地支

Earthly Branches

地支 · Dìzhī

Twelve calendar symbols that pair with the Heavenly Stems to mark years, months, days and two-hour periods. A branch is the second character of each pillar and carries traditional element and hidden-stem associations.

In more detail

Each branch is also linked to one of the twelve zodiac animals. These animal names are calendar labels; a whole chart contains more information than its year animal.

Also called: Terrestrial Branches · Twelve Branches

The characters

地dìearth; ground
支zhībranch

Together, 地支 reads “the branches of earth”.

Sources

子平真诠 · 论十干十二支
Hong Kong Observatory · Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches: tables and the Eight Characters

These terms describe a traditional symbolic framework. Chart interpretation and our naming method remain experimental.

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