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The Twelve Earthly Branches — Hidden Stems and Relationships

All twelve earthly branches with their animals, elements, hours and hidden stems, plus the six relationships — harmony, clash, punishment, harm and break.

Quick answer

What are the twelve earthly branches?

The twelve earthly branches (地支) are the twelve months and twelve two-hour periods of the Chinese calendar, each with a fixed element and animal. In a chart the branches are the ground the heavenly stems stand on, and they carry most of the timing.

All twelve

子
Zi — Rat
The still water at the bottom of a well.
Water · Yang · 23:00–01:00
丑
Chou — Ox
Frozen ground that has to be broken before anything can be planted.
Earth · Yin · 01:00–03:00
寅
Yin — Tiger
The first shoot that comes up through frozen ground.
Wood · Yang · 03:00–05:00
卯
Mao — Rabbit
A field of new grass, uniform and growing all at once.
Wood · Yin · 05:00–07:00
辰
Chen — Dragon
A wet riverbank in the last month of spring.
Earth · Yang · 07:00–09:00
巳
Si — Snake
The first warm day after a cold spring.
Fire · Yin · 09:00–11:00
午
Wu — Horse
The sun at noon, directly overhead.
Fire · Yang · 11:00–13:00
未
Wei — Goat
The soft dry earth of a garden at the end of august.
Earth · Yin · 13:00–15:00
申
Shen — Monkey
The first cold edge in the air at the end of a hot day.
Metal · Yang · 15:00–17:00
酉
You — Rooster
A blade that has already been finished and polished.
Metal · Yin · 17:00–19:00
戌
Xu — Dog
Dry earth at the edge of a field after the harvest.
Earth · Yang · 19:00–21:00
亥
Hai — Pig
The first freeze on a river that is still moving underneath.
Water · Yin · 21:00–23:00
十二地支the twelvebranches子Zi丑Chou寅Yin卯Mao辰Chen巳Si午Wu未Wei申Shen酉You戌Xu亥Haisix harmonythree harmonyclashpunishmentharmbreak
The twelve earthly branches in their fixed order — the dial every other relationship is measured against. The six harmony pairs sit opposite each other around the ring; clash runs straight across; three harmony groups sit four places apart.

Branches and their hidden stems

Every branch contains between one and three heavenly stems, listed as main qi, middle qi and leftover qi. This is the layer that explains why two charts with the same branch behave differently, and why a branch that looks like one element can supply another.

BranchAnimalElement Hidden stemsHours
子 ZiRatWater癸23:00–01:00
丑 ChouOxEarth己 癸 辛01:00–03:00
寅 YinTigerWood甲 丙 戊03:00–05:00
卯 MaoRabbitWood乙05:00–07:00
辰 ChenDragonEarth戊 乙 癸07:00–09:00
巳 SiSnakeFire丙 戊 庚09:00–11:00
午 WuHorseFire丁 己11:00–13:00
未 WeiGoatEarth己 丁 乙13:00–15:00
申 ShenMonkeyMetal庚 壬 戊15:00–17:00
酉 YouRoosterMetal辛17:00–19:00
戌 XuDogEarth戊 辛 丁19:00–21:00
亥 HaiPigWater壬 甲21:00–23:00
Zi, Mao and You hold only one hidden stem each. Branches with a single voice are read as single-minded; the four earth branches hold three and are the most complex positions in the chart.

How branches relate to each other

Six relationships run through the twelve branches: 六合 six harmony, 三合 three harmony, 冲 clash, 刑 punishment, 害 harm and 破 break. Every branch page lists its own partners. None of these relationships is a verdict on its own — they describe how the energy in a chart moves, where it accelerates and where it meets friction.

Read alone, a clash looks alarming. Read against a day master and a season, the same clash is often the mechanism that releases something that was stuck.

Keep reading

Stems & branches The ten gods The five elements The ten day masters Hidden stems explained

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