A Super Advanced Ancient Calendar System that’s Still in Use Today (and Can Predict the Future!)

If you watch those ancient Chinese dramas, you'll see that matchmakers will look at someone's 八字 bā zì, 八季 bā jī, or eight characters, to determine their ideal match. This type of fortune-telling is still prevalent today, for figuring out the ideal date to get married, or even the best day to move into a house. These eight characters represent year, month, day, and hours, but they're not your typical numbers. So, how did they come about? Before we begin, please smash that like button for the YouTube algorithm. It really helps more people see the video. We have to go back almost 5,000 years ago, before there were actual dynasties. The legendary Yellow Emperor ruled the Middle Kingdom. He asked his official historian, 大脑士 dà nǎo shì, to study the secrets of nature, heaven, and earth. He created a dating system called 干枝 gān zhī, 干枝 gān jī, or in English, stems and branches. 干 gān stands for 十天干 shí tiān gān, 十天干 sàp tīn gān, the ten heavenly stems. And 枝 zhī stands for 十二地枝 shí èr dì zhī, 十一地枝 sàp yì dèi jī, the twelve earthly branches. Let's start with the twelve earthly branches. It is 子丑殷某 chí chǒu yīn mǎo, 成事无谓 chén shì wǔ wèi, 身有戌骸 shēn yǒu shū hài, and because you asked for it, 子丑殷某 chí chǒu yīn mǎo, 臣子五美 shén zǐ wǔ měi, 身有戌骸 shēn yǒu shū hài, in Cantonese. This represents hours, days, months, and years. Let's start with hours. A 时辰 shí chén, or 时辰 shì chén, is how time was counted in ancient times. One 时辰 shí chén equals to two hours, so the twelve earthly branches represent 24 hours of the day. A quick side note here. The word for hour in Chinese is 小时 xiǎo shí, 小时 xiǔ shí. The literal translation is small time because it's half of a 时辰 shí chén. 子时 zhǐ shí, or 子时 jǐ shí, is 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. That's when the mouse comes out. 丑时 chǒu shí, is 1 a.m. to 3 a.m., is when the cows start to graze. 阴时 yīn shí, 阴时 yǐn shí, is 3 a.m. to 5 a.m. That's when the tiger wakes up and gives a mighty and ferocious roar. That's not a cool roar. 卯时 mǎo shí, is 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. That's when rabbits come out to eat grass with morning dew. 晨时 chén shí, is 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. The weather often fogs up at this time. Legend has it, that's when dragons like to dive in and out of the fog. 四时 zì shí, is 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. The fog lifts up and the snake shows up to sunbathe. 午时 wǔ shí, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. That's when wild horses run free. Okay, I can't do this one. This is also why noon in Chinese is called 中午 zōng wǔ, 中午 zōng wǔ, in the middle of 11 and 1. 卫时 wèi shí, is 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. It's the best time to herd sheep. 深时 shēn shí, is 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. The sun is heading west and the monkeys are cackling. 有时 yǒu shí, is 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The sun has set and the chickens are circling in front of their nest. 戌时 shū shí, is 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. People come home from work and the dogs bark as they see their owners come in. 汪汪汪! Wàng wàng wàng! Okay, Chinese dogs go wàng, not woof, okay? 亥时 huì shí, is 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. The only sound left are pigs sandling in their troughs in the late night. Do you notice that the 时辰 shí chén corresponds with the 12 zodiacs? Well, I mean, if my amazing animal noises didn't give it away, I don't know what did. Anyway, this is how the order of the zodiac is set as well. So pairing the earthly branches with the 12 zodiacs, it becomes 子属丑牛 zǐ shǔ chóu niú 银虎猫兔 yíng hú mǎo tù 乘龙饰蛇 chéng lóng sì shé 五马喂羊 wǔ mǎ wèi yǎng 牲猴有鸡 shēng hǒu yǒu jī 戌狗骇猪 shù gǒu hài zhū 子鼠丑牛 zǐ shǔ chóu ngǒu 人虎猫兔 yán hú mǎo tù 神龙子蛇 shén lóng zǐ shé 五马喂羊 牲猴有鸡 戌狗骇猪 wǔ mǎ wèi yǎng shēng hǒu yǒu jī shù gǒu hài