Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches: Complete BaZi Guide to Gan Zhi

What Are the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches?

The Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, often called Gan Zhi, are the core time-coding system used in the Chinese calendar and BaZi astrology.

The system has two parts:

• 10 Heavenly Stems: Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, Gui
• 12 Earthly Branches: Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, Hai

The stems describe visible qi: yin-yang, five-element quality, and direct energetic expression. The branches describe grounded context: seasons, zodiac animals, double-hour periods, hidden stems, and branch relationships.

In a BaZi chart, your birth year, month, day, and hour are each converted into one stem and one branch. Four pairs create the Four Pillars, and the eight symbols are why the system is called BaZi, or “Eight Characters.”

To see your own four pillars immediately, use the free BaZi calculator. It will generate your year, month, day, and hour pillars, plus five-element and Ten Gods analysis.

Gan Zhi Year Lookup

Enter a year to find its stem-branch pair

Use this for a quick yearly Gan Zhi, zodiac animal, and Heavenly Stem element lookup. A full BaZi chart still needs birth date, birth hour, and solar-term handling.

Gregorian yearUse current year

Gan Zhi year

丙午

Zodiac animal

马

Stem element

丙is Yang Fire

Note: this is a Gregorian-year quick lookup. In BaZi, the year pillar often changes around Li Chun, not exactly on January 1 or Lunar New Year. If you were born near January, February, or a solar-term boundary, confirm with a full BaZi calculator.

View my complete four pillars

Ten Heavenly Stems: Element and Yin-Yang Table

Each Heavenly Stem has a fixed element and yin-yang polarity. Your Day Stem is called the Day Master, the central reference point for BaZi reading.

Stem	Chinese	Element	Polarity	Image	Common BaZi Meaning
Jia	甲	Wood	Yang	Tall tree	Principled, growth-driven, directional
Yi	乙	Wood	Yin	Vine, flower, grass	Flexible, social, adaptive
Bing	丙	Fire	Yang	Sunlight	Expressive, warm, visible
Ding	丁	Fire	Yin	Candle flame	Focused, perceptive, detailed
Wu	戊	Earth	Yang	Mountain	Stable, responsible, sometimes stubborn
Ji	己	Earth	Yin	Field soil	Supportive, practical, integrative
Geng	庚	Metal	Yang	Axe, ore, blade	Decisive, direct, disciplined
Xin	辛	Metal	Yin	Jewelry, refined metal	Precise, aesthetic, quality-oriented
Ren	壬	Water	Yang	River, ocean	Broad-minded, mobile, strategic
Gui	癸	Water	Yin	Rain, mist, spring water	Sensitive, intuitive, observant

A common beginner mistake is to stop here and say, “I am a Jia Wood person” or “I am a Gui Water person.” In real BaZi, the condition of that stem depends on the season, surrounding pillars, hidden stems, element balance, and luck cycles.

For the element logic behind this table, read the Five Elements guide.

Twelve Earthly Branches: Zodiac, Hours, Elements, and Hidden Stems

The Earthly Branches are more than zodiac animals. In BaZi, each branch carries an element, a season, a double-hour period, and hidden stems inside it.

Branch	Animal	Element	Polarity	Hour	Approx. Lunar Month	Main Hidden Stems
Zi 子	Rat	Water	Yang	23:00-01:00	11th month	Gui 癸
Chou 丑	Ox	Earth	Yin	01:00-03:00	12th month	Ji 己, Gui 癸, Xin 辛
Yin 寅	Tiger	Wood	Yang	03:00-05:00	1st month	Jia 甲, Bing 丙, Wu 戊
Mao 卯	Rabbit	Wood	Yin	05:00-07:00	2nd month	Yi 乙
Chen 辰	Dragon	Earth	Yang	07:00-09:00	3rd month	Wu 戊, Yi 乙, Gui 癸
Si 巳	Snake	Fire	Yin	09:00-11:00	4th month	Bing 丙, Wu 戊, Geng 庚
Wu 午	Horse	Fire	Yang	11:00-13:00	5th month	Ding 丁, Ji 己
Wei 未	Goat	Earth	Yin	13:00-15:00	6th month	Ji 己, Ding 丁, Yi 乙
Shen 申	Monkey	Metal	Yang	15:00-17:00	7th month	Geng 庚, Ren 壬, Wu 戊
You 酉	Rooster	Metal	Yin	17:00-19:00	8th month	Xin 辛
Xu 戌	Dog	Earth	Yang	19:00-21:00	9th month	Wu 戊, Xin 辛, Ding 丁
Hai 亥	Pig	Water	Yin	21:00-23:00	10th month	Ren 壬, Jia 甲

