六十甲子 · the sexagenary cycle
The 60-Year Cycle
Ten Heavenly Stems, each a yin or yang face of one of the five elements, turn against the twelve animal Branches. They step forward together one a year, and because ten and twelve only line up every sixty steps, the whole wheel takes a lifetime to come round to where it began.
The cycle turns at Lunar New Year, so a January or early-February birth may belong to the year before.
天干 · the ten Heavenly Stems
Yang wood
Yin wood
Yang fire
Yin fire
Yang earth
Yin earth
Yang metal
Yin metal
Yang water
Yin water
Paired against the twelve animals → the Branches.
六十甲子 · the sixty, in order
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
Colored by the stem's element (Wood · Fire · Earth · Metal · Water); this cycle's current year is ringed in gold.