Earthly Branches
Glossary · Last updated: 2026-07-26
The twelve Earthly Branches (地支) name hours, months, and years in traditional Chinese timekeeping. Each branch maps to one Sheng Xiao animal.
Your Rat or Ox identity in astrology usually comes from the earthly branch of your birth year, counted from Lunar New Year.
Example: see it on a birth date
The twelve earthly branches are the Chinese animal cycle. June 10, 2021 lands in the Year of the Metal Ox.
The branch is the animal. The stem is the element cycle that rides with it. Together they name the year pillar, not a sun sign.
Enter your own date on the Zodiac Sign Calculator.
Hour branch
Ba Zi adds an hour branch (for example Zi hour 23:00-01:00). Birth time unlocks that pillar. Date-only tools skip it.
Related
Main reading and tools
These are the main reading and calculator pages. Use them for a daily note, a birth-sign tool, or a pair check.
- Today's Horoscope hubAll twelve Western sun-sign daily pages, plus links to the seven-tradition reader.
- Horoscope & Zodiac CompatibilityTwo birth dates for Western, Chinese, and Indian Vedic pairing, plus every sun-sign hub.
- Zodiac Sign CalculatorWestern sun sign from birth date, with element, modality, and ruler.
- Rising Sign CalculatorIndian Vedic Lagna estimate when you have birth date, time, and place.
- Moon Sign CalculatorIndian Vedic Janma Rashi and nakshatra when birth time and city are available.