Sexagenary cycle
No 1804-1863 Heavenly stem Earthly branch 1864-1923
Year ( Elements ) ( Animals ) Year
1 Feb 11 1804 - Jan 30 1805 甲 Yang Wood 子 Rat Feb 8 1864 - Jan 26 1865
2 Jan 31 1805 - Feb 17 1806 乙 Yin Wood 丑 Ox Jan 27 1865 - Feb 14 1866
3 Feb 18 1806 - Feb 6 1807 丙 Yang Fire 寅 Tiger Feb 15 1866 - Feb 4 1867
4 Feb 7 1807 - Jan 27 1808 丁 Yin Fire 卯 Rabbit Feb 5 1867 - Jan 24 1868
5 Jan 28 1808 - Feb 13 1809 戊 Yang Earth 辰 Dragon Jan 15 1868 - Feb 10 1869
6 Feb 14 1809 - Feb 3 1810 己 Yin Earth 巳 Snake Feb 11 1869 - Jan 30 1870
7 Feb 4 1810 - Jan 24 1811 庚 Yang Metal 午 Horse Jan 31 1870 - Feb 18 1871
8 Jan 25 1811 - Feb 12 1812 辛 Yin Metal 未 Goat Feb 19 1871 - Feb 8 1872
9 Feb 13 1812 - Jan 31 1813 壬 Yang Water 申 Monkey Feb 9 1872 - Jan 28 1873
10 Feb 1 1813 - Feb 19 1814 癸 Yin Water 酉 Rooster Jan 29 1873 - Feb 16 1874
11 Feb 20 1814 - Feb 8 1815 甲 Yang Wood 戌 Dog Feb 17 1874 - Feb 5 1875
12 Feb 9 1815 - Jan 28 1816 乙 Yin Wood 亥 Pig Feb 6 1875 - Jan 25 1876
13 Jan 29 1816 - Jan 16 1817 丙 Yang Fire 子 Rat Jan 26 1876 - Feb 12 1877
14 Jan 17 1817 - Feb 4 1818 丁 Yin Fire 丑 Ox Feb 13 1877 - Feb 1 1878
15 Feb 5 1818 - Jan 25 1819 戊 Yang Earth 寅 Tiger Feb 2 1878 - Jan 21 1879
16 Jan 26 1819 - Feb 13 1820 己 Yin Earth 卯 Rabbit Jan 22 1879 - Feb 9 1880
17 Feb 13 1820 - Feb 2 1821 庚 Yang Metal 辰 Dragon Feb 10 1880 - Jan 29 1881
18 Feb 3 1821 - Jan 22 1822 辛 Yin Metal 巳 Snake Jan 30 1881 - Feb 17 1882
19 Jan 23 1822 - Feb 10 1823 壬 Yang Water 午 Horse Feb 18 1882 - Feb 7 1883
Conversion between cyclic years and Western years -- 1804–1923
The sexagenary cycle, also known as the Stems-and-Branches or ganzhi, is a cycle of sixty terms, each corresponding to one year, thus a total of sixty years for one cycle, used for reckoning time in China and the rest of the East Asian cultural sphere. It appears as a means of recording days in the first Chinese written texts, the Shang oracle bones of the late second millennium BC. Its use to record years began around the middle of the 3rd century BC. The cycle and its variations have been an important part of the traditional calendrical systems in Chinese-influenced Asian states and territories, particularly those of Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, with the old Chinese system still in use in Taiwan. This traditional method of numbering days and years no longer has any significant role in modern Chinese time-keeping or the official calendar. However, the sexagenary cycle is used in the names of many historical events, such as the Chinese Xinhai Revolution, the Japanese Boshin War, and the Korean Imjin War. It also continues to have a role in contemporary Chinese astrology and fortune telling.