Hidden stems are why two people born in the same zodiac year can have completely different charts. The year animal is only one branch; a full BaZi reading uses four branches, their hidden stems, the visible stems, and the timing cycles.

How the 60 Jiazi Cycle Works

The 10 stems and 12 branches combine in order. The first pair is Jia-Zi, the second is Yi-Chou, the third is Bing-Yin, and so on.

Because 10 and 12 meet again after 60 steps, the complete cycle has 60 pairs. This is the 60 Jiazi cycle.

No.	Pair	No.	Pair	No.	Pair	No.	Pair	No.	Pair
1	Jia-Zi 甲子	2	Yi-Chou 乙丑	3	Bing-Yin 丙寅	4	Ding-Mao 丁卯	5	Wu-Chen 戊辰
6	Ji-Si 己巳	7	Geng-Wu 庚午	8	Xin-Wei 辛未	9	Ren-Shen 壬申	10	Gui-You 癸酉
11	Jia-Xu 甲戌	12	Yi-Hai 乙亥	13	Bing-Zi 丙子	14	Ding-Chou 丁丑	15	Wu-Yin 戊寅
16	Ji-Mao 己卯	17	Geng-Chen 庚辰	18	Xin-Si 辛巳	19	Ren-Wu 壬午	20	Gui-Wei 癸未
21	Jia-Shen 甲申	22	Yi-You 乙酉	23	Bing-Xu 丙戌	24	Ding-Hai 丁亥	25	Wu-Zi 戊子
26	Ji-Chou 己丑	27	Geng-Yin 庚寅	28	Xin-Mao 辛卯	29	Ren-Chen 壬辰	30	Gui-Si 癸巳
31	Jia-Wu 甲午	32	Yi-Wei 乙未	33	Bing-Shen 丙申	34	Ding-You 丁酉	35	Wu-Xu 戊戌
36	Ji-Hai 己亥	37	Geng-Zi 庚子	38	Xin-Chou 辛丑	39	Ren-Yin 壬寅	40	Gui-Mao 癸卯
41	Jia-Chen 甲辰	42	Yi-Si 乙巳	43	Bing-Wu 丙午	44	Ding-Wei 丁未	45	Wu-Shen 戊申
46	Ji-You 己酉	47	Geng-Xu 庚戌	48	Xin-Hai 辛亥	49	Ren-Zi 壬子	50	Gui-Chou 癸丑
51	Jia-Yin 甲寅	52	Yi-Mao 乙卯	53	Bing-Chen 丙辰	54	Ding-Si 丁巳	55	Wu-Wu 戊午
56	Ji-Wei 己未	57	Geng-Shen 庚申	58	Xin-You 辛酉	59	Ren-Xu 壬戌	60	Gui-Hai 癸亥

The same cycle can be used for years, months, days, and hours. A BaZi chart is simply the conversion of one birth moment into four Jiazi-style pairs.

How Stems and Branches Are Used in a BaZi Chart

BaZi is not just “your zodiac animal.” It is the full stem-branch structure of your birth time.

