Sexagesimal cycle

The Chinese sexagesimal cycle (干支 pinyin: gānzhī) is a cyclic numeral system of 60 combinations of the two basic cycles, the ten Heavenly Stems (十干; shígān) and the twelve Earthly Branches (十二支; shíèrzhī). It is used not only in China but also in other East Asian nations like Japan and Korea.

Ten Heavenly Stems

	Heavenly Stem	Chinese name	Japanese name	Yin Yang	Element
1	甲	jiǎ	kinoe (木の兄)	yang	wood
2	乙	yǐ	kinoto (木の弟)	yin
3	丙	bǐng	hinoe (火の兄)	yang	fire
4	丁	dīng	hinoto (火の弟)	yin
5	戊	wù	tsuchinoe (土の兄)	yang	earth
6	己	jǐ	tsuchinoto (土の弟)	yin
7	庚	gēng	kanoe (金の兄)	yang	metal
8	辛	xīn	kanoto (金の弟)	yin
9	壬	rén	mizunoe (水の兄)	yang	water
10	癸	guǐ	mizunoto (水の弟)	yin

Twelve Earthly Branches

	Earthly Branch	Chinese name	Japanese name	Chinese zodiac
1	子	zǐ	ne	Rat (鼠)
2	丑	chǒu	ushi	Ox (牛)
3	寅	yín	tora	Tiger (虎)
4	卯	mǎo	u	Rabbit (兔)
5	辰	chén	tatsu	Dragon (龍)
6	巳	sì	mi	Snake (蛇)
7	午	wǔ	uma	Horse (馬)
8	未	wèi	hitsuji	Sheep (羊)
9	申	shēn	saru	Monkey (猴)
10	酉	yǒu	tori	Rooster (雞)
11	戌	xū	inu	Dog (狗)
12	亥	hài	i	Pig (豬)

The Sexagesimal Cycle

	Stem-Branch	Chinese name	Japanese name	Associations
1	甲子	jiǎ-zǐ	kinoe-ne	Yang Wood Rat
2	乙丑	yǐ-chǒu	kinoto-ushi	Yin Wood Ox
3	丙寅	bǐng-yín	hinoe-tora	Yang Fire Tiger
4	丁卯	dīng-mǎo	hinoto-u	Yin Fire Rabbit
5	戊辰	wù-chén	tsuchinoe-tatsu	Yang Earth Dragon
6	己巳	jǐ-sì	tsuchinoto-mi	Yin Earth Snake
7	庚午	gēng-wǔ	kanoe-uma	Yang Metal Horse
8	辛未	xīn-wèi	kanoto-hitsuji	Yin Metal Sheep
9	壬申	rén-shēn	mizunoe-saru	Yang Water Monkey
10	癸酉	guǐ-yǒu	mizunoto-tori	Yin Water Rooster
11	甲戌	jiǎ-xū	kinoe-inu	Yang Wood Dog
12	乙亥	yǐ-hài	kinoto-i	Yin Wood Pig
13	丙子	bǐng-zǐ	hinoe-ne	Yang Fire Rat
14	丁丑	dīng-chǒu	hinoto-ushi	Yin Fire Ox
15	戊寅	wù-yín	tsuchinoe-tora	Yang Earth Tiger
16	己卯	jǐ-mǎo	tsuchinoto-u	Yin Earth Rabbit
17	庚辰	gēng-chén	kanoe-tatsu	Yang Metal Dragon
18	辛巳	xīn-sì	kanoto-mi	Yin Metal Snake
19	壬午	rén-wǔ	mizunoe-uma	Yang Water Horse
20	癸未	guǐ-wèi	mizunoto-hitsuji	Yin Water Sheep
21	甲申	jiǎ-shēn	kinoe-saru	Yang Wood Monkey
22	乙酉	yǐ-yǒu	kinoto-tori	Yin Wood Rooster
23	丙戌	bǐng-xū	hinoe-inu	Yang Fire Dog
24	丁亥	dīng-hài	hinoto-i	Yin Fire Pig
25	戊子	wù-zǐ	tsuchinoe-ne	Yang Earth Rat
26	己丑	jǐ-chǒu	tsuchinoto-ushi	Yin Earth Ox
27	庚寅	gēng-yín	kanoe-tora	Yang Metal Tiger
28	辛卯	xīn-mǎo	kanoto-u	Yin Metal Rabbit
29	壬辰	rén-chén	mizunoe-tatsu	Yang Water Dragon
30	癸巳	guǐ-sì	mizunoto-mi	Yin Water Snake
31	甲午	jiǎ-wǔ	kinoe-uma	Yang Wood Horse
32	乙未	yǐ-wèi	kinoto-hitsuji	Yin Wood Sheep
33	丙申	bǐng-shēn	hinoe-saru	Yang Fire Monkey
34	丁酉	dīng-yǒu	hinoto-tori	Yin Fire Rooster
35	戊戌	wù-xū	tsuchinoe-inu	Yang Earth Dog
36	己亥	jǐ-hài	tsuchinoto-i	Yin Earth Pig
37	庚子	gēng-zǐ	kanoe-ne	Yang Metal Rat
38	辛丑	xīn-chǒu	kanoto-ushi	Yin Metal Ox
39	壬寅	rén-yín	mizunoe-tora	Yang Water Tiger
40	癸卯	guǐ-mǎo	mizunoto-u	Yin Water Rabbit
41	甲辰	jiǎ-chén	kinoe-tatsu	Yang Wood Dragon
42	乙巳	yǐ-sì	kinoto-mi	Yin Wood Snake
43	丙午	bǐng-wǔ	hinoe-uma	Yang Fire Horse
44	丁未	dīng-wèi	hinoto-hitsuji	Yin Fire Sheep
45	戊申	wù-shēn	tsuchinoe-saru	Yang Earth Monkey
46	己酉	jǐ-yǒu	tsuchinoto-tori	Yin Earth Rooster
47	庚戌	gēng-xū	kanoe-inu	Yang Metal Dog
48	辛亥	xīn-hài	kanoto-i	Yin Metal Pig
49	壬子	rén-zǐ	mizunoe-ne	Yang Water Rat
50	癸丑	guǐ-chǒu	mizunoto-ushi	Yin Water Ox
51	甲寅	jiǎ-yín	kinoe-tora	Yang Wood Tiger
52	乙卯	yǐ-mǎo	kinoto-u	Yin Wood Rabbit
53	丙辰	bǐng-chén	hinoe-tatsu	Yang Fire Dragon
54	丁巳	dīng-sì	hinoto-mi	Yin Fire Snake
55	戊午	wù-wǔ	tsuchinoe-uma	Yang Earth Horse
56	己未	jǐ-wèi	tsuchinoto-hitsuji	Yin Earth Sheep
57	庚申	gēng-shēn	kanoe-saru	Yang Metal Monkey
58	辛酉	xīn-yǒu	kanoto-tori	Yin Metal Rooster
59	壬戌	rén-xū	mizunoe-inu	Yang Water Dog
60	癸亥	guǐ-hài	mizunoto-i	Yin Water Pig

The sexagesimal cycle was first used for dates in the Shang Dynasty, and later also used for years and less commonly for months.

For example, the year 2000 was 17th year of the 78th sexagesimal cycle, a gēng-chén year (庚辰年), a year of the Yang Metal Dragon. Therefore, 2004 is four years after, the 21st year of the 78th sexagesimal cycle, called a jiǎ-shēn year (甲申年), a year of the Yang Wood Monkey.

The naming of the months and days is not common now, although they will be shown on Chinese calendars and almanacs.

See also: Chinese calendar