Directions
Even though Chinese has words for the four cardinal directions - 北 (běi, north), 東/东 (dōng, east), 南 (nán, south), and 西 (xī, west) - Chinese mariners and astronomers/astrologers preferred using the twelve directions of the Earthly Branches, which is somewhat similar to the modern-day practice of English-speaking pilots using o'clock for directions. Since twelve points were not enough for sailing, twelve midpoints were added. Instead of combining two adjacent direction names, they assigned new names as follows:
- For the four diagonal directions, appropriate trigram names of I Ching were used.
- For the rest, the Heavenly Stems were used. According to the Five Elements theory, east is assigned to wood, and the Stems of wood are 甲 (jiǎ) and 乙 (yǐ). Thus they were assigned clockwise to the two adjacent points of the east.
Following is a table of the 24 directions:
| Character | Mandarin name | Korean name | Japanese name | Vietnamese name | Direction | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 子 | zǐ | 자 (ja) | ne | tí | 0° (north) |
| 2 | 癸 | guǐ | 계 (gye) | mizunoto | quý | 15° |
| 3 | 丑 | chǒu | 축 (chuk) | ushi | sửu | 30° |
| 4 | 艮 | gèn | 간 (gan) | ushitora | cấn | 45° (northeast) |
| 5 | 寅 | yín | 인 (in) | tora | dần | 60° |
| 6 | 甲 | jiǎ | 갑 (gap) | kinoe | giáp | 75° |
| 7 | 卯 | mǎo | 묘 (myo) | u | mão | 90° (east) |
| 8 | 乙 | yǐ | 을 (eul) | kinoto | ất | 105° |
| 9 | 辰 | chén | 진 (jin) | tatsu | thìn | 120° |
| 10 | 巽 | xùn | 손 (son) | tatsumi | tốn | 135° (southeast) |
| 11 | 巳 | sì | 사 (sa) | mi | tỵ | 150° |
| 12 | 丙 | bǐng | 병 (byeong) | hinoe | bính | 165° |
| 13 | 午 | wǔ | 오 (o) | uma | ngọ | 180° (south) |
| 14 | 丁 | dīng | 정 (jeong) | hinoto | đinh | 195° |
| 15 | 未 | wèi | 미 (mi) | hitsuji | vị/mùi | 210° |
| 16 | 坤 | kūn | 곤 (gon) | hitsujisaru | khôn | 225° (southwest) |
| 17 | 申 | shēn | 신 (shin) | saru | thân | 240° |
| 18 | 庚 | gēng | 경 (gyeong) | kanoe | canh | 255° |
| 19 | 酉 | yǒu | 유 (yu) | tori | dậu | 270° (west) |
| 20 | 辛 | xīn | 신 (shin) | kanoto | tân | 285° |
| 21 | 戌 | xū | 술 (sul) | inu | tuất | 300° |
| 22 | 乾 | qián | 건 (geon) | inui | càn | 315° (northwest) |
| 23 | 亥 | hài | 해 (hae) | i | hợi | 330° |
| 24 | 壬 | rén | 임 (im) | mizunoe | nhâm | 345° |
Advanced mariners such as Zhèng Hé used 48-point compasses. An additional midpoint was called by a combination of its two closest basic directions, such as 丙午 (bǐngwǔ) for the direction of 172.5°, the midpoint between 丙 (bǐng), 165°, and 午 (wǔ), 180°.
Read more about this topic: Earthly Branches
Famous quotes containing the word directions:
“The cannon thunders ... limbs fly in all directions ... one can hear the groans of victims and the howling of those performing the sacrifice ... it’s Humanity in search of happiness.”
—Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867)
““Have we any control over being born?,” my friend asked in despair. “No, the job is done for us while we’re sleeping, so to speak, and when we wake up everything is all set. We merely appear, like an ornate celebrity wheeled out in a wheelchair.” “I don’t remember,” my friend claimed. “No need to,” I said: “what need have us free-loaders for any special alertness? We’re done for.””
—Marvin Cohen, U.S. author and humorist. The Self-Devoted Friend, New Directions (1967)
“Your bait of falsehood takes this carp of truth,
And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,
With windlasses and with assays of bias,
By indirections find directions out.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)