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 folk astrology usually comes from the earthly branch of your birth year, counted from Lunar New Year.
Hour branch
Ba Zi adds an hour branch (e.g. Zi hour 23:00-01:00). Birth time unlocks that pillar; date-only tools skip it.