Earthly Branches

Di Zhi (Chinese 地支, dìzhī — "the Earthly Branches") is a system of twelve cyclical signs in Chinese metaphysics, reflecting the earthly (material, receptive) aspect of Qi (氣).

Known in the West as "the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac", but in reality they are signs of time, not a zodiac in the Western sense.

The Twelve Earthly Branches

• 子 Zi — Rat (鼠, Yang Water), 23–01
• 丑 Chou — Ox (牛, Yin Earth), 01–03
• 寅 Yin — Tiger (虎, Yang Wood), 03–05
• 卯 Mao — Rabbit (兔, Yin Wood), 05–07
• 辰 Chen — Dragon (龍, Yang Earth), 07–09
• 巳 Si — Snake (蛇, Yin Fire), 09–11
• 午 Wu — Horse (馬, Yang Fire), 11–13
• 未 Wei — Goat (羊, Yin Earth), 13–15
• 申 Shen — Monkey (猴, Yang Metal), 15–17
• 酉 You — Rooster (雞, Yin Metal), 17–19
• 戌 Xu — Dog (狗, Yang Earth), 19–21
• 亥 Hai — Pig (豬, Yin Water), 21–23

Hidden Stems

Inner structure. Each branch contains "hidden stems" (藏干, cánggān) — internal elements. This makes branches more complex than stems: a single branch may contain 1–3 "hidden" elements at once.

Use in Ba Zi

The four pillars. In Ba Zi (#10), the four pillars of destiny (year, month, day, hour) are defined by stem + branch pairs.

Special Branch Combinations

The branches form special groups that transform elements:

• Triples (三合, sānhé) — three branches forming a strengthened element
• Sixes (六合, liùhé) — pairs of branches giving a new quality