五季 Wu Ji - Five Seasons

What are the five seasons (五季 Wǔ jì)?

The four seasons of the Northern Hemisphere are winter, spring, summer, and autumn. They are commonly referred to as the cold, dry, hot, and wet seasons. They are based on the four divisions (the two equinoxes and two solstices), where each season covers a phase of three months, a quadrant with each of 90 degrees, and covers one out of four constellations (四象 Si Xiang) the four images.

Although the meteorological conditions of the four seasons may correlate with the four divisions of the sky, there are also seasons based on regions, such as the two (dry and wet seasons), the three (flood, growth, and harvest seasons), and the fifth season.

Seasons are less related to climate than to the grouping of time phases (days/months) in a year. In China, different types of calendars with different divisions were in use, but regardless of their variations, they all used similar concepts.

The division of the ten-month year into 360 days or the twelve-month year into 365 days into five equal parts results in 72/73 days for each phase. For each of the (72/73 days) phases, an element is assigned.

The orders of the (72/73 days) phases after the winter solstice are:
甲子 Jiǎ Zi, (mu 木), wood,
丙子 Bing Zi, (huo 火), fire
戊子 Wu Zi, (tu 土) earth,
庚子 Geng Zi, (jin 金) metal
壬子 Ren Zi, (shui 水), water.

Aside from many political changes, some significant astronomical and climate changes lead to the adjustment of the seasons and calendars.

In the latest alignment, each of the three months/ a season in a year belongs to one element (wood, fire, metal, or water), and the last 18 days, which is the transition period from one season to another, belong to Earth. In other words, the last four months of the four seasons that belong to Earth are the fifth season.

It is worth mentioning that in the previous (older) alignment, the sixth month (summer) was the fifth season.

Lifecycle of the 5 Elements

Each season/phase belongs to one of the five elements, and in each season, one element is prosperous. The element
wood is strongest in spring,
fire is strongest in summer,
metal is strongest in autumn,
water is strongest in winter, and earth is strongest in the fifth season.

The Ten Heavenly Stems as well as the Twelve Earthly Branches have their own five phases/elements. The element is strongest, 旺 Prosper when the Heavenly Stems or Earthly Branches element matches with the season’s element.

Each element in the Heavenly Stems and the Earthly branches represents a specific phase in a season. The first 12 days of each month are the stronger part, and the last 18 days are the weaker part of the elements.

In the case of the Day Master centric fate calculation method, the Day Master (Heavenly stems element) is strongest when its element is the same as the element in the season (Earthly branches element of the month).

There are five elements and, therefore, five strength indicators. The indicators, from strongest to weakest, are:

旺 Prosper, 相 Strong, 休 Dormant, 囚 In Prison, 死 Death

天干 10 Heavenly Stems
春 Spring		夏 Summer		第五季 5. Season		秋 Autumn		冬 Winter
Wood		Fire		Earth		Metal		Water
甲 Jia	乙 Yi	丙 Bing	丁 Ding	戊 Wu	己 Ji	庚 Geng	辛 Xin	壬 Ren	癸 Gui

The ten heavenly stems elements and their representing celestial seasons.

地支 12 Earthly Branches
春 Spring			夏 Summer			秋 Autumn			冬 Winter
Wood		Earth	Fire		Earth	Metal		Earth	Water		Earth
寅 Yin	卯 Mao	辰 Chen	巳 Si	午 Wu	未 Wei	申 Shen	酉 You	戌 Xu	亥 Hai	子 Zi	丑 Chou

The twelve months/earthly branches representing elements and their solar season.

Seasonal strength indicator
春 Spring		夏 Summer		秋 Autumn		冬 Winter		第五季 5. Season
Wood		Fire		Metal		Water		Earth				Strength
寅 Yin	卯 Mao	巳 Si	午 Wu	申 Shen	酉 You	亥 Hai	子 Zi	辰 Chen	未 Wei	戌 Xu	丑 Chou
Wood		Fire		Metal		Water		Earth				旺 Prosper
Fire		Earth		Water		Wood		Metal				相 Strong
Water		Wood		Earth		Metal		Fire				休 Dormant
Metal		Water		Fire		Earth		Wood				囚 In Prison
Earth		Metal		Wood		Fire		Water				死 Death

天干 Tian Gan - Heavenly Stems

What are the 10 Heavenly Stems (TianGan 天干)?

十天干 Shi Tian Gan - The celestial stems refer in the older system to the uneven division of the five phases (24 hour/5 phases of a day), where each division covers a set of asterisms depicted with the Yang characters and the sub-division; half of each division refers to the opposite side of each phase, depicted with Yin characters, while two of the stems point to the ancient central star.

