What is the relationship between the origin of the Twelve Earthly Branches and heavenly stems and earthly branches?

Heavenly stems and earthly branches is not divorced from his family. We have introduced the basic knowledge of ten-day work, and then we will continue to introduce twelve branches. Twelve is also the last important number of this topic, and this topic will gradually come to an end.

The twelve earthly branches are: Zi, Ugly, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu and Hai. The twelve earthly branches are connected end to end, and the cycle is endless.

The origin of earthly branches

The origin of earthly branches is inconclusive. One view is that we mentioned "a big radius is the best" in the heavenly stems, and the other view is that the zodiac originated in Babylon is firmly established.

In astronomy, the projection of the earth's orbit around the sun in the starry sky is called the ecliptic. The width of the ecliptic is 18 degrees, and its orbit around the sun (one year) is 360 degrees. The ecliptic plane includes the orbits of all planets and constellations, and there is a constellation every 30 degrees, a total of 12 constellations, so it is also called "ecliptic". The twelve earthly branches correspond to the zodiac, and also to the four seasons and twelve months of a year.

The relationship between the twelve earthly branches and the zodiac and the twenty-four solar terms

The zodiac originated in Babylon, Cuba, and is a term in Arabic astrology. Later, with the exchange of eastern and western cultures, it should have spread to China in Xia and Shang Dynasties, and combined with China's concepts of river map, five elements and heavenly stems, it evolved into twelve branches. Mr. Guo Moruo holds this view in Shi Ganzhi, arguing that the Twelve Earthly Branches were not originally created by China, but originated from Babylon.

Mr. Guo Moruo's statement contradicts the statement that "the largest radius is the highest" in Shiben and the justice of the five elements mentioned above, and we know that Xuanyuan's family of Huangdi lived from 27 17 BC to 2599 BC, while Babylon lived from 1894 BC to 1595 BC. Comparing the Xia Dynasty in China (about 2070 ~ 1600 BC), we can know that Daladi became Jia Zi at least 700 ~100 years earlier than Babylonian ecliptic theory.

However, after all, we are not professional researchers, so we don't have to worry about whether this zodiac came from Babylon or whether it was discovered independently by the ancient people in China earlier. But it is basically acceptable that the earth originated from the zodiac and from astronomical observation ("looking up like watching the sky").

According to Shuo Wen Jie Zi, the twelve earthly branches describe a complete life cycle of all things in the universe, and the meaning of each earthly branch is as follows:

Zi is zi, which means that everything sprouts in the dynamic sun. Ugliness is new, and the spirit of the sun has not fallen. Yin means moving and attracting, which means that everything begins to produce Yin. Hair is hair, everything is hair. Chen means earthquake, and everything grows because of vibration. The third is rising, which means that the yang is full. Noon means "noon", which means everything is grand and flourishing. Everything has a taste, unless it is a taste. Shen means body, that is to say, all bodies have reached it. Unitary is old, and everything is old. It means destruction. Everything is destroyed. Hai means the core, and everything is harvested. The relationship between the earthly branches and the zodiac also confirms what Confucius said in The Legend of karma: "In nature, the earthly branches form images and see changes", and confirms the relationship between the earthly branches and the astronomical phenomena. Confucius's "seeing change" here refers to the endless evolution of time and space represented by heavenly stems and earthly branches, and the life cycle of everything in the universe from birth to death and from death to resurrection.

The relationship between earthly branches and heavenly stems

In heavenly stems and earthly branches, the ten heavenly stems are the images in the sky, and the twelve earthly branches are the shapes of these ten celestial phenomena on the earth. Doing is doing, supporting is supporting, and the ground support means supporting and cooperating with the heavenly stem, which is the power to support the heavenly stem movement.

The sky is as dry as an elephant, and the branches are tangible; The sky is dry and yang, and the ground is cloudy; The heavenly stem is the body and the earthly branch is the use. Heavenly stems and earthly branches is an inseparable unified whole, and the time and space represented by heavenly stems and earthly branches are also a unified whole with different divisions.

