Earthly Branch · 4 of 12
Rabbit卯
Rabbit is the fourth of the twelve Earthly Branches. It is yin Wood, due east, and the double hour from 5 to 7 in the morning, when the sun rises.
- 子Rat23–1
- 丑Ox1–3
- 寅Tiger3–5
- 卯Rabbit5–7
- 辰Dragon7–9
- 巳Snake9–11
- 午Horse11–13
- 未Goat13–15
- 申Monkey15–17
- 酉Rooster17–19
- 戌Dog19–21
- 亥Pig21–23
Term details
| Chinese | 卯、太冲 |
|---|---|
| Pinyin | mǎo |
| Standard name | Rabbit |
| First mention | Rabbit (Mao 卯) |
| Order | 4 of 12 |
| Element | Wood |
| Yin or yang | yin |
|---|---|
| Double hour | 05:00 to 07:00 |
| Direction | east |
| As Monthly General | Scorpio, from Frost's Descent |
| Clashes with | Rooster 酉 |
| Stems lodged here | None |
Etymology
Where the form of 卯 comes from is unsettled; one view sees two matching halves fitted together, the original form of 侔. In carpentry 卯 is also the mortise, the socket that takes a tenon.
The Shuowen Jiezi, the Han dynasty dictionary, sees an opened door: "to push through; in the second month all things push up through the earth; it pictures an open door, so the second month is the gate of heaven", the mirror image of 門 "door". The Rabbit hour is sunrise, when the day comes in through that door, and in Da Liu Ren Rabbit and Rooster are called the gates of the sun and moon, which fits the same idea.
The Old Chinese pronunciation is reconstructed as *mˤruʔ (Baxter and Sagart). Middle Chinese was maewX.
Significations
- nature
- quick-witted, careful, good at hiding things, suspicious, flattering, sly
- people
- the eldest son, the crown prince, the heir, children, boys, brokers, doormen, landlords
- matters
- coming and going through doors, welcoming and seeing off, traffic between inside and outside, banquets, song and dance, entertainment, secrets, funerals
- things
- carts, wheels, boats, doors, windows, beds, coffins, bamboo
- body
- the limbs, the hands, the liver, wind illnesses, the womb, the ovaries, breast milk
- animals
- the rabbit, the fox, the raccoon dog, the donkey, the mule, the horse
- places
- doorways, shopfronts, companies, offices, business premises, houses
- direction and time
- the east, the Rabbit hour, sunrise
- weather
- wind
As the Monthly General
Rabbit is the Monthly General from Frost's Descent 霜降, when the Sun enters Scorpio, until the next solar term of the same kind. In the chart it is written as the Rabbit general. Its classical name is 太冲, which the classical texts use far less often than the name of the branch itself.
Source text
Rabbit and Rooster are the gates of the sun and moon; Rat and Horse are the gates of sun and moon too; Dragon and Dog are the bane of the net and snare. Dragon over a Middle Branch is a gate blocked: how can human affairs go through smoothly? Rat and Horse are the pass, Rabbit and Rooster the barrier, the gates through which one goes out to work at sunrise and comes home to rest at sunset.
卯酉日月門也，子午為日月之門，辰戌為網羅之煞，辰加四仲為門被阻隔，人事何由通快？子午為關，卯酉為隔，既為日出而作，日沒而息之門戶。
Sources: 大六壬指南 卷一、卷二、卷三天时章; 六壬直指 辛卯日卯将; 六壬课经 三交、斫轮、轩盖、铸印; 毕法赋 朽木难雕别作为; 毕法赋注解 四、七、十、十二、十九、五十七、六十二; 类神释义表 太冲卯