Heavenly stems and earthly branches are referred to as "stems and branches"
Heavenly stems and earthly branches are equivalent to tree trunks and leaves. They are an interdependent and cooperative whole. In ancient China, heaven was the "master" and the earth was the "slave". The interconnection of "Heaven" and "Stems" is called "Heavenly Stems"; the interconnection of "Earth" and "Branch" is called "Earthly Branches", and together they are "Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches".
There are ten characters for Heavenly Stems, which are A, B, C, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren and Gui. They are collectively called "Ten Heavenly Stems".
The Earthly Branches have twelve characters, in order: Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, Hai, collectively called the "Twelve Earthly Branches".
The original meaning of Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches has this interesting saying:
1. Heavenly Stems
(A) The elephant grass forest sprouts when it breaks through the soil, and the Yang is inside Yin package. Some people think that armor is also called armor, and everything breaks through its armor and stands out.
(B) The grass and trees are newly born, and the branches and leaves are soft, bending and elongating. B is also rolled.
(C) Bing means Bing, like the sun, with its scorching light, all things are bright and clear upon seeing.
(Ding) Strong, plants and trees grow strong, just like human beings growing into Ding.
(E) Maoye symbolizes the lush vegetation of the earth.
(Ji) Rise and discipline, everything rises up and rises, it is tangible and can be disciplined.
(Geng) Geng Ye, harvest in autumn and wait for spring.
(Pin) Gold tastes pungent, and it has a taste after it is formed. Others believe that Xin means newness, and all things will change solemnly and become new and beautiful.
(Ren) means pregnancy, Yang Qi is hidden in the earth, and all things are pregnant.
(Gui) Kui also means that all things are hidden, pregnant underground, and the buds are open.
2. Earthly Branches
(Child) is also a sin. Plants and trees give birth to children. They absorb water from the soil and come out, which is the beginning of Yang sprouting.
(Ugly) Niu means plants sprouting from the soil and bending to emerge from the ground.
(Yin) Yanye, Jinye, the bent grass and trees in the cold soil, stretching from the ground in the face of the spring sun.
(Mao) Mao Ye, the sun shines in the east, and everything flourishes.
(Chen) Zhen also means stretching, all things are shaken and come into being, and Yang Qi has been halfway through its development.
(Si) arises, all things flourish, the Yin Qi disappears, pure Yang has no Yin.
(Noon) Wu Ye, all things grow up, Yang rises to full strength, and Yin rises and begins to sprout.
(Not) Taste, the fruit is ripe and flavorful.
(Shen) body, objects have all grown up.
(酉) Old and still, all things are still shrinking and converging at this time.
(Xu) Destroy, the vegetation withers, and the life becomes extinct.
(Hai) Impeachment, Yin Qi impeaches and kills all things, and it has reached its extreme.
It is said that the inventor of this interesting celestial stem and earthly branch was the Darao clan in ancient times four to five thousand years ago. For example, Liu Shu of the Tang Dynasty quoted ancient books in "Tongjian Waiji" and said: "(Yellow Emperor) his master Da Nao... began to make Jiazi." Although it is a legend that Da Nao made Jiazi, the name of the emperor from the Yin and Shang Dynasties was Judging from Tianyi (that is, Chengtang), Waibing, Zhongren, Taijia, etc., the origin of the stems and branches must be earlier than the Yin Dynasty, that is, they appeared 3,500 years ago.
At first, our ancestors only used the heavenly stems to record the days, because the number of days in each month is based on days; they used the earthly branches to record the months, because there are ten months in a year, and the ten earthly branches match them. . But soon after, people felt that if they only used the heavenly stems to record dates, there would still be three days with the same stem in each month. Therefore, they used a method of matching one heavenly stem and one earthly branch in order to record dates, such as "Shang Shu". "Gu Ming" has a record of "Only in April, the soul will be born. The king will not choose. Jiazi, the king is praising the water in Tao, and the prime minister is crowned with a jade table." This means that in early April, the king's body was very uncomfortable. On the day of Jiazi, Wang Cai bathed his hair and washed his face, his servants dressed him in formal attire, and Wang Yi sat on the jade table. Later, the method of keeping track of the day using the stems and branches was gradually introduced to keep track of the year, month and time.
六十花九子
The Chinese lunar calendar uses the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches as the method for calculating the year, month, day, and time. It means that each Heavenly Stem and Earthly Branch are calculated in a certain order without repetition. When paired together, they can be used as codes for marking years, months, days, and times. Put one character from "Heavenly Stems" in the front, followed by one character from "Earthly Branches", thus forming a pair of stems and branches.
If "Heavenly Stem" starts with the character "Jia" and "Earthly Branches" starts with the character "Zi", you can get:
Sixty Flowers Jiazi
1. Jiazi 11. Jiaxu 21. Jiashen 31. Jiawu 41. Jiachen 51. Jiayin
2. Yichou 12. Yihai 22. Yiyou 32. Yiwei 42. Yisi 52. Yimao
3.Bingyin 13.Bingzi 23.Bingxu 33.Bingshen 43.Bingwu 53.Bingchen
4.Dingmao 14.Dingchou 24.Dinghai 34.Dingyou 44.Dingwei 54. Ding Si
5. Wu Chen 15. Wu Yin 25. Wu Zi 35. Wu Xu 45. Wu Shen 55. Wu Wu
6. Ji Si 16. Ji Mao 26. Ji Chou 36. Ji Hai 46. Ji You 56. Ji Wei
7. Geng Wu 17. Geng Chen 27. Geng Yin 37. Geng Zi 47. Geng Xu 57. Geng Shen
8. Xin Wei18. 59. Renxu
10. Guiyou 20. Guiwei 30. Guisi 40. Guimao 50. Guichou 60. Guihai
These sixty pairs of stems and branches, six heavenly stems The five cycles of the Earthly Branches are exactly sixty, which is called the "sixty stems and branches". According to this order, a pair of stems and branches are used to represent each year, and a cycle of sixty years is called "Sixty Flowers Jiazi". For example, 1989 is the Si year, and 1990 is the Gengwu year; from 1984 to the Jiazi year, 2044 will be the Jiazi year again. This dating method is called the "stem and branch dating method" and is still used today.
The dates of the stems and branches are the same as the years, and they are also arranged in the order on this table.
The stems and branches of the month are recorded using the earthly branches. The twelve characters of the Earthly Branches exactly record the twelve months. The eleventh month is called the Zi month, the twelfth month is the Chou month, the first month is the Yin month, and the second month is the Mao month...
Stems and Branches The twelve earthly branches are also used to record records. The day and night are divided into twelve major hours, and each earthly branch represents a major hour. In modern time terms, each major hour is exactly equal to two hours. The so-called "hour" means "little hour", which means "half an hour".
In this way, from 23:00 today to 1:00 tomorrow morning it is called Zi hour, and from 1 to 3 o'clock it is called Chou hour...