There are ten heavenly stems, namely, the number of river charts, the number of generated five elements, and the number of yin and yang five elements. Therefore, the heavenly stems are distributed according to the pattern of the five elements of the river map, living in five directions: east, south, west, north and middle. However, the "shape" formed by the heavenly stems on the ground is different from that of the five elements of heavenly stems.

1. Similarities and differences between fire and water in the five elements of Jin Mu

There are gold, wood, water and fire in the sky, which are connected before and after, one yin and one yang, and life is 10%. Correspondingly, there are two kinds of earthly branches, Jin Mu fire and water, which are also connected before and after, one yin and one yang. Jin Mu's water, fire and four lines are highly consistent on the heavenly stems and earthly branches, but there are also subtle differences, mainly reflected in the spatial distribution:

In the middle of the day, Party A and Party B are both in the East, the underground branch is in the Northeast, and the backbone is in the East. In the sky, C and D are in the south, in the earth branch, they are in the southeast, and in the south at noon; In the sky, in the west, in the earth, in the southwest, especially in the west. In the heavenly stems, Ren and Gui are located in the north, in the earthly branches, Gui is located in the northwest and in the north.

2. Similarities and differences of five elements in soil

There are two secular regions in heaven and earth, namely Wuji soil, one yin and one yang, which occupy the central position. The earth has four earthly branches, namely, the earthly branches are ugly, the earthly branches are two more than the heavenly stems, and the earthly branches are two yin and two yang.

The spatial orientation distribution of the five elements in the branch has also changed, from the central position in the heavenly stem to the four corners (four corners) in the branch. The four soils separate the fire and water in Jin Mu, which embodies the transformation function of soil to nourish all things.

The corresponding relationship of heavenly stems and earthly branches is as follows:

Heavenly stems and earthly branches's correspondence

Yang wood is like Oracle Bone Inscriptions in nature, and Yin wood in the ground;

Yin wood looks like B wood in the sky, but it is shaped into Mao wood in the ground.

Yang fire is like a natural fire, and the ground branch is like a noon fire.

Yin fire, like a natural Ding Huo, turns into a fire;

Yang soil is like Wu soil in nature, and it is shaped into old soil and money soil in the soil;

Yin soil, like natural soil, is shaped into ugly soil and uncultivated soil in the ground;

Jin Yang is as natural as Geng Jin and as successful as Jin Shen.

Yin gold is like natural gold, and it becomes unitary gold in the ground.

Yang water is like water in nature, but it is like water in soil in shape.

Yin water is like Gui water in nature and Hai water in soil shape.

3. Underground branches and hidden trunks

In addition to this superficial correspondence, heavenly stems and earthly branches has another relationship, that is, the heavenly stems are hidden in the earthly branches, which are mainly used for numerology.

There are twelve forms of relationship between earthly branches and Tibetan stems, namely, Zi Zang Gui, Ugly Ji Zang Gui, Yin Zang A Propane, Mao Zang B, Chen Zang E Gui, Si Zang Propane Geng, Wu Zang B, Yun Zang B, Shen Zang Geng Wu, You Zang Xin, Wu Zang Wu, and Hai Zang Wu Jia. Each earthly branch has one to three heavenly stems.

Ground support rod

The formulas for underground branches and hidden trunks are as follows:

The child hides water in it, ugly as earth;

Yin, Tibetan, Jiamu, Bingmu, and Ermu will be alone;

Chen Cang and Wu Gui, as well as Geng Jin in the third place, have propylene;

In the afternoon, Tibet merged its own soil, and the second wood was not diced;

Shencang is my land cultivation, especially Zhongdu;

Hide Jin Xin and Ding E, and hide Ren Jia in the sea.

Because earthly branches and Tibetan stems are mainly used in numerology, they are rarely used in other theoretical systems such as Liu Yi, Meihua and Qimen, so they will not be the focus for the time being (unless they are interested in numerology), as long as they know the concepts of earthy branches and Tibetan stems.