Gan – Heavenly Stem and Zhi – Earthly Branch

Also related to the 28 lunar houses are the ten Heavenly Stems, which reflect the energy of Heaven (Table 1) and the twelve Earthly Branches, which represent the energy of Earth (Table 2).

 

Nobody knows who invented the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches. It is said that they existed even before the invention of the Chinese characters. Today, the symbols for the Stems and Branches are seen in the unearthed ancient Chinese oracle bones from the Shang Dynasty (1766 to 1111 BCE).

 

As noted in the tables below, a given Stem or Branch also contains the energy of one of the Five Elements. As a brief example, the first Heavenly Stem, Jia, contains the energy of Yang Wood. The first Earthly Branch, Zi, contains the energy of Yang Water.

 

Traditional Chinese astrology names each year according to its Heavenly Stem and Earthly Branch. For instance, this year (2006) is called Bing Xu. Bing is the Heavenly Stem and it means Yang Fire. Xu is the Earthly Branch and it means Yang Earth. The astrological animal associated with Xu is the dog. This is the origin of those astrological animals on restaurant menus – they are a part of the Earthly Branch energy.

 

Naming years in this fashion functions not only to keep track of the year but also to characterize the energy of that time period. The energies of each month, date, or even time of day (in two-hour increments) are also reflected by a Heavenly Stem and Earthly Branch.