Chinese Calendar 1
Free Module 1: Principles of Feng Shui
Chapter 6: The Chinese Calendar
The Chinese Calendar System consists of the combination of:-
The Ten Heavenly Stems + The Twelve Earthly Branches
The Ten Heavenly Stems
Heavenly Stem | Element | Planet | Direction | Jia (hard wood) | Wood | Jupiter | East | Yi (soft wood) | Wood | Jupiter | East | Bing (sun fire) | Fire | Mars | South | Ding (kitchen fire) | Fire | Mars | South | Wu (mountain earth) | Earth | Saturn | Centre | Ji (sand earth) | Earth | Saturn | Centre | Geng (rough metal) | Metal | Venus | West | Xin (refined metal) | Metal | Venus | West | Ren (sea water) | Water | Mercury | North | Gui (rain water) | Water | Mercury | North |
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The Twelve Earthly Branches
Earthly Branch | Element | Hour of Birth | Direction | Rat | Water | 11.00pm - 12.59am | North | Ox | Earth | 1.00am - 2.59am | North-East | Tiger | Wood | 3.00am - 4.59am | North-East | Rabbit | Wood | 5.00am - 6.59am | East | Dragon | Earth | 7.00am - 8.59am | South-East | Snake | Fire | 9.00am - 10.59am | South-East | Horse | Fire | 11.00am - 12.59pm | South | Ram | Earth | 1.00pm - 2.59pm | South-West | Monkey | Metal | 3.00pm - 4.59pm | South-West | Rooster | Metal | 5.00pm - 6.59pm | West | Dog | Earth | 7.00pm - 8.59pm | North-West | Pig | Water | 9.00pm - 10.59pm | North-West |
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The Ten Heavenly Stems and the Twelve Earthly Branches combine together to form 1 Cycle of the Lunar Calendar:-
Looking at the diagram, 1 Cycle of the lunar calendar consists of 180 years.
Each cycle is divided into 3 groups: Upper, Middle and Lower. Each group comprise 3 periods. Each period is 20 years.
We are now in the Period 7 of the lower period. In eight years time in the year 2004, we will be entering PERIOD 8 in year 2004.