Sexagenary cycle

lastmod 2019-06-25created 2019-06-257 edits

Ganji (干支) is a combination of the Ten Heavenly Stems (十干, sipgan) and the Twelve Earthly Branches (十二支, sibiji), and is also called yuksipgapja (六十甲子).

The ten stems are gap (甲), eul (乙), byeong (丙), jeong (丁), mu (戊), gi (己), gyeong (庚), sin (辛), im (壬), and gye (癸), and the twelve branches are ja (子), chuk (丑), in (寅), myo (卯), jin (辰), sa (巳), o (午), mi (未), sin (申), yu (酉), sul (戌), and hae (亥).

A single ganji is made by combining a stem and a branch: the first stem 'gap' and the first branch 'ja' combine to form 'gapja', and next the second stem 'eul' and the second branch 'chuk' combine to form 'eulchuk'. In this order, byeongin, jeongmyo, mujin, gisa, gyeongo, ..., gyehae are formed. As a result, yang (陽) branches always combine with yang heavenly stems, and conversely yin (陰) branches always combine with yin heavenly stems.

Ganji are assigned not only to years but also to months (月) and days (日): the ganji of a year is called secha (歲次), the ganji of a month wolgeon (月建), and the ganji of a day iljin (日辰).

Ten Heavenly Stems

• Wikipedia (ko) Cheongan (Heavenly Stems)
• Wikipedia (en) Heavenly Stems

The Heavenly Stems (天干, cheongan), or ten stems (十干, sipgan), form the ganji together with the earthly branches; they are gap (甲), eul (乙), byeong (丙), jeong (丁), mu (戊), gi (己), gyeong (庚), sin (辛), im (壬), and gye (癸).

Within the four palaces of the saju palja (Four Pillars of Destiny), a heavenly-stem star exists either alone or together with an earthly branch. If the hour-pillar star is gapsin (born in the gapsin hour, between 3:30 and 5:30 p.m.), then for a person born in the first half (15:30–16:30) gap-wood exists alone, and for a person born in the second half sin-metal exists separately from the gapsin pillar. For example, for a person born at 16:15, up to 16:10 corresponds to the day-pillar palace, so gap-wood is located in the hour-pillar palace and gapsin (for the gapsin star the standard is 2 hours, unlike gap-wood whose whole span is 1 hour) is located in the month-pillar palace. When going out (the hour-pillar palace means a faraway place outside the door, the "road" to a place to stay, etc.), the gap-wood becomes rootless, and if the whole chart has a lot of killing energy from the heavenly stems gyeong-sin metal, the earthly branches sin-yu-sul, and the sa-yu-chuk triple combination, the nerves (gap-wood is the image of the nervous system) become sharp, and in severe cases anthropophobia may appear.

Twelve Earthly Branches

• Wikipedia (ko) Jiji (calendar) (Earthly Branches)
• Wikipedia (en) Earthly Branches

The Earthly Branches (地支, jiji), or twelve branches (十二支, sibiji), form the ganji together with the heavenly stems; they are ja (子), chuk (丑), in (寅), myo (卯), jin (辰), sa (巳), o (午), mi (未), sin (申), yu (酉), sul (戌), and hae (亥).

If the heavenly stems in a saju palja chart are male, the earthly branches are female. Conversely, if the day stem (oneself) is female, the earthly branches become male or one's own hidden inner self. When a punishment/clash luck comes in the major luck cycle (daeun) — for example, if the day branch is sul-earth, then in a chuk-earth major luck period the chuk-sul punishment damages the vessel of sul-earth, and the day stem sitting on the day branch is affected as well, becoming vulnerable to attacks from surrounding Seven Killings stars and the like; and if gye-water, which combines with mu-earth (a hidden stem of sul-earth), appears among the heavenly stems, the damage becomes greater.

List of the sixty stem-branch combinations

Python example: sexagenary cycle by year

#!/usr/bin/env python
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-

# '간지'
# KO: https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EA%B0%84%EC%A7%80
# EN: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexagenary_cycle

import sys
from datetime import datetime

# 천간 (天干; Heavenly Stems)
# KO: https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%B2%9C%EA%B0%84
# EN: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavenly_Stems
chungan_hangul = ['경', '신', '임', '계', '갑', '을', '병', '정', '무', '기']
chungan_hanja = ['庚', '辛', '壬', '癸', '甲', '乙', '丙', '丁', '戊', '己']

# 지지 (地支; Earthly Branches) or 십이지(十二支)
# KO: https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%A7%80%EC%A7%80_(%EC%97%AD%EB%B2%95)
# EN: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthly_Branches
jiji_hangul = ['신', '유', '술', '해', '자', '축', '인', '묘', '진', '사', '오', '미']
jiji_hanja  = ['申', '酉', '戌', '亥', '子', '丑', '寅', '卯', '辰', '巳', '午', '未']

# 십이지신 (十二支神; The 12 Oriental Zodiac Animals)
animal = ['원숭이띠', '닭띠', '개띠', '돼지띠', '쥐띠', '소띠', '호랑이띠', '토끼띠', '용띠', '뱀띠', '말띠', '양띠' ]

if len(sys.argv) >= 2:
    current_year = int(sys.argv[1])
else:
    current_year = datetime.today().year

chungan_index = current_year % 10
jiji_index = current_year % 12

print('{} 년'.format(current_year))
print(chungan_hangul[chungan_index] + jiji_hangul[jiji_index] + '년')
print(chungan_hanja[chungan_index] + jiji_hanja[jiji_index] + '年')
print(animal[jiji_index])

See also

• korean_lunar_calendar_py

Favorite site

• Wikipedia (ko) Ganji (Sexagenary cycle)
• Wikipedia (en) Sexagenary cycle