The later version refers to ten phases, each transitioning a specific asterism along the elliptic. These asterisms as markers are known in Chinese as 天干 TianGan, commonly known as the Ten Celestial or Heavenly Stems.

Why is it called the ten stems (天干 TianGan)?

The system of the ten heavenly stems and the twelve earthly branches combined to (干支 GanZi) the sixty-unit cycle predates any verifiable Chinese history; therefore, looking at the system from China's neighbors’ perspective may shed some light to grasp the original meaning of the (八字 BāZì) eight-character system.

Before the sun (was) born, the star* (was) born, meaning that the star was visible before the sun rose. *Star = god, king, ruler, something, or someone with impact or authority.

"On Ok (ock)" means ten arrows, ten directions, ten stems as tribes, ten suns, ten days, or ten gods. Unlike in English, in Chinese, one sun means one day; hence, ten suns are ten days. In short, the ten arrows (pointers) interchangeably called stems (tribes) are used to indicate ten suns or stars.

The ten stem characters 甲乙丙丁戊己庚辛壬癸 are used to count units in the same way as with characters 1 2 3 or A B C. Although the day and year stems are different types of units and have their own astronomical names, the ten stem characters are reused for the hour, day, month, and year, as well as other cycles.

What are these 10 characters of the heavenly stems?

Whatever led to the development of the initial characters, the ten ancient characters are nothing more than visual resemblances of ancient asterisms inside an astronomical constellation. These ten asterisms or characters are part of the four constellations (四象 Sì Xiàng), Turtle, Bird, Tiger, and Dragon, which are used to determine the season’s phases.

天干 10 Heavenly Stems
春 Spring		夏 Summer		第五季 5. Season		秋 Autumn		冬 Winter
Yang Wood	Yin Wood	Yang Fire	Yin Fire	Yang Earth	Yin Earth	Yang Metal	Yin Metal	Yang Water	Yin Water
甲 Jia	乙 Yi	丙 Bing	丁 Ding	戊 Wu	己 Ji	庚 Geng	辛 Xin	壬 Ren	癸 Gui

地支 Di Zhi - Earthly Branches

What are the 12 earthly branches (Dì Zhī 地支)?

“內經: 天分五氣, 五氣分流，散支于十干” "Nei Jing: The sky is divided by the five Qi (phases), and the branches are scattered in the Ten Stems". Further, “The sky is divided by six poles, and each has its own division (Yang and Ying). A day is divided into six Yang and six Yin therefore, there are 12 branches in a day".

Depending on the perspective, the Earth rotates around its own axis 360 degrees within 24 hours, which is a day, or from the geocentric perspective, the sun takes around 24 hours to revolve around the earth. Either way, the sky (the dome where the stars as ornaments are placed) is divided into six sectors; each of the six divisions has its own Yang/Yin phase. With this, we get 12 sectors in 360 degrees, which are equal to 12 double hours within 24 hours.

Each of the six/twelve divisions/sectors covers a specific asterism along the ecliptic.
While the divisions of the heavenly stems are dynamic, the earthly branches are constant.

What are these 12 characters of the Earthly Branches?

Unlike the heavenly stem characters, which represent asterism around the ecliptic right from the beginning, the twelve characters (the ancient version of the character) of the earthly branches were initially neither asterism nor farming symbols but referred to 12 out of 28 moon phases that morphed as markers into the ecliptic coordinates.

These 12 characters are reused to indicate the 12 Jupiter nodes (year branch, Chinese zodiacs), the 12 months, the 12 moon phases within a month (day branch), and the 12 double hours.

Different regions in China at different times used variations of the 12 characters; therefore, 12 different types of animal symbols were attached to the 12 characters (sectors or phases) to improve their recognisability.

年 Nián: Year

木星 MùXīng: The planet Jupiter is the biggest planet in our solar system; it has a twenty times stronger magnetic field than Earth's. It completes its cycle around the sun every twelve years, which roughly correlates with the 12 lunar cycles on the elliptic path. Each of these 12 cycles has its own astronomical name and is known as (十二次 Shí'èr cì) or (十二分野 Shí'èr fēn yě) Jupiter terms, or nodes.

From the geocentric orbital viewpoint, the direction to which the handle of the natural compass, the Big-Dipper, points when the new moon appears in the same sector (Zodiac) as the planet Jupiter is known as 太歲 Tai Sui, the "Grand Duke of Jupiter” or in short (歲星 Suì xīng), the year star.

