Earthly Branches

Earthly Branches
A carving of the Chinese zodiac on the ceiling of the gate to Kushida Shrine in Fukuoka, Japan
Chinese name
Chinese地支
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyindìzhī
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanizationdeih ji
Jyutpingdei6 zi1
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ
  • tē-chi
  • tōe-chi
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabetĐịa Chi
Chữ Hán地支
Korean name
Hangul지지
Hanja地支
Transcriptions
Revised Romanizationjiji
Japanese name
Kanji地支
Hiraganaちし
Transcriptions
Romanizationchishi

The Earthly Branches (also called the Terrestrial Branches or the 12-cycle[1]) are a system of twelve ordered symbols used throughout East Asia. They are indigenous to China, and are themselves Chinese characters, corresponding to words with no concrete meaning other than the associated branch's ordinal position in the list. Cultural applications of the Branches include a dating system known as the sexagenary cycle, as well as astrology. They are associated with the ten Heavenly Stems in Chinese calendars, and in Taoist practice.