Earthly Branches

A carving of the Chinese Zodiac on the ceiling of the gate to Kushida Shrine in Fukuoka, Japan, part of the East Asian cultural sphere. This zodiac is important in both certain ancient methods of time-keeping and in the directions of the compass.

The Earthly Branches (Chinese and Japanese: 地支; pinyin: dìzhī; Korean: 지지; or Chinese and Japanese: 十二支; pinyin: shí'èrzhī; Korean: 십이지; literally: "twelve branches") provide one Chinese system for reckoning time.

Origin

This system was built from observations of the orbit of Jupiter. Chinese astronomers divided the celestial circle into 12 sections to follow the orbit of 歲星 Suìxīng (Jupiter, the Year Star). Astronomers rounded the orbit of Suixing to 12 years (from 11.86). Suixing was associated with 攝提 Shètí (η Boötis) and sometimes called Sheti.

History

In correlative thinking, the twelve years of the Jupiter cycle also identify the twelve months of the year, twelve animals (mnemonics for the system), directions, seasons, and Chinese hour in the form of double-hours. When a Branch is used for a double hour, the listed periods are meant. When used for an exact time of a day, it is the center of the period. For instance, 午 (the Horse) means noon or a period from 11am to 1pm. (The jie qi system provided single hours and 15-degree arcs in time and space.)

Chinese seasons are based on observations of the sun and stars. Many Chinese calendrical systems have started the new year on the second new moon after the winter solstice.

The Earthly Branches are today used with the Heavenly Stems in the current version of the "traditional Chinese calendar" and in Taoism. The Ganzhi (Stem-Branch) combination is a fairly new way to mark time; in the second millennium BC, during the Shang era, it was the ten Heavenly Stems that provided the names of the days of the week. The Branches are as old as the Stems (and according to recent archaeology may actually be older), but the Stems were tied to the ritual calendars of Chinese kings. They were not part of the calendrical systems for the majority of Chinese people.

The twelve branches

Arctic Side

  Earthly
Branch
Chinese Japanese Korean
(RR)
Mongolian Manchu Vietnamese Chinese
zodiac
Japanese
zodiac
Direction Season Lunar Month Double Hour
Mandarin
Zhuyin
Mandarin
Pinyin
Cantonese
Jyutping
on'yomi kun'yomi
1ㄗˇzi2し(shi)ね(ne)자 (ja)ᠬᠤᠯᠤᠭᠠᠨ᠎ᠠᠰᡳᠩᡤᡝᡵᡳtí (SV: tử)
Rat
0° (north)winterMonth 1111pm to 1am (midnight)
2ㄔㄡˇchǒucau2ちゅう(chū)うし(ushi)축 (chuk) (SK: 추 (chu))ᠦᠬᠡᠷᡳᡥᠠᠨsửu
Ox
30°Month 121am to 3am
3ㄧㄣˊyínjan4いん(in)とら(tora)인 (in)ᠪᠠᠷᠰᡨᠠᠰᡥᠠdần
Tiger
60°springMonth 13am to 5am
4ㄇㄠˇmǎomaau5ぼう(bō)う(u)묘 (myo)ᠲᠠᠤᠯᠠᠢᡤᡡᠯᠮᠠᡥᡡᠨmão (non-SV: mẹo)
Rabbit
90° (east)Month 25am to 7am
5ㄔㄣˊchénsan4しん(shin)たつ(tatsu)진 (jin) (SK: 신 (sin))ᠯᠤᠤᠮᡠᡩᡠᡵᡳthìn (SV: thần)龙(龍)
Dragon
120°Month 37am to 9 am
6ㄙˋzi6し(shi)み(mi)사 (sa)ᠮᠣᠭᠠᠢᠮᡝᡳᡥᡝtị
Snake
150°summerMonth 49am to 11am
7ㄨˇng5ご(go)うま(uma)오 (o)ᠮᠣᠷᠢᠮᠣᡵᡳᠨngọ马(馬)
Horse
180° (south)Month 511am to 1pm (noon)
8ㄨㄟˋwèimei6び (bi)ひつじ(hitsuji)미 (mi)ᠬᠣᠨᠢᡥᠣᠨᡳᠨmùi (SV: vị)
Goat
210°Month 61pm to 3pm
9ㄕㄣshēnsan1しん(shin)さる(saru)신 (sin)ᠪᠡᠴᠢᠨᠪᠣᠨᡳᠣthân
Monkey
240°autumnMonth 73pm to 5pm
10ㄧㄡˇyǒujau5ゆう(yū)とり(tori)유 (yu)ᠲᠠᠬᠢᠶ᠎ᠠᠴᠣᡴᠣdậu鸡(雞)
Rooster
270° (west)Month 85pm to 7pm
11ㄒㄩseot1じゅつ(jutsu)いぬ(inu)술 (sul)ᠨᠣᠬᠠᠢᡳᠨᡩᠠᡥᡡᠨtuất
Dog
300°Month 97pm to 9pm
12ㄏㄞˋhàihoi6がい(gai)い(i)해 (hae)ᠭᠠᠬᠠᠢᡠᠯᡤᡳᠶᠠᠨhợi猪(豬)
Pig
330°winterMonth 109pm to 11pm