Pillar	What It Contains	What It Often Represents
Year Pillar	Year stem and branch	Family background, early environment, wider social context
Month Pillar	Month stem and branch	Season, career base, parents, upbringing
Day Pillar	Day stem and branch	Day Master, self, marriage palace, core temperament
Hour Pillar	Hour stem and branch	Children, later life, long-term ambitions, hidden drives

Two points matter most for beginners:

1. Day Master: the Day Stem, representing the self. Ten Gods and most chart interpretation are referenced from it.
2. Month Branch: the seasonal environment. It strongly influences whether an element is strong, weak, supported, or pressured.

For example, Jia Wood born in Yin or Mao month has seasonal support. Jia Wood born in Shen or You month faces strong Metal pressure. The same Day Master can behave very differently depending on the month branch.

To learn how to read the whole chart, continue with How to Read a BaZi Chart.

Branch Relationships: Combinations, Clashes, Punishments, and Harms

Earthly Branches interact with one another. These relationships are important in both natal charts and yearly timing.

Relationship	Meaning	Common Reading
Combination	Attraction, binding, cooperation	Relationship ties, opportunity integration, sometimes attachment
Clash	Opposing directions and movement	Relocation, career change, relationship disturbance, event triggers
Punishment	Repeated pressure or friction	Inner conflict, legal or rule problems, recurring tension
Harm	Hidden obstruction	Quiet damage, mutual weakening, background difficulty

This is why the same year can feel like promotion for one person, a breakup for another, and a relocation year for someone else. The annual branch interacts with each natal chart differently.

Do Not Calculate BaZi From Zodiac Year Alone

If you only want the zodiac animal of a year, a simple table is enough. If you want your BaZi chart, it is not enough.

There are three reasons:

1. The BaZi year pillar is commonly tied to solar terms, especially Li Chun, not just January 1 or Lunar New Year.
2. The month pillar follows solar terms, not a simple lunar-month label.
3. The hour pillar depends on birth time and time zone, especially near double-hour boundaries.

Use a BaZi calculator for the actual chart, then use this guide to understand what the stems and branches mean.

Recommended Learning Order

If you are learning BaZi from scratch, do not start by memorizing every advanced formula. Use this order:

1. Memorize the 10 stems and 12 branches.
2. Learn each stem and branch element.
3. Understand hidden stems.
4. Learn the four pillars: year, month, day, hour.
5. Then study Ten Gods, useful elements, luck cycles, combinations, and clashes.

The structure is simple: stems and branches are the frame, five elements are the energy logic, Ten Gods are the human-language layer, and luck cycles are time movement.

Further Reading

• What Is BaZi? — the full four-pillars framework.
• Five Elements Explained — the element logic behind stems and branches.
• How to Read a BaZi Chart — put Gan Zhi back into an actual chart.
• Ten Gods Guide — translate element relationships into personality, career, and relationship analysis.

FAQ

What are the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches?

The Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches are the traditional Chinese system for encoding time, yin-yang, and the five elements. The 10 stems and 12 branches combine in order to form the 60 Jiazi cycle. In BaZi, your birth year, month, day, and hour are each converted into one stem-branch pair.

Are Earthly Branches the same as the Chinese zodiac?

No. The zodiac animals are only one layer of the 12 Earthly Branches, usually tied to the year branch. The branches also represent elements, seasons, double-hour periods, hidden stems, and relationships such as combinations, clashes, punishments, and harms.

How can I find my own stems and branches?

Use a BaZi calculator and enter your birth date, time, and location. A proper calculation needs solar terms, time zone handling, and hour-pillar conversion, so guessing from the zodiac year alone is not enough.

Which stem or branch matters most in BaZi?

The Day Stem, called the Day Master, is the core reference point of a BaZi chart. The Month Branch is also crucial because it represents seasonal strength. A complete reading still needs all four pillars, hidden stems, Ten Gods, luck cycles, and annual influences.

How are stems and branches related to the five elements?

Every stem and branch has an element. Stems are more direct, while branches also contain hidden stems and seasonal force. BaZi interpretation uses the generating and controlling relationships between these elements to evaluate chart strength, Ten Gods, useful elements, and timing changes.