沖

沖, the clash, is two branches facing each other across the twelve and striking.

There are six pairs: 子午, 丑未, 寅申, 卯酉, 辰戌 and 巳亥.

Where the year and hour branches clash, what stands between root and the late years is read as shaken.

Root and the latter seat meet and strike. Where it began and where it will end point to different places.

The reckoning of the early years does not stand as it was in the later ones.