Although each 太歲 Tai Sui node/ station has its own astronomical name, which is distinct from the Jupiter nodes, each year-branch is depicted with animal symbols and is recognized easily as the Chinese zodiacs.

When the Earth takes 12 years (twelve times) to revolve the sun, the planet Jupiter revolves the sun once every 11.86 years. This discrepancy causes a shift of the zodiac every 86 years; therefore, the (歲星紀年 Suìxīng jì nián) Jupiter year recording system has been abolished since the later Han dynasty.

月 Yuè: Month

The Month-Branch indicates the earth's position around the sun and the transition of seasons. The Lunisolar calendar year starts in February and is depicted with a tiger. The beginning days of the months are not equal to the first day of the western calendar. Each of the twelve months is also depicted with the same animal symbols used for the years. The month passes one to four of the 28 constellations along the ecliptic every month, which the planet Jupiter culminates in during the year.

月令 Yuè ling: The Month Commander or Month Order.

For event prediction, the month is the starting point to analyze BaZi, the eight-character fate calculation system. In the practical application, the moon phases, the Big Dipper tail, the appearance of the stars, and the climate must be observed.

天 Tiān: Day

The Day Branch indicates the moon's position/ phases around the Earth. The day branches are also depicted with the twelve animal symbols. The day in the month concerns us most in our daily activities; thus, the heavenly stem in the day is taken as the master regarding other elements in the chart; therefore, it is called the 日元 Day Master.

時 Shí: Hour

(十二時辰 Shí'èr shíchén) The Twelve Double-Hours. The Hour-Branch indicates the earth's phase rotation on its own axis. Each Chinese hour consists of two hours; the day is divided into 12 instead of 24 hours. The twelve animal symbols are also used to depict the twelve two-hour blocks.

地支 12 Earthly Branches
Branches		Hours	Month	Hidden Stems
子 Zi	Rat	23:00 - 01:00	December	癸 Gui
丑 Chou	Ox	01:00 - 03:00	January	己 Ji 辛 Xin 癸 Gui
寅 Yin	Tiger	03:00 - 05:00	February	甲 Jia 戊 Wu 丙 Bing
卯 Mao	Rabbit	05:00 - 07:00	March	乙 Yi
辰 Chen	Dragon	07:00 - 09:00	April	戊 Wu 癸 Gui 乙 Yi
巳 Si	Snake	09:00 - 11:00	Mai	丙 Bing 戊 Wu 庚 Geng
戊 Wu	Horse	11:00 - 13:00	June	丁 Ding 己 Ji
未 Wei	Ram	13:00 - 15:00	July	乙 Yi 丁 Ding 己 Ji
申 Shen	Monkey	15:00 - 17:00	August	戊 Wu 庚 Geng 壬 Ren
酉 You	Rooster	17:00 - 19:00	September	辛 Xin
戌 Xu	Dog	19:00 - 21:00	October	丁Ding 戊 Wu 辛 Xin
亥 Hai	Pig	21:00 - 23:00	November	甲 Jia 壬 Ren

夏历 XiaLi - Solar Calendar

What is XiaLì (夏曆)?

夏曆 XiàLì The solar, farmers, Chinese, or better known as 萬年曆 WànNiánLì The “Ten Thousand Year Calendar" is a sophisticated astronomical Lunisolar calendar system. Although the evidence indicates that this system predates any remotely assumed Chinese history epoch, it is believed to have been developed during the 夏 Xia Dynasty (2070–1600 BCE); therefore, it is called the (夏曆/夏历 XiaLi) Xia calendar.

The year in this calendar has a division of 24 sectors known as (二十四節氣 ErshiSi JieQi) 24 solar terms; each of the 24 divisions indicates agricultural activities; therefore, (夏历 XiaLi) is also commonly called as (農曆 NóngLì) “Farming calendar”.

The astronomical year of this calendar system begins at midnight on the winter solstice, when the earth is closest to the sun and when the day is shortest around December 21. The calendar year, (元旦 Yuán Dàn) the New Year, begins in the second new moon after the winter solstice.

The months begin at midnight when the new moon phases on the (白經 Bái Jīng) white path, the lunar path on the ecliptic, and (黃經 Huáng Jīng) yellow path, the sun paths on the ecliptic conjunct.

This calendar system in China was used until 1912 and still often mistaken for a pure (陰曆 Yinli) lunar calendar; however, it is a (陰陽曆 Yīn Yáng lì) Yin Yang (Moon/Sun) or, in short, a lunisolar calendar, meaning the months are not based on the lunar phases but the solar terms.

Why is it called the Ten Thousand Year Calendar?

