Celestial stem Totally Explained

Everything about Celestial Stem totally explained

Celestial stem is an ancient Chinese cyclic character numeral system: Jia (甲), Yi (乙), Bing (丙), Ding (丁), Wu (戊), Ji (己), Geng (庚), Xin (辛), Ren (壬), Gui (癸). They were first used for dates in the Shang Dynasty, and are now used with the twelve Earthly Branches in the Sexagenary cycle. They are associated with the concepts of yin and yang and the Five Elements.

Table

Pinyin	Japanese kunyomi	Japanese on'yomi	Korean (RR)	Vietnamese	Yin and Yang	Wu Xing
jiǎ	kinoe	kō	갑 (gap)	giáp	阳 (yang)	木 (wood)
yǐ	kinoto	otsu	을 (eul)	ất	阴 (yin)	木 (wood)
bǐng	hinoe	hei	병 (byeong)	bính	阳 (yang)	火 (fire)
dīng	hinoto	tei	정 (jeong)	đinh	阴 (yin)	火 (fire)
wù	tsuchinoe	bo	무 (mu)	mậu	阳 (yang)	土 (earth)
jǐ	tsuchinoto	ki	기 (gi)	kỷ	阴 (yin)	土 (earth)
gēng	kanoe	kō	경 (gyeong)	canh	阳 (yang)	金 (metal)
xīn	kanoto	shin	신 (sin)	tân	阴 (yin)	金 (metal)
rén	mizunoe	jin	임 (im)	nhâm	阳 (yang)	水 (water)
guǐ	mizunoto	ki	계 (gye)	quý	阴 (yin)	水 (water)

Origin

The Shang people had a myth in which there were ten suns, each of which appears in order in a ten-day cycle (旬; xǔn). The Heavenly Stems were the names of the ten suns and were found in the kings' of the Shang given names. Some historians think the ruling class of the Shang had ten clans, but it isn't clear whether their society reflected the myth or vice versa. The association to Yin Yang and the Five Elements occurred later, after the collapse of the Shang Dynasty.
The literal meaning of the characters was roughly as follows:

Celestial Stem	Meaning
Celestial Stem	Original	Modern
甲	shell	armor, one, words related to beetles, crustaceans, methanol
乙	fish vicera	two, twist, words related to ethanol
丙	fishtail	bright, fire, fishtail (rare)
丁	nail	male adult, robust, T-shaped, onomatopoeia, also a surname
戊	lance	(not used)
己	(unknown)	self
庚	evening star	age (of person)
辛	(unknown)	bitter, piquant, toilsome
壬	porter?	to shoulder
癸	both feet?	(not used)

Current usage

The Stems are still commonly used nowadays in China in counting systems similar to the way the alphabet is used in English, namely,

Students' grades: with an additional Yōu (優 "Excellence") before Jiǎ.
Names in legal documents and contracts where English speakers would use A, B, C, etc.
Choices on multiple choice exams, surveys, etc.
Naming of organic chemicals (for example methanol: 甲醇 jiǎchún; ethanol: 乙醇 yǐchún)
Naming of diseases (Hepatitis A: 甲型肝炎 jiǎxíng gānyán; Hepatitis B: 乙型肝炎 yǐxíng gānyán)
Naming of sports leagues (Serie A: 意甲 yìjiǎ)
Vitamins' names (although currently, in this case, the ABC system is more popular)
Naming characters entertaining a dialogue in a short text (甲 speaks first, 乙 answers)

China, Korea and Japan also use heavenly stems on legal documents in this way. In Korea, letters gap (甲) and eul (乙) are consistently used to denote the larger and the smaller contractor (respectively) in a legal contract, and are sometimes used as synonyms for such; such usage is common in the Korean IT industry.

Further Information

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