boundaries in advance and agree on support in two or three key situations.
2. Promises and forgetfulness. The Pig promises from the heart, the Monkey promises on the fly. Fix: write agreements into a shared calendar.
3. Too many "yeses." Both avoid open refusals. Fix: train yourself to say "let me answer tomorrow" so as not to agree out of awkwardness.
4. Different speeds. The Monkey decides fast, the Pig needs time. Fix: "double approval" for big decisions, with a day's gap.
5. Hidden resentment. When harm accumulates, it comes out in one stream. Fix: a monthly "review," fifteen minutes on what remained uncomfortable.

6 2027: the Pig in an alliance, the Monkey on the side

The year 丁未, the Goat year, touches the two signs differently. For the Pig it gives an incomplete alliance 亥卯未 (without the central branch, the Rabbit, such a link is weak), as covered in the forecast for the Pig: things go smoothly and people meet it halfway, but part of its personal strength dissolves into shared affairs. For the Monkey, as described in the forecast for the Monkey, there is no direct link, and the year is rather even: Earth generates Metal, although dry Earth 未 feeds it modestly (燥土不生金), and the Monkey is rescued by its own hidden Water 壬.

For the couple this means the Pig may turn out busier and more "social" than usual this year, while the Monkey is calmer and more open to personal questions. A lopsidedness often appears: the Pig draws resources into the team, and the Monkey waits for attention. The solution is simple: fix "time for two" in advance, and do not cancel it because of work.

7 The months of 2027

Dates are approximate, give or take a day.

The pattern is visible to the naked eye. In February the Monkey clashes with the Tiger, which for the Pig is an ally: the 害 scenario plays out literally. In May the same picture appears from the other side: the Pig clashes with the Snake, the Monkey's ally. These two months are the most sensitive for the pair. In August and November the harm arrives directly: in the "other's" month, one of you receives the partner's branch. On the other hand March (until 4 April), the month 癸卯 with the full alliance, and December, which both pass in Water, feel freer. For planning important affairs it makes sense to lean on them.

8 The Tiger and the Snake: two branches that change the plot

Since the harm between 申 and 亥 passes through allies, it is exactly these allies, the Snake 巳 and the Tiger 寅, that you should look for in the charts first. If 巳 stands in the Monkey's chart (in the day, month or hour), its alliance 巳申 lives "at home," and the Pig strikes it with its 亥 (巳亥沖): then the Monkey feels the harm more sharply, "you are touching what is dear to me." Mirror-wise with the Tiger: if 寅 stands in the Pig's chart, its alliance 寅亥 is under the Monkey's blow (寅申沖), and it is the Pig who stores up the grievance. It is more complicated when 巳 is in the Pig's own chart: there, even without a partner, 巳亥沖 already stands, and the Monkey enters an alliance with that Snake. Sometimes this even softens the Pig's inner conflict; sometimes it feels that the partner is "pulling over" part of its life. Without the full chart there is no sorting this out.

Practically, this means a couple whose charts hold neither the Snake nor the Tiger feels the harm weakly, and yearly and monthly arrivals of 巳 and 寅 (in 2027, May and February) become the only moments when the theme surfaces. A couple in which one of these branches is permanently present lives with the harm every day and should treat it as a working condition, like an awkward layout in an apartment: you can get used to it, but you need to know where the corners are.

Years bring these allies as well. The nearest dates on the horizon: 2028 is 戊申, the Monkey's own year, and the Pig gets harm from the year branch all year; 2031 is 辛亥, the Pig's own year, and then the Monkey lives under the yearly 申亥害. The most "plot-driven" year is 2034, 甲寅: the Tiger arrives as the year, forms an alliance with the Pig (寅亥合) and clashes with the Monkey (寅申沖). It is exactly the harm scheme discussed above, only stretched over twelve months. The year 乙卯 (2035) gives the Pig a half combination 亥卯 with the central Wood branch, and is neutral for the Monkey. None of these years "breaks" a couple; they are periods when old themes surface more easily and it helps to discuss them in advance.

How the partners feel it themselves

The Monkey through the Pig's eyes is a resourceful but hurried person who sometimes decides for two and does not notice how it looks from outside. The Pig through the Monkey's eyes is generous and warm, but too soft with those who take advantage of that softness. Nothing bad is in either description, but they match poorly on one point: the Monkey thinks that a fast decision is a good decision, the Pig thinks that a decision with everyone's participation is the right one. The Pig wants everyone to agree, the Monkey wants everything to work.

For a couple this is not a problem if each knows their strong side and divides the work. Let the Monkey run the matters that need tempo, and the Pig those where people and trust count. And let neither try to prove to the other that their own way is the only right one. For a harm this is almost the ideal medicine: recognizing the value of the other's way of acting.

9 Why the birth-year sign does not determine everything

The harm between year branches is only one of many links in a couple. Suppose the Monkey has the day branch 子 (the Rat) and the Pig has 丑 (the Ox): the Spouse Palaces are in a Six Harmony 子丑合, and the harm between the year branches recedes into a distant background. And if the palaces stand on 巳 and 亥, they clash (巳亥沖), and then the theme of 害 sounds much louder. The Day Masters decide even more: if one has 庚 and the other 壬, Metal literally generates Water at the level of personalities, and even a classical harm is felt less.

The correct order of assessment is five checks across two full charts: the Day Masters, the Spouse Palaces, the useful gods, the relationship stars and the Luck Pillars. They are described in detail in the compatibility guide. There is no place here for a "percentage": BaZi shows the structure of the couple, where the supports are and where it is thin. And how to live with that is up to you, knowing your own places and without mysticism.

10 Frequently asked questions

What does the harm 申亥害 mean for a couple?

It is a classical link from the "Six Harms." Each branch strikes the ally of the other: the Pig clashes with the Snake (the Monkey's ally), the Monkey clashes with the Tiger (the Pig's ally). In practice it is quiet resentment, not a loud conflict.

Why does Metal still generate Water despite the harm?

These are different levels. Elements show nourishment: the Monkey is Metal from which Water is born, and the Pig is mature Water. The harm belongs to the mechanics of branch links. The couple has both support and hidden tension.

How will a Monkey and Pig couple get through 2027?

For the Pig the Goat year forms the half alliance 亥卯未; for the Monkey it is neutral and rather supportive. The most sensitive months for the pair are 壬寅 (from 4 February) and 乙巳 (from 6 May). The gentlest is 癸卯 (from 6 March).

How can the "you didn't support mine" conflict be defused?

Name the topic and agree in advance on the attitude to each person's close ones. Written agreements, a short monthly review and honest refusals instead of polite "yeses" help.

Can a couple be assessed by signs alone?

No. The birth-year sign is the top layer. A reliable conclusion comes from comparing full charts through five checks, and BaZi has no compatibility percentage.