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Heavenly Stems
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The ten heavenly stems (Chinese: 天干; pinyin: tiān'gān) or ten stems (Chinese: 十干; pinyin: shígān) are an ancient Chinese cyclic numeral system. They were first used for dates in the Shang Dynasty, and are now used with the twelve Earthly Branches in the Sexagesimal cycle in the Chinese calendar and in Chinese astrology. They are associated with the concepts of yin and yang and the Five Elements.
| Heavenly Stem |
Chinese name |
Japanese name |
Yin Yang | Element | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 甲 | jiǎ | kinoe | yang | wood |
| 2 | 乙 | yǐ | kinoto | yin | |
| 3 | 丙 | bǐng | hinoe | yang | fire |
| 4 | 丁 | dīng | hinoto | yin | |
| 5 | 戊 | wù | tsuchinoe | yang | earth |
| 6 | 己 | jǐ | tsuchinoto | yin | |
| 7 | 庚 | gēng | kanoe | yang | metal |
| 8 | 辛 | xīn | kanoto | yin | |
| 9 | 壬 | rén | mizunoe | yang | water |
| 10 | 癸 | guǐ | mizunoto | yin |
The Shang people had a myth in which there were ten suns, each of which appears in order in a ten-day cycle (旬; xǔn). The Heavenly Stems were the names of the ten suns. The kings of the Shang had characters of the Stems in their given names. Some historians think the ruling class of the Shang had ten clans, but it is not clear whether their society reflected the myth or vice versa. The association to Yin Yang and the Five Elements occurred later, after the collapse of the Shang Dynasty.
The Stems are still commonly used nowadays in China in counting systems similar to the way the alphabet is used in English, namely,
- Students' grades: with an additional Yōu (優 "Excellence") before Jiǎ.
- Names in legal documents and contracts where English speakers would use A, B, C, etc.
- Choices on multiple choice exams, surveys, etc.
- Naming of organic chemicals (e.g. methanol: 甲醇 jiǎchún; ethanol: 乙醇 yǐchún)
- Naming of diseases (Hepatitis A: 甲型肝炎 jiǎxíng gānyán; Hepatitis B: 乙型肝炎 yǐxíng gānyán)
- Naming of sports leagues (Serie A: 意甲 yìjiǎ)
- Vitamins' names (although currently, in this case, the ABC system is more popular)
- Naming characters entertaining a dialogue in a short text (甲 speaks first, 乙 answers)
Japan also uses heavenly stems on legal documents in this way.