Without getting too much into the details of calendar methods and their individual unit names, the “Ten thousand”, or in numbers, “10.000-year calendar”, is not called as such because the calendar lasts or consists of 10.000 years; rather, it is a reference to one of its units, which is equal to 10.000 years. The largest cycle is 3.600.000 years; this cycle has a division of 360 units, each of which equals 10.000 years.

The smallest unit is known as the (六十花甲 liushi huajia) Sexagenary Cycle or as the (干支 GānZhī) stems-and-branches combination. The alignment of the (十天干 Shi Tian Gan) celestial stems and (十二地支 Shí'èr dìzhī) terrestrial branches in a specific order in six sectors (each of the six sectors consists of 10 stems, or star pointer) will result in 60 combinations; hence, these combinations indicate 60 suns (days) or years.

The sexagenary cycle system initially was used only for days; around the Han dynasty, the year was added, and much later, the month and hours were incorporated.

One sexagenary cycle for years is 60 years,
one cycle for months is 5 years,
one cycle for days is 60 days and
one cycle for the hours is 5 days.

(六十花甲 liushi huajia) Sexagenary Cycle
甲子¹⁹⁸⁴	乙丑¹⁹⁸⁵	丙寅¹⁹⁸⁶	丁卯¹⁹⁸⁷	戊辰¹⁹⁸⁸	已巳¹⁹⁸⁹	庚午¹⁹⁹⁰	辛未¹⁹⁹¹	壬申¹⁹⁹²	癸酉¹⁹⁹³
甲戌¹⁹⁹⁴	乙亥¹⁹⁹⁵	丙子¹⁹⁹⁶	丁丑¹⁹⁹⁷	戊寅¹⁹⁹⁸	已卯¹⁹⁹⁹	庚辰²⁰⁰⁰	辛巳²⁰⁰¹	壬午²⁰⁰²	癸未²⁰⁰³
甲申²⁰⁰⁴	乙酉²⁰⁰⁵	丙戌²⁰⁰⁶	丁亥²⁰⁰⁷	戊子²⁰⁰⁸	已丑²⁰⁰⁹	庚寅²⁰¹⁰	辛卯²⁰¹¹	壬辰²⁰¹²	癸巳²⁰¹³
甲午²⁰¹⁴	乙未²⁰¹⁵	丙申²⁰¹⁶	丁酉²⁰¹⁷	戊戌²⁰¹⁸	已亥²⁰¹⁹	庚子²⁰²⁰	辛丑²⁰²¹	壬寅²⁰²²	癸卯²⁰²³
甲辰²⁰²⁴	乙巳²⁰²⁵	丙午²⁰²⁶	丁未²⁰²⁷	戊申²⁰²⁸	已酉²⁰²⁹	庚戌²⁰³⁰	辛亥²⁰³¹	壬子²⁰³²	癸丑²⁰³³
甲寅²⁰³⁴	乙卯²⁰³⁵	丙辰²⁰³⁶	丁巳²⁰³⁷	戊午²⁰³⁸	已未²⁰³⁹	庚申²⁰⁴⁰	辛酉²⁰⁴¹	壬戌²⁰⁴²	癸亥²⁰⁴³

節氣 Jié Qì - Solar Terms

What are the 24 Solar Terms?

二十四節氣 Èr shí sì JiéQì the Twenty-four Solar Terms are 24 seasonal sections of the solar year, or, in other words, the 24 divisions of the sun’s path along the ecliptic. JiéQì is the beginning marker for each of the twelve solar months, and 中氣 ZhongQi marks the middle of the months, which correlates with the twelve Jupiter modes/ terms.

Initially, temporal time was used to determine the phases of the JieQi just by using the shadow length at a specific time. When the sun's shadow was the shortest, this indicated (夏至 xiazhi "summer has arrived"), and when the shadow was the longest, this indicated (冬至 dongzhi "winter has arrived").

In later development, the temporal time utilization was changed to fix segments by the division of the ecliptic of the sun into 24 equal sectors. With this newer method, the year begins with the Yin month, and the JieQi marks are the beginning of the sector in which the sun passes.

