The 12 Earthly Branches in BaZi: Animals, Seasons, and Hours

The lower row of a BaZi chart is occupied by the Earthly Branches. There are twelve of them, and everyone knows them as the animals of the Chinese zodiac: Rat, Ox, Tiger, and so on. But the animals are only later “nicknames” for the Branches. The Branches themselves are much older and describe time: months, years, days, and hours. Let’s look at what the Earthly Branches are and how they work in a chart.

Where the Earthly Branches came from

The twelve Branches reflect natural cycles: the twelve months of the year, the twelve two-hour periods of the day, and the twelve-year cycle of Jupiter. Counting by Branches dates back to deep antiquity. The animals appeared much later, around the turn of the common era. Researcher Derek Walters links them to the spread of folk horoscopes: it is easier for ordinary people to remember a Tiger or a Rabbit than the characters 寅 and 卯.

Table of the Earthly Branches

Branch	Animal	Element	Month (approx.)	Hours
子 Zi	Rat	Yang Water	December	23:00–01:00
丑 Chou	Ox	Yin Earth	January	01:00–03:00
寅 Yin	Tiger	Yang Wood	February	03:00–05:00
卯 Mao	Rabbit	Yin Wood	March	05:00–07:00
辰 Chen	Dragon	Yang Earth	April	07:00–09:00
巳 Si	Snake	Yin Fire	May	09:00–11:00
午 Wu	Horse	Yang Fire	June	11:00–13:00
未 Wei	Goat	Yin Earth	July	13:00–15:00
申 Shen	Monkey	Yang Metal	August	15:00–17:00
酉 You	Rooster	Yin Metal	September	17:00–19:00
戌 Xu	Dog	Yang Earth	October	19:00–21:00
亥 Hai	Pig	Yin Water	November	21:00–23:00

 

A Chinese month does not begin on the first day of the month, but with a solar season, around the 4th to 8th. For example, the Month of the Tiger runs from approximately February 4 to March 5. For more details, see the article “Year, Month, and Day in BaZi.”

Branches and seasons

The Branches are grouped by season. Tiger, Rabbit, and Dragon are spring. Snake, Horse, and Goat are summer. Monkey, Rooster, and Dog are autumn. Pig, Rat, and Ox are winter. This means the Branch of the birth month immediately shows the season, and the season is very important in BaZi: it largely determines which element is strong in the chart.

Four Branches—Ox, Dragon, Goat, and Dog—belong to Earth and stand at the junction of the seasons. They are called “storehouses”: in addition to the Earth element, each of them hides other elements.

Hidden Stems

Unlike the Heavenly Stems, an Earthly Branch can contain several elements at once. The main element of the Branch is shown in the table above, and within each Branch one or two more Heavenly Stems are “hidden.”

Branch	Hidden Stems
子 Rat	癸
丑 Ox	己癸辛
寅 Tiger	甲丙戊
卯 Rabbit	乙
辰 Dragon	戊乙癸
巳 Snake	丙戊庚
午 Horse	丁己
未 Goat	己丁乙
申 Monkey	庚壬戊
酉 Rooster	辛
戌 Dog	戊辛丁
亥 Pig	壬甲

 

Hidden Stems may be needed to assess the strength of the elements in a chart correctly: the Day Master may find a “root” where at first glance there appears to be none.

Animal pairs

In folk tradition, the twelve animals are divided into six pairs, where one animal represents the Yang side of a quality and the other the Yin side. For example, the Rat and the Ox are associated with work and creativity: the Rat generates ideas, and the Ox brings them to fruition. If a chart contains only one sign from a pair, it is useful for that person to find a partner who has the other.

Earthly Branches and date selection

Every day of the year also has an Earthly Branch. If the day's Branch clashes with the Branch of your birth year or birth day (for example, a current Rat day clashing with the Horse of your birth year), that day is less fortunate for you personally. Days whose Branches form combinations with the Branches in your chart, on the other hand, make the day more harmonious and fortunate. This is how your personal stars by date of birth and the Personal Calendar are calculated on the site. To see the Branches in your chart, generate it in the BaZi calculator.

Frequently asked questions

Is my horoscope “sign” all that the Earthly Branches say?

No. The year sign is only one Branch out of four. A chart also has the Month, Day, and Hour Branches, and the Day Branch, the Spouse Palace (the Earthly Branch of the birth day), is even more important than the Year Branch for analyzing relationships.

Why is the Goat sometimes called a Sheep?

The Chinese character 未 can mean both goat and sheep. Both versions appear in different translations, but it is the same Branch.

What is a “clash of Branches”?

It is tension between opposite Branches: Rat – Horse, Ox – Goat, Tiger – Monkey, Rabbit – Rooster, Dragon – Dog, Snake – Pig. It is covered in detail in the article on clashes of the Earthly Branches.