The ten Celestial Stems (Chinese: 天干; pinyin: tiāngān), sometimes known as Heavenly Stems, are the elements of an ancient Chinese cyclic character numeral system: Jia (甲), Yi (乙), Bing (丙), Ding (丁), Wu (戊), Ji (己), Geng (庚), Xin (辛), Ren (壬), Gui (癸). They were used for dates as early as the Shang Dynasty, and are now used with the twelve Earthly Branches in the Sexagenary cycle. They are associated with the concepts of yin and yang and the Five Elements.
Contents |
Table
| Celestial Stem |
Pinyin | Japanese kunyomi |
Japanese on'yomi |
Korean (RR) |
Vietnamese | Yin and Yang (陰陽) |
Wu Xing (五行) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 甲 | jiǎ | kinoe | kō | 갑 (gap) | giáp | 陽 (yang) | 木 (wood) |
| 2 | 乙 | yǐ | kinoto | otsu | 을 (eul) | ất | 陰 (yin) | |
| 3 | 丙 | bǐng | hinoe | hei | 병 (byeong) | bính | 陽(yang) | 火 (fire) |
| 4 | 丁 | dīng | hinoto | tei | 정 (jeong) | đinh | 陰(yin) | |
| 5 | 戊 | wù | tsuchinoe | bo | 무 (mu) | mậu | 陽 (yang) | 土 (earth) |
| 6 | 己 | jǐ | tsuchinoto | ki | 기 (gi) | kỷ | 陰 (yin) | |
| 7 | 庚 | gēng | kanoe | kō | 경 (gyeong) | canh | 陽 (yang) | 金 (metal) |
| 8 | 辛 | xīn | kanoto | shin | 신 (sin) | tân | 陰 (yin) | |
| 9 | 壬 | rén | mizunoe | jin | 임 (im) | nhâm | 陽 (yang) | 水 (water) |
| 10 | 癸 | guǐ | mizunoto | ki | 계 (gye) | quý | 陰 (yin) |
Origin
The Shang people believed that there were ten suns, each of which appeared in order in a ten-day cycle (旬; xún). The Heavenly Stems were the names of the ten suns, which may have designated world ages as did the Five Suns and the Six Ages of the World of Saint Augustine. They were found in the given names of the kings of the Shang. Some historians think the ruling class of the Shang had ten clans, but it is not clear whether their society reflected the myth or vice versa. The associations with Yin-Yang and the Five Elements developed later, after the collapse of the Shang Dynasty.
The literal meaning of the characters was roughly as follows:[1]
| Celestial Stem |
Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| Original | Modern | |
| 甲 | shell | helmet, armor, one, words related to beetles, crustaceans, methanol, fingernails, toenails |
| 乙 | fishguts | vapor, two, twist, words related to ethanol |
| 丙 | fishtail | fire in a house, bright, fire, fishtail (rare) |
| 丁 | nail | male adult, robust, T-shaped, to strike |
| 戊 | lance | battle-axe |
| 己 | threads on a loom[citation needed] | self, represents exhalation of breath; already, past |
| 庚 | evening star | age (of person), rice |
| 辛 | to offend superiors[citation needed] | bitter, piquant, toilsome |
| 壬 | burden,[citation needed] office | to shoulder, to trust with office |
| 癸 | both feet? | the hand working at spinning thread |
Current usage
The Stems are still commonly used nowadays in Chinese counting systems similar to the way the alphabet is used in English. For example:
- Names in legal documents and contracts where English speakers would use A, B, C, etc. Korea and Japan also use heavenly stems on legal documents in this way. In Korea, letters gap (甲) and eul (乙) are consistently used to denote the larger and the smaller contractor (respectively) in a legal contract, and are sometimes used as synonyms for such; this usage is also common in the Korean IT industry.
- Choices on multiple choice exams, surveys, etc.
- Organic chemicals (e.g. methanol: 甲醇 jiǎchún; ethanol: 乙醇 yǐchún)
- Diseases (Hepatitis A: 甲型肝炎 jiǎxíng gānyán; Hepatitis B: 乙型肝炎 yǐxíng gānyán)
- Sports leagues (Serie A: 意甲 yìjiǎ)
- Vitamins (although currently, in this case, the ABC system is more popular)
- Characters conversing in a short text (甲 speaks first, 乙 answers)
- Students' grades in Taiwan: with an additional Yōu (優 "Excellence") before the first celestial stem Jiǎ. Hence, English grades A, B, C, D and F correspond to 優, 甲, 乙, 丙 and 丁 (yōu, jiǎ, yǐ, bǐng, dīng).
- Mainland China uses a different system as described by Wenlin's dictionary entry for 优(優). English grades A B C D and F correspond to 优, 良, 中, 可, and 差 (yōu, liáng, zhōng, kě, chà) or 优, 良, 中, 及格, and 不及格 (yōu, liáng, zhōng, jígé, bùjígé), i.e. excellent, good, middle, pass, and poor/fail. Grades in Japan follow a similar system.
See also
Notes
- ^ William McNaughton. Reading and Writing Chinese. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle, 1979.
External links
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