(十二節氣 Shi'er JieQi) The 24 Solar Terms
01 春分 Chūn fēn	Vernal Equinox	Mar 20	乙 Yi
02 清明 Gīng míng	Clear and Bright	Apr 04	辰 Chen
03 谷雨 Gǔ yǔ	Grain Rain	Apr 19	巽 Xun
04 立夏 Lì xià	Start of Summer	May 05	巳 Si
05 小满 Xiǎo mǎn	Small Full (Grain)	May 20	丙 Bing
06 芒种 Máng zhǒng	Grain in Ear	Jun 05	午 Wu
07 夏至 Xià zhì	Summer Solstice	Jun 21	丁 Ding
08 小暑 Xiǎo shǔ	Minor Heat	Jul 06	未 Wei
09 大暑 Dà shǔ	Major Heat	Jul 22	坤 Kun
10 立秋 Lì qiū	Start of Autumn	Aug 07	申 Shen
11 处暑 Chù shǔ	Limit of Heat	Aug 22	庚 Geng
12 白露 Bái lù	White Dew	Sep 07	酉 You
13 秋分 Qiū fēn	Autumnal Equinox	Sep 22	辛 Xin
14 寒露 Hán lù	Cold Dew	Oct 08	戌 Xu
15 霜降 Shuāng jiàng	Frost Descent	Oct 23	乾 Qian
16 立冬 Lì dōng	Start of Winter	Nov 07	亥 Hai
17 小雪 Xiǎo xuě	Minor Snow	Nov 22	壬 Ren
18 大雪 Dà xuě	Major Snow	Dec 07	子 Zi
19 冬至 Dōng zhì	Winter Solstice	Dec 21	癸 Gui
20 小寒 Xiǎo hán	Minor Cold	Jan 06	丑 Chou
21 大寒 Dà hán	Major Cold	Jan 20	艮 Gen
22 立春 Lì chūn	Start of Spring	Feb 04	寅 Yin
23 雨水 Yǔ shuǐ	Rain Water	Feb 19	甲 Jia
24 惊蛰 Jīng zhé	Awakening of Insects	Mar 05	卯 Mao

长生 Chang Sheng - Life Phases

What are the 12 life phases (长生 Cháng Shēng)?

The life cycle of the five elements is already discussed in the five seasons. A more refined method to determine the strength of the elements, specifically the "Day Master" strength, is the Twelve-life-stage method (长生 Cháng Shēng). While the Five Seasons method only considers the four quadrants (each season equals 90 degrees) plus the last 18 days of the third month to determine the elemental strength, the 12 Life Phases method divides each season further and considers every single month in each season.

There are four (five) seasons and twelve months, hence twelve different stages. The Day Masters Element in any given month's season determines its life stage, vitality, and strength.

An analogy of human life stages is used to describe the stages and strength of the elements; therefore, the strength indicator is called 十二长生, "The twelve Chang-Shengs," also commonly known as the 12 Qi/phases of life.

十二长生 The 12 Phases of Life
Stages	Strength
長生 Chang Sheng Longevity Birth Growth	Peak Strong Rising	The child has just been born, seemingly with an unlimited source of energy and full of optimism and hope, yet the entire life, whether short or long, is still ahead. It is the beginning stage of active life. This stage is strong when it is at Yang and average when it is at Yin.
沐浴 Mu Yu Bathing Accumulating Childhood	Dead Weak Rising	The baby is out of the protective womb and is, at this stage, very vulnerable. The baby must be quickly removed from the placenta cord, bathed, and wrapped in protective clothes.
冠带 Guan Dai Attire Maturity Wearing Hat	Vibrant Strong Rising	The child has passed the puberty period and reached maturity. This stage is celebrated in some cultures around the world by wearing special clothes. This is the time when enterprises are undertaken and positions are established.
临官 Lin Guan Appointed Officer Adulthood Coming of Age	Vibrant Strong Rising	This is the stage of highest productivity and readiness to take responsibility and authority.
帝旺 Di Wang Imperial Prosperity Prosperity Peak Pinnacle	Peak Strong Rising	The life peak has been reached; it is the zenith of achievements. From now on, only decline can be expected.
衰 Shuai Decline Aging Waning	Falling Average Falling	The time when life vitality and activities are gradually decreasing, also known as aging, is when advancement is given only in one direction.
病 Bing Disease Ailing Sickness	Falling Average Falling	The stage when vitality is severely affected and the common operation becomes dysfunctional.
死 Si Dead Death Deteriorating	Dead Weak Falling	The stage when the soul leaves the body and returns to its origin
墓 Mu Tomb Grave Dormant	Dead Strong Falling	TThe shell is buried and left to nature. This one has strong force yet is downward.
绝 Jue Extinct Repose Void	Dead Weak Falling	All is dissolved; nothing is there.
胎 Tai Fetus Conception Womb	Base Average Transforming	Life has just ignited. Creation is about to form.
养 Yang Raise Gestation Nurture	Base Average Transforming	The child who has not been born yet is taking shape. It has upcoming potential.