Some cultures assign different animals: Vietnam replaces the Ox and Rabbit with the water buffalo and cat respectively; Japan replaces the Pig () with the boar () as the character 猪 means Pig in Chinese but "boar" in Japanese; Tibet replaces the Rooster with the bird. In the traditional Kazakh version of the 12-year animal cycle (Kazakh: мүшел, müşel), the Dragon is substituted by a snail (Kazakh: ұлу, ulw), and the Tiger appears as a leopard (Kazakh: барыс, barıs).[1]

Directions

The 24 cardinal directions (ancient Chinese convention places the south (red) at the top).

Even though Chinese has words for the four cardinal directions, 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:

Following is a table of the 24 directions:

  Character Mandarin name Korean name Japanese name Vietnamese name Direction
1 ㄗˇ zǐ자 (ja)ね (ne)tí (SV: tử) 0° (north)
2 ㄍㄨㄟˇ guǐ계 (gye) (SK: 규 (gyu))みずのと (mizunoto)quý 15°
3 ㄔㄡˇ chǒu축 (chuk) (SK: 추 (chu))うし (ushi)sửu 30°
4 ㄍㄣˋ gèn간 (gan)うしとら (ushitora)cấn 45° (northeast)
5 ㄧㄣˊ yín인 (in)とら (tora)dần 60°
6 ㄐㄧㄚˇ jiǎ갑 (gap)きのえ (kinoe)giáp 75°
7 ㄇㄠˇ mǎo묘 (myo)う (u)mão (non-SV: mẹo) 90° (east)
8 ㄧˇ yǐ을 (eul)きのと (kinoto)ất 105°
9 ㄔㄣˊ chén진 (jin) (SK: 신 (sin))たつ (tatsu)thìn (SV: thần) 120°
10 ㄒㄩㄣˋ xùn손 (son)たつみ (tatsumi)tốn 135° (southeast)
11 ㄙˋ sì사 (sa)み (mi)tị 150°
12 ㄅㄧㄥˇ bǐng병 (byeong)ひのえ (hinoe)bính 165°
13 ㄨˇ wǔ오 (o)うま (uma)ngọ 180ㄑ° (south)
14 ㄉㄧㄥ dīng정 (jeong)ひのと (hinoto)đinh 195°
15 ㄨㄟˋ wèi미 (mi)ひつじ (hitsuji)mùi (SV: vị) 210°
16 ㄎㄨㄣ kūn곤 (gon)ひつじさる (hitsujisaru)khôn 225° (southwest)
17 ㄕㄣ shēn신 (sin)さる (saru)thân 240°
18 ㄍㄥ gēng경 (gyeong)かのえ (kanoe)canh 255°
19 ㄧㄡˇ yǒu유 (yu)とり (tori)dậu 270° (west)
20 ㄒㄧㄣ xīn신 (sin)かのと (kanoto)tân 285°
21 ㄒㄩ xū술 (sul)いぬ (inu)tuất 300°
22 ㄑㄧㄢˊ qián건 (geon)いぬい (inui)càn (SV: kiền) 315° (northwest)
23 ㄏㄞˋ hài해 (hae)い (i)hợi 330°
24 ㄖㄣˊ rén임 (im)みずのえ (mizunoe)nhâm 345°

Advanced mariners such as Zheng He 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 (bǐng), 165°, and (wǔ), 180°.

See also

PDF: A study of the cardinal directions chart

References

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