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 traditional husband/father has always made choices concerning career, life-styles, values, and directions for the whole family, but he generally had another person on the team—called a wife. And his duties were always clear: Bring home the bacon and take out the garbage.”
—Donna N. Douglass (20th century)
“What do you think of us in fuzzy endeavor, you whose directions are sterling, whose lunge is straight?
Can you make a reason, how can you pardon us who memorize the rules and never score?”
—Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)