The Earthly Branches (Chinese: 地支; pinyin: dìzhī; or Chinese: 十二支; pinyin: shí'èrzhī; literally "twelve branches"; or Korean:십이지) provide one Chinese system for reckoning time.
This system was built from observations of the orbit of Jupiter. Chinese astronomers divided the celestial circle into 12 sections to follow the orbit of 歲星 Suìxīng (Jupiter, the Year Star). Astronomers rounded the orbit of Suixing to 12 years (from 11.86). Suixing was associated with 攝提 Shètí (η Boötis) and sometimes called Sheti.
In correlative thinking, the twelve years of the Jupiter cycle also identify the twelve months of the year, twelve animals (mnemonics for the system), directions, seasons, months, and Chinese hour in the form of double-hours. When a Branch is used for a double hour, the listed periods are meant. When used for an exact time of a day, it is the center of the period. For instance, 午 (the Horse) means noon or a period from 11am to 1pm. (The jie qi system provided single hours and 15-degree arcs in time and space.)
Chinese seasons are based on observations of the sun and stars. Many Chinese calendrical systems have started the new year on the second new moon after the winter solstice.
The Earthly Branches are today used with the Heavenly Stems in the current version of the "traditional calendar" and in Taoism. The Ganzhi (Stem-Branch) combination is a fairly new way to mark time; in the second millennium BC Shang era it was the ten Heavenly Stems that provided the names of the days of the week. The Branches are as old as the Stems (and according to recent archaeology may actually be older), but the Stems were tied to the ritual calendars of Chinese kings. They were not part of the calendrical systems of the majority of Chinese.
| Earthly Branch |
Mandarin name |
Cantonese name |
Japanese name | Korean name |
Vietnamese name |
Chinese zodiac |
Direction | Season | Lunar Month | Double Hour | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| On | Kun | |||||||||||
| 1 | 子 | zǐ | zi2 | し(shi) | ね(ne) | 자 (ja) | tý | Rat | 0° (north) | winter | Month 11 | 11pm to 1am (midnight) |
| 2 | 丑 | chǒu | cau2 | ちゅう(chū) | うし(ushi) | 축 (chuk) | sửu | Ox | 30° | Month 12 | 1am to 3am | |
| 3 | 寅 | yín | jan4 | いん(in) | とら(tora) | 인 (in) | dần | Tiger | 60° | spring | Month 1 | 3am to 5am |
| 4 | 卯 | mǎo | maau5 | ぼう(bō) | う(u) | 묘 (myo) | mão | Rabbit | 90° (east) | Month 2 | 5am to 7am | |
| 5 | 辰 | chén | san4 | しん(shin) | たつ(tatsu) | 진 (jin) | thìn | Dragon | 120° | Month 3 | 7am to 9 am | |
| 6 | 巳 | sì | zi6 | し(shi) | み(mi) | 사 (sa) | tỵ | Snake | 150° | summer | Month 4 | 9am to 11am |
| 7 | 午 | wǔ | ng5 | ご(go) | うま(uma) | 오 (o) | ngọ | Horse | 180° (south) | Month 5 | 11am to 1pm (noon) | |
| 8 | 未 | wèi | mei6 | び (bi) | ひつじ(hitsuji) | 미 (mi) | mùi | Goat | 210° | Month 6 | 1pm to 3pm | |
| 9 | 申 | shēn | san1 | しん(shin) | さる(saru) | 신 (sin) | thân | Monkey | 240° | autumn | Month 7 | 3pm to 5pm |
| 10 | 酉 | yǒu | jau5 | ゆう(yū) | とり(tori) | 유 (yu) | dậu | Rooster | 270° (west) | Month 8 | 5pm to 7pm | |
| 11 | 戌 | xū | seot1 | じゅつ(jutsu) | いぬ(inu) | 술 (sul) | tuất | Dog | 300° | Month 9 | 7pm to 9pm | |
| 12 | 亥 | hài | hoi6 | がい(gai) | い(i) | 해 (hae) | hợi | Pig | 330° | winter | Month 10 | 9pm to 11pm |
Some cultures assign different animals: Vietnam replaces the ox, rabbit, and sheep with the water buffalo, cat, and goat respectively; Japan replaces the pig with the wild boar; Tibet replaces the rat, ox, rabbit and rooster with the mouse, bull, hare and bird respectively. In the traditional Kazakh version of the 12-year animal cycle (Kazakh: мүшел, müşel), the dragon is substituted by a snail (Kazakh: ұлу, ulw), and the tiger appears as a leopard (Kazakh: барыс, barıs).
Read more about Earthly Branches: Directions
Famous quotes containing the words earthly and/or branches:
“I have done no harm. But I remember now
I am in this earthly world, where to do harm
Is often laudable, to good sometimes
Accounted dangerous folly.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“It is comforting when one has a sorrow to lie in the warmth of one’s bed and there, abandoning all effort and all resistance, to bury even one’s head under the cover, giving one’s self up to it completely, moaning like branches in the autumn wind. But there is still a better bed, full of divine odors. It is our sweet, our profound, our impenetrable friendship.”
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)