The Earthly Branches — twelve characters and twelve animals
Why isn’t the cat in the zodiac?
A story to start
Long ago, the lord of heaven announced to the animals: “The first twelve to reach my palace on New Year’s morning will each be given a year.” The diligent ox walked all night — and the quick-witted rat, having secretly climbed onto the ox’s back, leapt off just before the finish and took first place. So the first Branch is the rat and the second the ox. And the cat? It asked the rat for the date and was told a day late. That, says the folk tale told all across East Asia, is why cats still chase rats.
🏺 A spoonful of origin
The twelve Branches — Ja, Chuk, In, Myo, Jin, Sa, O, Mi, Sin, Yu, Sul, Hae — were, with the Stems, coordinates of time in use since the oracle bone era. Later the twelve animals joined them and the system seeped into popular culture. The stones around General Kim Yu-sin’s tomb in Gyeongju carry twelve armoured animal figures; they appear in temple paintings, and in today’s “year of the such-and-such” marketing. That we all go looking for next year’s animal come December is evidence that the Branches are still our calendar.
📖 The main point — Branches are time, season and direction at once
The Branches’ real power is in the coordinates, not the animals. First, time: the day is divided into twelve two-hour blocks, from the Ja hour (11pm–1am) round to the Hae hour — Korean for noon literally means “the exact middle of the O hour,” and midnight “the exact middle of the Ja hour.” Second, season: In-Myo-Jin is spring, Sa-O-Mi summer, Sin-Yu-Sul autumn, Hae-Ja-Chuk winter. Third, element: In and Myo are Wood, Sa and O Fire, Sin and Yu Metal, Hae and Ja Water, and the four Branches Jin, Sul, Chuk and Mi are the Earth that joins the seasons. Fourth, direction: Ja is north, O south, Myo east, Yu west — which is why Joseon’s main north–south avenue was named for that axis. A single Branch holds a clock, a calendar and a compass.
🔍 In practice
The bottom row of your four pillars is the Branches. The year pillar’s Branch is your zodiac animal — though note that the Saju new year starts at Ipchun, so people born in January or February may have a different animal (we cover that in the intermediate course). If you entered your birth hour, the hour pillar’s Branch is your hour. Elders asked what hour you were born because the hour pillar is the seat of later life and of children. Check your animal, your hour, and the season each of your Branches belongs to. The seasonal map of your chart gets drawn.
🗣️ The story people tell
The signboard of Sungnyemun, Seoul’s south gate, hangs vertically, unlike the other gates. Geomancers explain that Mount Gwanak to the south is a fire mountain, so to press down that fiery energy the board reading “revering propriety” — propriety being Fire — was stood upright like a rising flame. It is the story most often cited for how the directional science of the Branches, south = O = Fire, reached even into city planning.
🧭 Working through the situations
Put the Branches’ hours to use. 5–7am (the Myo hour) is Wood’s time — planning and light exercise attach well. 11am–1pm (the O hour) is Fire’s peak — put presentations, meetings and hard negotiations here. 3–5pm (the Sin hour) is Metal — the golden window for reviewing and finishing. 11pm–1am (the Ja hour) is Water’s time — the body goes into repair mode, so a late meal or hard training here runs against the current. Direction gets applied to where you study: the traditional recommendation for a student’s desk, where concentration is needed, is the calm Water north (see the eight-directions entry in the fortune encyclopedia).
❓ Frequently asked
Q. What is samjae? I’m told I’m in it this year. It is a folk belief that three years out of every twelve, counted by your animal, call for caution. It isn’t mainstream Myeongri theory. Myeongri reads fortune far more precisely, through the relationship between your own chart and the year’s characters (see annual luck in the intermediate course). Meaning: no need to be frightened into paying for a talisman. Q. I was born at 11:30pm and the date is ambiguous. Sharp question. The Ja hour (11pm–1am) straddles the boundary of the day, and schools argue over how to handle it. This site takes the practical approach of using midnight as the date boundary. Q. Is there anything to sayings like “women born in a white-horse year are fierce”? No. Attaching one personality to everyone born in a particular year isn’t Myeongri, it is prejudice. Xu Ziping criticised exactly that a thousand years ago — how can everyone born the same year share one fate (see lesson nine).
✏️ Today’s one step
Learn the twelve Branches — Ja Chuk In Myo / Jin Sa O Mi / Sin Yu Sul Hae. Three groups of four and it goes quickly. Then say your own animal’s character, its season and its element: “I’m a Hae — pig, winter, Water energy.” Say it in one line like that and you have passed today’s lesson.