Tai Chi Glossary > Three Harmonies (三合)

Three Harmonies (三合)

Definition: The Three Harmonies (三合) are the three external couplings of the body — hand with foot, elbow with knee, shoulder with hip — that make a tai chi movement a whole-body movement rather than an arm movement.

三合 is a subset of 六合. The three harmonies are the external three of the Six Harmonies; they are called on their own often enough to have a name of their own. The internal three — the couplings of intent, qi and force — belong to the Six Harmonies entry and are not repeated here.

Key points at a glance:

• 三合 = the external three: 手与足合、肘与膝合、肩与胯合 — hand with foot, elbow with knee, shoulder with hip
• A subset, not a separate system. 三合 ⊂ 六合. The Six Harmonies add the internal three
• The word has two meanings. As a standalone term it means the external three; in the sixth section of 《太极拳十大要论》 “三合” is a heading that covers both the internal and the external three, six in all
• A variant in the third pairing: some texts write 膀与胯合 (hip with hip) where others write 肩与胯合
• The order is not fixed across sources, and the entry should say so rather than pick one
• The whole aim is 上下相随 — the upper and lower body arriving together, which is what “whole-body force” (整劲) looks like from outside
• It is not unique to tai chi. The external three is taught across several families of Chinese martial arts
• It can be checked. Turn the shoulder and watch the hip; bend the elbow and watch the knee. The couplings are visible

The external three, and what it asks for

The three couplings, in the usual order:

• 手与足合 — hand with foot. When the hand moves, the foot moves; when the hand stops, the foot stops. The arms and legs are one action, not two that happen to be near each other.
• 肘与膝合 — elbow with knee. The bending of the elbow and the lifting and dropping of the knee happen together, with the points of elbow and knee roughly on one vertical line.
• 肩与胯合 — shoulder with hip. When the shoulder turns, the hip turns with it.

The point of all three is that the movement is not manufactured in the arms. A practitioner who only moves the upper body has the couplings broken, and the training term for that failure is 重上轻下 — heavy above, light below.

Two meanings of 三合

This is the point English-language readers most often get wrong, so it is worth stating early.

As a standalone term, 三合 means the external three. That is the commonest use, and the one this entry is about.

In 《太极拳十大要论》, 三合 is a section heading that covers six things. The sixth section gives both sets: “夫所谓三合者，心与意合，气与力合，筋与骨合，含内三合也；手与足合，肘与膝合，肩与胯合，含外三合也.” So in that text the word 三合 is the title of a section rather than a count of three. The text is traditionally attributed to Chen Changxing but its authorship and status are disputed, and it should be cited as a transmitted text rather than as settled.

Two things the sources do not agree on

A variant character. The third external pairing appears as 肩与胯合 (shoulder with hip) in the mainstream transmitted lines and in most teaching material, and as 膀与胯合 in Du Yuanhua’s 《太极拳正宗》 (1935), a findable publication. The 岳武穆王拳谱 line uses 肩与胯合. Both readings mean the same joint relationship.

The order. Most sources give hand-elbow-shoulder, some give shoulder first — the 心意六合拳 line commonly opens with 肩与胯合. Write one order and note that the transmitted lines differ, rather than presenting one as the only correct sequence.

A modern interpretation, marked as such

A popular contemporary reading maps the three couplings onto 三才 (heaven, earth, human): hands up as heaven, waist as human, feet down as earth. The same reading divides the limbs into three sections — 梢节 the extremities (hands and feet), 中节 the middle joints (elbows and knees), 根节 the root joints (shoulders and hips) — and asks that all nine be threaded together, with the maxim “行气如九曲珠，无微不至”.

This is modern teaching discourse, not classical text. The three-section scheme itself comes from the 《九要论》 family of texts, which are associated with xingyi rather than tai chi. Present it as an interpretation, not as a classical principle.

How to check it

These are external checks, which is what makes the couplings usable in practice:

• Turn the shoulder — does the hip turn with it?
• Bend the elbow — does the knee respond, with elbow point and knee point roughly on one line?
• Move the hand — does the foot move, and stop when the hand stops?

The common failures are: an upper body that works while the hips stay put; elbows and knees drifting out of correspondence; and hands and feet arriving at different times, which leaves the movement floating. The teaching maxim for the last is blunt: 手到脚不到，等于瞎胡闹 — if the hand arrives and the foot does not, it is mumbling.

The internal three is what is said to regulate the external three: 外三合是内劲的外在表现, the external couplings are the outward form of the internal jin. One sentence, and the detail stays with the Six Harmonies entry.

Sources

• 陈长兴《太极拳十大要论》, section 六论三合 — both the external three and the “三合 as a heading for six” sense. Attributed to Chen Changxing; a transmitted Republican-era text, and its status is disputed. Cite as 托名/民国整理.
• 杜元化《太极拳正宗》 (1935) — the external three with 膀与胯合. A checkable publication.
• 《太极拳九要论》 — the external three, and other external couplings such as 头与手合、手与身合、身与步合. A disputed text from the xingyi line.
• 《打手歌》 (attributed to Wang Zongyue, authorship disputed) — “上下相随人难进”, the principle the couplings serve.
• 《太极拳谱》, collated and annotated by Shen Shou, People’s Sports Publishing House — the standard collection for the classical tai chi literature.
• The national intangible-heritage entry for 太极拳, which states the external and internal three in its own wording — see the Six Harmonies entry for the wording and the link.