Stems and Branches

History and Development

The origin of Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches天干地支is obscured by the mist of time, but from the different records available, there seems to be several accounts as to how Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches came about and became incorporated into Chinese Metaphysics.

One account said that it was the original ancient settlers along the Yellow River, the place of origin of the civilization of the Chinese, who invented the sundial (also called the gnomon stick) and then later on, the Stems and Branches. 

They observed the Sun’s movements, the waxing and waning of the Sun, and the long and short of the shadow on the sundial, to tell the time and season throughout the year. 

Their first observation was the sunlight casting a shadow on the sundial to show the position of the Sun. This was the first thing that they found out that the Sun rises in the East and sets in the West. 

Later on, the other two Cardinal directions, North and South, and the Ordinal directions of NW, NE, SW and SE were deduced from the original findings. The so-called ‘movement of the sun’ is actually the waxing and waning of the Sun’s light when the Earth revolves on its axis. The length or shortness of the shadow on the sundial tells the time and season throughout the year. It was during this experimentation and research that the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches were developed. 

Before the invention of the magnetic needle, the ancients relied on their research findings and observations of the sundial to determine the direction. Therefore, these ancients most probably discovered the Earthly Branches through the sundial method. It tells not only the time, but also the direction.

Another explanation is a recorded historical account that said that Stems and Branches were invented by one DaNao 大挠, who lived during the era of the first emperor of China, HuangDi. 

Towards the end of the Warring States era, the ministers of several states got together and recorded historical events and happenings in a book called ShiBen or Book of the World. It said: “RongChen invented the calendar, DaNao invented the JiaZi. (容成作历，大桡作甲子).”

It goes on to say that both these persons were ministers in HuangDi’s imperial palace. If we go according to this historical record, it looks like DaNao should be considered the originator of the Stems and Branches. 

There is another viewpoint that the Stems and Branches were most probably influenced by Babylonian (circa 1800 – 500 BCE) astronomy. 

The Babylonians, too, calculated days according to Lunar and Solar time. They, too, found out about the waxing and waning of the Moon from its orbit around the Earth, averaging 29.5 (29.5306) days. In 12 months, the number of days in Lunar time would amount to only 354 days.

Solar time, which is the Earth’s orbit around the Sun, takes approximately 365 (365.2419) days. The difference between Solar time and Lunar time is roughly 11 days. Therefore, by a Royal Decree, the Babylonian court astronomers were instructed to add an Intercalary month (Leap Month) whenever necessary to balance the calendar.

The Babylonians, too, had similar astronomical knowledge of the five planets closest to the Earth, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus and Mercury, just like the Chinese.

The other evidence of Stem-and-Branch usage was from oracle bones showing inscriptions of Stems and Branches, and other artifacts dug up in archeological sites belonging to the Shang Dynasty (2^nd millennium B.C.) and Yin Dynasty Era in China.

It was used during the Shang Dynasty to name days. This is the clearest evidence of the early origin of Stems and Branches being used in divination and tracking of time. (Please see the chapter on History of FengShui.)

Here are two versions of the origin of the Heavenly Stems:

a. During the Shang Dynasty, there were ten suns. Each sun appearing, one a day; in a ten-day cycle (旬 Xun), all the suns would have appeared completing the cycle. The Heavenly Stems were named after these ten suns.

b.  The second account said that the Shang had ten clans and the names of these ten clans are actually the names of the TianGan (Heavenly Stems.) This account goes on to say that even the Kings of the Shang are named after the TianGan.

I will leave it to the reader to decide whichever account to believe. As the important fact now is that the application and usage of Stems and Branches presented a facet of magical mystery and awe to the users. 

Many modern day practitioners would love to find out the actual origin of these Stems and Branches and what are the logical theories behind them. Personally, I would opt for research on the logical theories that is more practical than spending time on historical information. 

Characteristics of Stems and Branches

The Heavenly Stems (天干TianGan) and Earthly Branches (地支DiZhi) are a numerical system that goes by cycle. It is the cornerstone of time calculation in ancient China and Chinese Metaphysics. The time factor in Chinese Metaphysics is based on the Stems and Branches only. 

The 10 TianGans are: Jia (甲), Yi (乙), Bing (丙), Ding (丁), Wu (戊), Ji (己), Geng (庚), Xin (辛), Ren (壬), Gui (癸).  

The 12 DiZhi are: Zi (子), Chou (丑), Yin (寅), Mao (卯), Chen (辰), Si (巳), Wu (午), Wei (未), Shen (申), You (酉), Xu (戌), Hai (亥).

Combining these two in a fixed sequence of similar polarity will produce 60 combinations called the 60 JiaZi. Yang Stems paired with Yang Branches, and Yin Stems paired with Yin Branches. This 60 JiaZi represents five rounds of 12 years based on a cycle of 12 Earthly Branches or six cycles of 10 years based on a cycle of 10 Heavenly Stems. (Please see the section on the GanZhi system.)

In the book San Ming Tong Hui (三命通会), it described Stems and Branches as: “Stems are like the stem of a tree, strong and sturdy, and considered as Yang; and Branches are literally like the branches of a tree, weak, therefore considered as Yin.”

In the study of Chinese Metaphysics, YiJing study (in short called Yi studies) plays the most crucial role to the point that it becomes pervasive and mandatory in every branch. One of the characteristics of Yi studies is its analogous nature. YiJing is Nature and Nature is YiJing. Yi studies always use analogy with all natural phenomena as a form of visual comparison. This form or mode of study is commonly used in FengShui studies and the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches cannot escape this method of analogous study.  

Excerpted from Chapter 4 of my book Chinese Metaphysics: Essential FengShui Basics