What Heaven Stems & Earth Branches Are
Chinese have traditionally
made use of a specialized number system that counts from 1 to 60. The numbers in
this system consist of a first digit from a series of ten "Heaven Stems"
(tiāngān 天干) and the second from a series of twelve
"Earth Branches" (dìzhī 地支).
Here is a list of the Chinese characters used, with their pronunciations. In
our examples we will represent the Heaven Stems with upper case letters (A
through J) and the Earth Branches with lower case letters (a through l).
Cautionary note for students of Chinese: The tiāngān jĭ 己 (also used in the common word 自己 is not quite the same as the character yĭ 已 (as in 已經). (The box part of
jĭ is entirely open. The box part of yĭ is half closed.) To make matters
worse, both look very much like the dìzhī sì 巳
(with the box entirely closed).
List of the 10 Heaven Stems (Tiāngān 天干) |
甲
| 乙
| 丙
| 丁
| 戊
| 己
| 庚
| 辛
| 壬
| 癸
|
Jiă
| Yĭ
| Bĭng
| Dīng
| Wù
| Jĭ
| Gēng
| Xīn
| Rén
| Guĭ
|
A
| B
| C
| D
| E
| F
| G
| H
| I
| J |
List of the 12 Earth Branches (Dìzhī 地支) |
子
| 丑
| 寅
| 卯
| 辰
| 巳
| 午
| 未
| 申
| 酉
| 戌
| 亥
|
zĭ
| chŏu
| yín
| măo
| chén
| sì
| wǔ
| wèi
| shēn
| yŏu
| xū
| hài
|
a
| b
| c
| d
| e
| f
| g
| h
| i
| j
| k
| l |
How To Count in Heaven Stems and Earth Branches
The number 1 is
expressed as the first Heaven Stem plus the first Earth Branch (Aa). The number
2 is composed of the second Heaven Stem plus the second Earth Branch (Bb). And
so on, up to 10 (Jj).
1
| 2
| 3
| 4
| 5
| 6
| 7
| 8
| 9
| 10
|
Aa
| Bb
| Cc
| Dd
| Ee
| Ff
| Gg
| Hh
| Ii
| Jj
|
甲子
| 乙丑
| 丙寅
| 丁卯
| 戊辰
| 己巳
| 庚午
| 辛未
| 壬申
| 癸酉 |
When we reach 10, we have used up our Heaven Stems (upper case letters), but
have two Earth Branches (lower case letters k and l or chracters xū 戌 and hài 亥) still to go. So the
series continues with the Earth Branches shifted over by two compared with the
Heaven Stems:
11
| 12
| 13
| 14
| 15
| 16
| 17
| 18
| 19
| 20
|
Ak
| Bl
| Ca
| Db
| Ec
| Fd
| Ge
| Hf
| Ig
| Jh
|
甲戌
| 乙亥
| 丙子
| 丁丑
| 戊寅
| 己卯
| 庚辰
| 辛巳
| 壬午
| 癸未 |
As we start the 20s we are mismatched by four from the original series. So 21
is Ai, 22 is Bj, and so on.
It takes the count of 60 to come out even. Sixty-one is once again Aa.
What This Is Used For
What is the good of a system which can count only
from 1 to 60?
Occasionally it was used to number the folios of a large literary work
divided into sixty volumes, for example, or the divination poems used as answers
to prayers in temples. But most importantly, they were used to count days and
years and hours, thus arbitrarily aranging time into sixty-unit "cycles"
repeating into the infinite past and future. Each year is numbered in an ever
repeating 60-element cycle. So is each month, day, and hour. Similarly, Heaven
Stems and Earth Branches provided a progression of spaces in the circle of the
horizon (each pair corresponding to 6 degrees in the western division of a
circle into 360 degrees). Thus space and time could both be arbitrarily
associated with units of measurement.
In fortune telling, hours, days, or years associated with some pairs of
Heaven Stems and Earth Branches are considered to be favorable or unfavorable
for various activities, especially for people born at hours, days, or years
associated with other combinations of Heaven Stemps and Earth Branches.
(Obviously, there is enormous potential for complexity in this, potential that
is well exploited by traditional fortune tellers.)
Heaven Stems. Because there are ten Heaven Stemps, pairs of Heaven
Stems are aligned with the five elements and hence with the various other things
connected with the "five elements" complex, described elsewhere on this web
site. The things associated with the "five elements" range from flavors and
colors to virtues, organs, and notes of the scale. Through the linkages between
Heaven Stems and five elements, time and direction was even more subtly linked
with these other features of human experience.
Droll Trivium: Because there are ten Heaven Branches, and
because the cycle is used to count years, the Heaven Branch is predictable
from the western year. A Western year ending in 0 always corresponds to a
Chinese G (gēng 庚) year (or more exactly to the
greater part of it does, since Western and Chinese New Years do not quite
coincide). Thus a Western year ending in 1 will be a Chinese H (xīn 辛) year, a year ending in 2 an I (rén 壬) year, and so on.
Earth Branches. The twelve Earth Branches are aligned with the famous
year animals used in Chinese astrology. (Thus most of 2002 falls into the "year
of the horse.") But they are also associated with the constellations used in the
West for signs of the zodiac, and with twelve Chinese hours of the day (each two
hours long by international caluculation), and with directions around the
horizon. Here are some correlations:
Earth Branch
| Year Animal
| Constellation
| Time of Day
| Direction |
a
| rat
| Aries
| 11pm-1am
| N
|
b
| ox
| Taurus
| 1-3
| NNE
|
c
| tiger
| Gemini
| 3-5
| ENE
|
d
| hare
| Cancer
| 5-7
| E
|
e
| dragon
| Leo
| 7-9
| ESE
|
f
| snake
| Virgo
| 9-11
| SSE
|
g
| horse
| Libra
| 11am-1pm
| S
|
h
| sheep
| Scorpio
| 1-3
| SSW
|
i
| monkey
| Sagittarius
| 3-5
| WSW
|
j
| cock
| Capricorn
| 5-7
| W
|
k
| dog
| Aquarius
| 7-9
| WNW
|
l
| pig
| Pisces
| 9-11
| NNW |
The Bottom Line:
Through such correlations, it is possible to link time
and space to each other, to the stars, and to the various things that align with
the five elements. This in turn creates a vast number of petty strategies for
running each day of one's life in accord with a culturally defined structure of
the the cosmos.
For the social scientist there are two absolutely critical conclusions to be
drawn.
- Psychological Implications:
Having procedures for running one's life
in accord with the cosmos creates the [false] impression of being able to
control one's fate, contributing to peace of mind for some people, but a
heightened anxiety for others. Most social scientists believe the peace of
mind result is more important.
- Social Implications:
Paying attention to what one's neighbors
believe are lucky and unlucky times and places constitutes a continuing
public (and personal) declaration of cultural conformity and of
subordination of individual desire to group understandings. Social
integration thrives on conformity and languishes in its absence. The
symbolic demonstration and reinforcement of broad conformity (loyalty) helps
sustain the levels of cooperation necessary for ordered social life.