zhū This is how kids were taught to remember the order of the zodiac. And this also means that the 12 earthly branches become the same as the 12 zodiacs when describing the year. For example, 2021 is the year of the ox and it is the same as 曹年 chǒu nián because 曹牛 chǒu niú But when you look at the Chinese calendar, it says 星草 xīng chǒu 牲丑 shēn chǎo What does that mean? Well, this is where the 10 heavenly stems 十天干 shí tiān gān comes in. And that is 甲乙丙丁 jiǎ yǐ bǐng dīng 木极根心 mù jí gēng xīng 人鬼 rén guǐ 甲乙丙丁 gàp yǔ bǐng dīng 木极根心 mù gǐ gēng xīng 人鬼 rén guǐ I know, I know. So many characters. But let me confuse you more. When you pair the 10 heavenly stems with the 12 earthly branches, it creates 60 unique combinations to count years. The first heavenly stem 甲 jiǎ pairs with the first earthly branch to form 甲子 jiǎ zǐ The second stem 乙 yǐ pairs with the second earthly branch 丑 chóu to form 乙丑 yí chóu Then 丙 bǐng pairs with 云 yíng to form 丙云 bíng yín This goes on until the 10th combination which is 鬼友 guǐ yǒu Then, because the 10 heavenly stems are used up, we go back to the beginning. The first term 甲 jiǎ will be paired with the 11th earthly branch 虚 xū and becomes 甲虚 jiǎ xū Then the second term 乙 yǐ will go with the 12th 害 hài to form When the 12 earthly branches are used up, it will go back to 子 zǐ and pair with the third heavenly stem 丙 bǐng to form 丙子 bǐng zǐ and so on and so forth. In the end, there are 60 unique combinations. This system is called 六十甲子 liù shí jiǎ zǐ 六十甲子 lǒu shí jiǎ zǐ or in English, the Section Generating Cycle aka 甘孜 gān zhī system that we mentioned at the beginning. Look, it's coming back to a full circle! So, going back to 新仇年 xīn chóu nián or 2021 新 xīn is the 8th term in the 10 heavenly stems. By doing some simple mental math, we know that the combination of 新仇 is the 38th of the 60 combinations. Just kidding! Of course I got it from a table! Now that we know about the Section Generating Cycle, hours, days, and months also follow it. But that's just a lot more confusing math and I'm not gonna talk about it here. I'm sure there are tables and calculators you can use to figure it out. Why do the ancients want to know which position the year, month, day, and hours are in the 甘孜 cycle? Well, this distinctive way of counting is continuous. Unlike the calendar nowadays, it rotates. Therefore, it connects the past, present, and future all together. Chinese people still use it for fortune telling. 六十甲子 can predict weather patterns and floods as well. Take the Yangtze River as an example. There were 17 floods from 1872 to 1998. If you calculate the gaps between each flood, it's pretty much every 60 years. The ancients also found that disasters often occur in the year of 甘孜 So there are phrases like 甘孜之灾 or 甘孜 Let's take a look at some 甘孜 years to see if this holds true. 1840, that's the first opium war. 1900, that's when the Eight Nation Alliance invaded Beijing. 1960, that's the Great Chinese Famine which caused tens of millions of unnatural deaths. And 2020. Do I need to explain why 2020 sucked? Scientists can't figure out why and call it a natural phenomenon. Could our ancestors already have the answer? Just like its name, the heavenly stamps and earthly branches suggest heaven rules all changes on earth and the will of heaven cannot be disobeyed. The ancient Chinese had great respect for the divine. They believed that the destiny set by heaven is superior to everything else and that all human science and culture were created by the gods. Our ancestors studied the connection between heaven and earth. Maybe that's why we're always amazed by the wisdom of the ancients and can never figure out how they come up with these ideas. If you like this video, check out this playlist right here where I dig into more fascinating ancient Chinese culture. And if you have any burning questions and know I cannot predict your future or topics you want me to cover, leave a comment below. Thanks for watching and I'll see you later.