12 地支[dì zhī] vs. 12 时辰[shí chén]

The ancient Chinese divided a calendar day into 12 时辰[shí chén]. The 12 时辰[shí chén] is named and counted by the 12 地支[dì zhī]. Each 时辰[shí chén] takes up two hours. And 时辰[shí chén] can be abbreviated to 时[shí].

子时[zǐ shí] is the first of 12 时辰[shí chén]。 子时[zǐ shí] is midnight, from 11PM to 1AM, of a calendar day, and it is also a time to go forward the upcoming day. That is why 子时[zǐ shí] is the most important in the Chinese culture and life, especially at the night of 除夕[chú xì], that most Chinese are waiting and welcome for the traditional Chinese New Year with their family together.

The term 一个时辰[yí gè shí chén] means two hours, and how to say one hour in Chinese? The Chinese say 半个时辰[bàn gè shí chén] to mean an hour, because the word 半[bàn] means “a half.”

Today, Chinese people name the modern hour as 小时[xiǎo shí]. The word 小[xiǎo] means small or short.

Here is a table below showing the modern hour with the 12 地支[dì zhī].

12 地支[dì zhī] vs. 12 时辰[shí chén]
	地支 [dì zhī]	Pinyin	Hour Range
1	子	zǐ	11 pm – 1 am
2	丑	chǒu	1 am – 3 am
3	寅	yín	3 am – 5 am
4	卯	mǎo	5 am – 7 am
5	辰	chén	7 am – 9 am
6	巳	sì	9 am – 11 am
7	午	wǔ	11 am – 1 pm
8	未	wèi	1 pm – 3 pm
9	申	shēn	3 pm – 5 pm
10	酉	yǒu	5 pm – 7 pm
11	戌	xū	7 pm – 9 pm
12	亥	hài	9 pm – 11 pm