Earthly Branch · 11 of 12
Dog戌
Dog is the eleventh of the twelve Earthly Branches. It is dry yang Earth, west-north-west, and the double hour from 7 to 9 in the evening. Xin lodges on Dog.
- 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 | 戌、河魁 |
|---|---|
| Pinyin | xū |
| Standard name | Dog |
| First mention | Dog (Xu 戌) |
| Order | 11 of 12 |
| Element | Earth |
| Yin or yang | yang |
|---|---|
| Double hour | 19:00 to 21:00 |
| Direction | west-north-west |
| As Monthly General | Aries, from Spring Equinox |
| Clashes with | Dragon 辰 |
| Stems lodged here | Xin 辛 |
Etymology
In oracle-bone script 戌 pictures a broad-bladed axe or halberd, almost identical to 戊 and of a kind with 戈. A weapon was its first sense; later the character was used only as a branch.
The Shuowen Jiezi, the Han dynasty dictionary, assigns it to the ninth month: "extinction; yang breath is faint, all things have finished growing, and yang goes down into the earth; among the Five Elements, Earth is born at 戊 and flourishes at 戌; it is 戊 holding a stroke". The character 戍 "to garrison" looks much like it, and the Da Liu Ren Zhinan says "戌 is 戍", which is why Dog governs soldiers and military servants. Its zodiac animal is the dog, a link that may be arbitrary.
The Old Chinese pronunciation is reconstructed as *s.mi[t] (Baxter and Sagart). Middle Chinese was swit.
Significations
- nature
- heavy, blocking, stopping, closing
- people
- servants, attendants, staff, male workers, jailers, soldiers, military servants, chiefs
- matters
- raising troops and gathering crowds, assembling, planning, prisons and punishment, detention, deceit, the seal of office, learning
- things
- shoes, walls, fences, nets, screens, storehouses, granaries, armouries
- body
- the feet, the legs, walking, the head, the eyes, the skin, the muscles, the spleen and stomach
- animals
- the dog, the wolf, the jackal
- places
- prisons, detention centres, execution grounds, barracks, camps, markets, temples, wasteland
- direction and time
- the north-west, the Dog hour
- weather
- cloud
As the Monthly General
Dog is the Monthly General from Spring Equinox 春分, when the Sun enters Aries, until the next solar term of the same kind. In the chart it is written as the Dog general. Its classical name is 河魁, which the classical texts use far less often than the name of the branch itself.
Source text
Dog is deceit, or else the seal of office. Hekui governs deceit; it is also called the earthly prison, and it is the spirit of the seal of office.
戌為欺詐或稱印綬。○河魁主欺詐，亦名地獄，又主印綬之神。
Sources: 大六壬指南 卷一、卷二、卷三阴地章与天时章; 六壬直指 丙子日卯将、壬寅日酉将、甲戌日丑将; 六壬课经 斩关、铸印、官爵、富贵; 毕法赋 魁度天门关隔定; 毕法赋注解 三、十二、四十七、五十一、五十三; 类神释义表 河魁戌