Earthly Branches (Di Zhi)地支
Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao through Hai — the twelve branches explained
What is Earthly Branches (Di Zhi)?
The Earthly Branches are twelve signs — Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu and Hai — corresponding to the twelve zodiac animals, the twelve solar months and the twelve double-hours. Besides its principal energy, each branch conceals one to three stems, known as the hidden stems or the human element.
How it is used in a BaZi reading
The branches form the lower half of the four pillars. The month branch decides the direction the chart's structure is read from, the day branch is the spouse palace, and the hour branch governs later life and children. Six-harmony, three-harmony, clash, punishment and harm relations between branches are the main handles for reading change and the state of a relationship.
Interpretive limits
Branches and zodiac animals are not the same thing as the popular "animal compatibility" shorthand; BaZi matching weighs the whole chart, and a verdict drawn from animal clash or harmony alone does not hold.
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Knowledge-base articles are written in Chinese, the source language of these classical texts.
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