Celestial Stems and Terrestrial Branches

Chinese use 10 Celestial Stems 天干[tiān gān] and 12 Terrestrial Branches 地支[dì zhī] to name, count and record the year, the month, the day, and the hour of time.

The ancient Chinese believed that the earth was separated from heaven (sky), and then there are people. The heaven is to the earth as the trunk to the branch. Therefore, they took celestial stem and terrestrial branch in terms to count, symbolizes, and record the time.

天干地支[tiān gān dì zhī] can be abbreviated to "Stem and Branch" 干支[gān zhī].

Today, 干支[gān zhī] is still used in calendars, fortune-telling, sacrificial ceremony, counting, name giving, etc.

The following three tables are 10 天干[tiān gān], 12 地支[dì zhī] and the pairings of each 天干[tiān gān] with each 地支[dì zhī].

The third table of 天干地支[tiān gān dì zhī] shows a set of 60 valid pairing units totally.

As Chinese using these 60 units to count the year in name and in its order, the first year is 甲子[jiǎ zǐ], and the last, 癸亥[guǐ hài].

The phrase 一甲子[yì jiǎ zǐ] means a 60 year cycle.

Note that the beginning of a year is from the day of 立春[lì chūn]. Therefore, this year is the year of 庚子[gēng zǐ], from February 4 of 2020 to February 2 of 2021, and the upcoming year is the year of 辛丑[xīn chǒu] that begins from February 3 of 2021, based on the Gregorian calendar.

Table 1. 10 Celestial Stems 天干[tiān gān]

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
甲	乙	丙	丁	戊	己	庚	辛	壬	癸
jiǎ	yǐ	bǐng	dīng	wù	jǐ	gēng	xīn	rén	guǐ

Table 2. 12 Terrestrial Branches 地支[dì zhī]

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
子	丑	寅	卯	辰	巳	午	未	申	酉	戌	亥
zǐ	chǒu	yín	mǎo	chén	sì	wǔ	wèi	shēn	yǒu	xū	hài

Table 3. Pairing 天干[tiān gān] with 地支[dì zhī]

天干 👉 👇 地支		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
		甲	乙	丙	丁	戊	己	庚	辛	壬	癸
1	子	(1)		(13)		(25)		(37)		(49)
		甲 子		丙 子		戊 子		庚 子		壬 子
2	丑		(2)		(14)		(26)		(38)		(50)
			乙 丑		丁 丑		己 丑		辛 丑		癸 丑
3	寅	(51)		(3)		(15)		(27)		(39)
		甲 寅		丙 寅		戊 寅		庚 寅		壬 寅
4	卯		(52)		(4)		(16)		(28)		(40)
			乙 卯		丁 卯		己 卯		辛 卯		癸 卯
5	辰	(41)		(53)		(5)		(17)		(29)
		甲 辰		丙 辰		戊 辰		庚 辰		壬 辰
6	巳		(42)		(54)		(6)		(18)		(30)
			乙 巳		丁 巳		己 巳		辛 巳		癸 巳
7	午	(31)		(43)		(55)		(7)		(19)
		甲 午		丙 午		戊 午		庚 午		壬 午
8	未		(32)		(44)		(56)		(8)		(20)
			乙 未		丁 未		己 未		辛 未		癸 未
9	申	(21)		(33)		(45)		(57)		(9)
		甲 申		丙 申		戊 申		庚 申		壬 申
10	酉		(22)		(34)		(46)		(58)		(10)
			乙 酉		丁 酉		己 酉		辛 酉		癸 酉
11	戌	(11)		(23)		(35)		(47)		(59)
		甲 戌		丙 戌		戊 戌		庚 戌		壬 戌
12	亥		(12)		(24)		(36)		(48)		(60)
			乙 亥		丁 亥		己 亥		辛 亥		癸 亥