NOTE: This post is not about “Chinese time” in reference to Chinese people always being late, i.e. so instead of telling a Chinese person that dinner starts at 7:00 p.m., you tell them the “Chinese time” of 6:30 or even 6:00 p.m. so that they will arrive on time… lol π . Rather, this post is about how the Chinese label time according to stems and branches.
In ancient China, it is believed that there is an energy force evident in all things. Called “qi” or “chi,” this energy is present in all natural forms, living organisms, the earth and space, and even within the human body. Being all-encompassing, qi is the energy that holds the meaning of life.
Qi can be categorized into five elements with a yin or yang polarity. (For more about the yin yang, refer to the post “No Room for Gray?”.) The interactions of the five elements with each other—and not necessarily the element’s characteristics by itself—form the basis for Chinese divination, science, philosophy, and medicine.
The ancient Chinese believed that once a person is born, they are imprinted with two forms of qi: that from heaven and that from the earth. They set about to name these energies and came up with 10 “heavenly stems” for the qi coming from heaven and 12 “earthly branches” for the qi coming from the earth.
According to wikipedia, the stems were named after 10 mythical suns or perhaps the 10 clans that ruled during the Shang dynasty. Branches were developed by astronomers studying the orbit of Jupiter; its orbital circle divided into 12 sections. Thus the cycle of Jupiter was rounded up to 12 years, which would later split up the year into 12 months, 12 seasons and 12 hour equivalents (the Chinese counted hours in terms of every two hours: so, instead of having a term such as “midnight” or the 12th hour, that time would be during the middle of the “zi” hour—zi time being from 11:00 pm to 1:00 am; chou is from 1:00 am – 3:00 am; yin is from 3:00 am – 5:00 am; etc.)
Branches |
|
Elements |
Zodiac |
Hour |
Zi |
ε |
Yang Water |
Rat |
11 pm β 1am |
Chou |
δΈ |
Yin Earth |
Ox |
1 am β 3 am |
Yin |
ε― |
Yang Wood |
Tiger |
3 am β 5 am |
Mao |
ε― |
Yin Wood |
Rabbit |
5 am β 7 am |
Chen |
θΎ° |
Yang Earth |
Dragon |
7 am β 9 am |
Si |
ε·³ |
Yin Fire |
Snake |
9 am β 11am |
Wu |
ε |
Yang Fire |
Horse |
11 am β 1 pm |
Wei |
ζͺ |
Yin Earth |
Sheep |
1 pm β 3 pm |
Shen |
η³ |
Yang Metal |
Monkey |
3 pm β 5 pm |
You |
ι |
Yin Metal |
Rooster |
5 pm β 7 pm |
Xu |
ζ |
Yang Earth |
Dog |
7 pm β 9 pm |
Hai |
δΊ₯ |
Yin Water |
Pig |
9 pm β 11pm |
Note: In the Chinese lunar calendar, there are 30 days in each month (with leap months having 29 days). You would think they would use 24 or 36 days since they are using 12 for most everything else π . Go figure?
Throughout the centuries, there was no consistent system of recording time. Each new dynasty would start counting and naming the years under the reigning emperor. Eventually, during the Shang dynasty, the system of stems and branches was standardized. For example, May 13, 2008 is a “gui” (stem) “chou” (branch) day in the wu zi year.
Stems |
|
Elements |
Jia |
η² |
Yang Wood |
Yi |
δΉ |
Yin Wood |
Bing |
δΈ |
Yang Fire |
Ding |
δΈ |
Yin Fire |
Wu |
ζ |
Yang Earth |
Ji |
ε·± |
Yin Earth |
Geng |
εΊ |
Yang Metal |
Xin |
θΎ |
Yin Metal |
Ren |
壬 |
Yang Water |
Gui |
ηΈ |
Yin Water |
The stem and branch system was mainly used by emperors and their advisors (for feng shui and divination), while most laypeople referred to only branches to tell time.
To further simplify things, animals were assigned to the earthly branches. Their characteristics were supposed to correspond to the respective energies of the branch, making branch names easier to remember. Therefore, the rat replaced “zi,” the ox replaced “chou,” the tiger replaced “yin,” etc…
In 2008, the imperial/astrological designation is wu zi year. The heavenly stem “wu” corresponds to the qi of yang earth, while the earthly branch “zi” is now referred to as Rat… That’s what people mean when they say that this is an “Earth Rat” year or just Rat year for short.
Whew! π This is a lot of info to digest in one sitting! It took me awhile to understand all this and I am still trying to memorize the names. But to understand Chinese astrology, you need to have a thorough understanding of these “basic” concepts.
Next time I will write about the animals and how you can tell if you are going to have a bad day depending on the “branch” of the day. Ciao for now!
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