San He frames are three-branch formations.

When a frame forms, the branches stop acting only as individual lines. Together they create a larger elemental field.

Individual lines Three separate branches

Each line has its own role, element, and state.

Frame One larger elemental force

The branches combine into a field that can support or control the target.

The four frames

Water frame Shen + Zi + Chen

Creates Water as the frame element.

Wood frame Hai + Mao + Wei

Creates Wood as the frame element.

Fire frame Yin + Wu + Xu

Creates Fire as the frame element.

Metal frame Si + You + Chou

Creates Metal as the frame element.

There is no Earth frame. Earth works differently in this system.

Frames are detected across the primary chart and the changed side created by moving lines. Calendar branches do not make a frame “already formed” at the moment of casting; they are what can complete or heal a waiting or broken frame later. Do not force a frame just because two branches are suggestive. The next module handles whether the frame is solid, waiting, partial, or broken.

What a frame does

The frame element is what matters.

Frame element Forms a field

The three branches create a concentrated elemental force.

Compare to target Generate or control?

The frame may feed the target, drain it, control it, or be controlled by it.

Read effect Support or pressure

A formed frame can outweigh a single line's ordinary baseline.

A formed frame is heavier than an isolated supporting or attacking line. First ask what the frame element does to the target: generate, control, drain, or get controlled by it. If the relationship is not direct, trace what the frame does to the target’s support and obstacle lines.

Common traps

Trap 1 Looking for an Earth frame.

There are four frames: Water, Wood, Fire, Metal.

Trap 2 Counting two branches as complete.

Two branches may be waiting for the third calendar branch, but they are not the same as a complete frame now.

Trap 3 Ignoring frame direction.

A strong frame is not automatically good. It depends on what it does to the target.

Source basis: Zengshan Buyi and Bushi Zhengzong San He passages. The canonical frames are Water, Wood, Fire, and Metal; there is no Earth San He frame in this method.

What this module establishes

San He is a field, not a decoration. If a frame forms around the target or its support/obstacle system, read the frame element as a major force.

The next module asks whether the frame is complete, waiting, partial, broken, or not formed.

-> 5.8 San He Frame Statuses