I Ching Divination Basics Part 4.2: The Twelve Earthly Branches, Double Hours, and Five Element Animal Correspondences

👤 By Fiona
📅 February 2, 2026
⏱️ 3 min read
📂 I Ching Basics, Techniques
← Back to Blog

I. Foundations

Part 4: Eight Trigrams (Bagua)

4.2. Earthly Branches

The Twelve Earthly Branches are a core indexing system in traditional Chinese metaphysics, used for timekeeping, lunar months, directions, and Five Element correspondences.
These branches also play a significant role in I Ching Divination, providing a framework for interpreting omens and patterns. Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, Hai.

  1. In this series, I label the Twelve Earthly Branches with A to M to keep charts compact and easy to scan.

A (Zi, 子), B (Chou, 丑), C (Yin, 寅), D (Mao, 卯), E (Chen, 辰), F (Si, 巳), G (Wu, 午), H (Wei, 未), J (Shen, 申), K (You, 酉), L (Xu, 戌), M (Hai, 亥).

Note: there is no “I” in this sequence, because “I” is reserved for the Heavenly Stems in this system. To avoid confusion in practical use, “I” is intentionally skipped. This ordering follows both how non-native Chinese readers naturally memorize letter sequences, and the standard traditional order of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches used in Chinese systems.

  1. Each branch carries a Five Element attribute and an animal sign.
    A: Water, Rat
    B: Earth, Ox
    C: Wood, Tiger
    D: Wood, Rabbit
    E: Earth, Loong
    F: Fire, Snake
    G: Fire, Horse
    H: Earth, Goat
    J: Metal, Monkey
    K: Metal, Rooster
    L: Earth, Dog
    M: Water, Pig
  2. The branches also divide into yang branches and yin branches.
    Yang branches: Zi (A), Yin (C), Chen (E), Wu (G), Shen (J), Xu (L)
    Yin branches: Chou (B), Mao (D), Si (F), Wei (H), You (K), Hai (M)

In traditional Chinese timekeeping, the day is divided into twelve double hours (shichen), each named after an Earthly Branch, and commonly used in divination and astrology.
Nighttime is also described by five watches (geng), which align with the same clock ranges.

Daytime double hours (shichen)

  • A (Zi): 11:00 PM to 1:00 AM
  • B (Chou): 1:00 AM to 3:00 AM
  • C (Yin): 3:00 AM to 5:00 AM
  • D (Mao): 5:00 AM to 7:00 AM
  • E (Chen): 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM
  • F (Si): 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM
  • G (Wu): 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM
  • H (Wei): 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM
  • J (Shen): 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM
  • K (You): 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM
  • L (Xu): 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
  • M (Hai): 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM

Nighttime watches (geng)

  • First watch: 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM (L, Xu)
  • Second watch: 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM (M, Hai)
  • Third watch: 11:00 PM to 1:00 AM (A, Zi)
  • Fourth watch: 1:00 AM to 3:00 AM (B, Chou)
  • Fifth watch: 3:00 AM to 5:00 AM (C, Yin)

Below is the practical reference table used most often: branch, element, lunar month, double hour, direction, and animal.
(All months below are lunar months.)

Save This: Wanyan Xuan’s Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches conversion table (Roman numerals and English letters)

I recommend saving a screenshot of the table below (or bookmarking this post), since you will use it constantly for chart setup: matching branches with Five Elements, lunar months, double hours, directions, and animals.

Wanyan Xuan’s Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches conversion table (Roman numerals and English letters)