The twelve Earthly Branches are the bottom characters of the four pillars. They are the same twelve signs as the Chinese zodiac animals, but in BaZi they also mark the solar months and the two-hour periods of the day, and each one hides one to three Heavenly Stems inside it.
Twelve branches, three clocks
The branches run from Zi to Hai and repeat every twelve steps. The same twelve signs are used on three time scales at once:
- Years — the branch of the year pillar is your animal sign. The year changes at the Beginning of Spring (around 4 February), not on 1 January or at Lunar New Year, so people born in January or early February belong to the previous year's animal.
- Months — each BaZi month runs from one solar term to the next. The Tiger month (Yin) starts at the Beginning of Spring, the Rabbit month (Mao) at the Awakening of Insects, and so on.
- Hours — each branch rules a two-hour period of local solar time, starting with the Rat hour (Zi) from 23:00 to 01:00.
| Branch | Animal | Element | Yin / Yang | Solar month (by solar terms) | Roughly | Double hour (local solar time) | Hidden stems |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 子 Zi | Rat | Water | Yang | Major Snow → Minor Cold | Dec 7 – Jan 5 | 23:00–01:00 | 癸 Gui |
| 丑 Chou | Ox | Earth | Yin | Minor Cold → Beginning of Spring | Jan 6 – Feb 3 | 01:00–03:00 | 己 Ji, 癸 Gui, 辛 Xin |
| 寅 Yin | Tiger | Wood | Yang | Beginning of Spring → Awakening of Insects | Feb 4 – Mar 5 | 03:00–05:00 | 甲 Jia, 丙 Bing, 戊 Wu |
| 卯 Mao | Rabbit | Wood | Yin | Awakening of Insects → Pure Brightness | Mar 6 – Apr 4 | 05:00–07:00 | 乙 Yi |
| 辰 Chen | Dragon | Earth | Yang | Pure Brightness → Beginning of Summer | Apr 5 – May 5 | 07:00–09:00 | 戊 Wu, 乙 Yi, 癸 Gui |
| 巳 Si | Snake | Fire | Yin | Beginning of Summer → Grain in Ear | May 6 – Jun 5 | 09:00–11:00 | 丙 Bing, 戊 Wu, 庚 Geng |
| 午 Wu | Horse | Fire | Yang | Grain in Ear → Minor Heat | Jun 6 – Jul 6 | 11:00–13:00 | 丁 Ding, 己 Ji |
| 未 Wei | Goat | Earth | Yin | Minor Heat → Beginning of Autumn | Jul 7 – Aug 7 | 13:00–15:00 | 己 Ji, 丁 Ding, 乙 Yi |
| 申 Shen | Monkey | Metal | Yang | Beginning of Autumn → White Dew | Aug 8 – Sep 7 | 15:00–17:00 | 庚 Geng, 壬 Ren, 戊 Wu |
| 酉 You | Rooster | Metal | Yin | White Dew → Cold Dew | Sep 8 – Oct 7 | 17:00–19:00 | 辛 Xin |
| 戌 Xu | Dog | Earth | Yang | Cold Dew → Beginning of Winter | Oct 8 – Nov 6 | 19:00–21:00 | 戊 Wu, 辛 Xin, 丁 Ding |
| 亥 Hai | Pig | Water | Yin | Beginning of Winter → Major Snow | Nov 7 – Dec 6 | 21:00–23:00 | 壬 Ren, 甲 Jia |
The "roughly" dates are only a guide: the solar terms move by a day or so from year to year and depend on your time zone. Fate Hall works out the exact moment of each solar term for your birth year and birthplace, to the minute, instead of using fixed dates.
Hidden stems
A branch is more complex than a stem. Most branches hold more than one Heavenly Stem — the main one first, then up to two minor ones. The Ox branch (Chou), for example, is mainly Ji Earth but also carries a little Gui Water and Xin Metal: the frozen soil of late winter that still holds water and buried metal. Hidden stems explain why a branch can "act like" another element when the right year or person comes along.
In Fate Hall's element count each branch is counted by its main element, the first hidden stem in the table. The deeper readings — Ten Gods in the branches, wealth and career outlooks — also use this main stem.
Harmonies and clashes
Branches interact more strongly than stems. Some pairs and trios are said to combine, and opposite branches clash. The table below lists the three most common relationships, taken from the same data Fate Hall uses in its compatibility and animal-sign readings.
| Relationship | Groups |
|---|---|
| Six Harmonies (六合) | 子 Zi + 丑 Chou; 寅 Yin + 亥 Hai; 卯 Mao + 戌 Xu; 辰 Chen + 酉 You; 巳 Si + 申 Shen; 午 Wu + 未 Wei |
| Three Harmonies (三合) | 申 Shen + 子 Zi + 辰 Chen → Water; 亥 Hai + 卯 Mao + 未 Wei → Wood; 寅 Yin + 午 Wu + 戌 Xu → Fire; 巳 Si + 酉 You + 丑 Chou → Metal |
| Clashes (沖) | 子 Zi ↔ 午 Wu; 丑 Chou ↔ 未 Wei; 寅 Yin ↔ 申 Shen; 卯 Mao ↔ 酉 You; 辰 Chen ↔ 戌 Xu; 巳 Si ↔ 亥 Hai |
A clash is not automatically bad news. It brings movement: a change of job or home, a stirring of feelings, a push to act. Harmonies bring cooperation and ease, which can also mean comfort that slows you down. How they play out depends on which pillars are involved and on the rest of the chart.
The animals in everyday life
Outside BaZi, the twelve animals are the best-known part of the system. They are used for birth-year signs across East Asia, for compatibility between partners, and for the outlook of each year — 2026, for example, is a Horse year (Bing Wu). Fate Hall's animal-sign screen shows the year table from 1924, your own year in bold, and how this year's branch meets yours.
Common questions
Why is my animal different from what a calendar told me? Many calendars switch animals at Lunar New Year. BaZi switches at the Beginning of Spring, so for births between late January and mid-February the two methods can disagree.
Are some branches yin and some yang? Yes — they alternate, starting with Zi as yang. A few traditions swap the polarity of Zi/Hai and Si/Wu when reading hidden stems; Fate Hall follows the simple alternating order.
Related guides
- The Sixty Jiazi and NayinAll sixty stem-branch pairs from Jia Zi to Gui Hai, with their animal, Nayin element and years from 1924 to 2043, and how the cycle counts years, months, days and hours.
- The Five ElementsHow Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water feed and control one another, which stems and branches carry each element, and how to read the balance in your chart.
- The Ten Heavenly StemsJia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren and Gui: the element, yin or yang and traditional image of each Heavenly Stem, and what it says as your Day Master.