THE TWELVE EARTHLY BRANCHES
Zi: Earthly Branch
Zi begins the twelve-branch sequence and pairs with Rat.
Go deeper: the full reference
子 · zǐ
In the wider branch system, Zi is associated with deep winter and the turn around midnight. As a year branch here it marks one place in a repeating calendar cycle; no birth-hour branch is calculated.
An example
Zi can frame the small beginning hidden inside an apparent ending.
A question to carry with you
What new beginning is taking shape quietly?
Find your own lunar-year placement
Use your birth date to find the year animal, stem, branch, stem phase and Yin/Yang. This calculator follows Chinese New Year; it does not calculate a full Four Pillars (BaZi) chart.
Connect the ideas
Chou: Earthly Branch
Chou is the second branch and pairs with Ox.
1 min readYin: Earthly Branch
Yin is the third branch and pairs with Tiger.
1 min readMao: Earthly Branch
Mao is the fourth branch and pairs with Rabbit.
1 min readChen: Earthly Branch
Chen is the fifth branch and pairs with Dragon.
1 min read