Earthly Branch · 1 of 12
Rat子
Rat is the first of the twelve Earthly Branches. It is yang Water, due north, and the double hour from 11 at night to 1 in the morning.
- 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 | 子、神后 |
|---|---|
| Pinyin | zǐ |
| Standard name | Rat |
| First mention | Rat (Zi 子) |
| Order | 1 of 12 |
| Element | Water |
| Yin or yang | yang |
|---|---|
| Double hour | 23:00 to 01:00 |
| Direction | north |
| As Monthly General | Aquarius, from Major Cold |
| Clashes with | Horse 午 |
| Stems lodged here | None |
Etymology
In oracle-bone script 子 pictures a baby in swaddling: a large head, arms spread, legs wrapped in cloth. Its first sense is child or son, from which come seed and egg, and the respectful title given to masters such as Confucius and Laozi.
The Shuowen Jiezi, the Han dynasty dictionary, assigns it to the eleventh month: "yang breath stirs, all things are nourished, and people take it as a title". The branches begin with Rat, and the Rat hour is midnight, the turn from yin to yang in the day, matching the winter solstice in the eleventh month, when the first yang is born.
The Old Chinese pronunciation is reconstructed as *tsəʔ (Baxter and Sagart). Middle Chinese was tsiX.
Significations
- people
- women, a wife, a daughter-in-law, a maid, a woman of standing, children, infants, descendants
- matters
- secrets, hidden dealings, love affairs, weeping, grief, waste, falsehood, the first sprouting of a thing
- things
- standing water, lakes, well water, milk, ice, ink, boats, black things
- body
- the kidneys, the bladder, the urinary system, the waist, the sexual organs, the womb, the breasts, the ears
- animals
- the rat, the swallow, the bat, water creatures such as fish and shrimp
- places
- inner rooms, bedrooms, dark rooms, cellars, storerooms, graveyards, ancestral halls, bathrooms
- direction and time
- the north, midnight, the night
- weather
- rain, rain and snow, cold and falling temperatures
As the Monthly General
Rat is the Monthly General from Major Cold 大寒, when the Sun enters Aquarius, until the next solar term of the same kind. In the chart it is written as the Rat general. Its classical name is 神后, which the classical texts use far less often than the name of the branch itself.
Source text
Shenhou: secrets and women. Rat, Water, is the palace of the Matron; it governs hidden and unclear matters, and affairs that concern women.
神后陰私婦女。○子水天后之宮，主陰私不明，事干婦女。
Sources: 大六壬指南 卷一、卷二; 六壬直指 甲戌日巳将、己巳日子将、丙寅日午将、丙寅日子将、癸酉日子将、乙亥日未将、戊辰日子将、戊辰日酉将; 六壬课经 三交、轩盖; 大六壬集应钤 甲子日丑将; 类神释义表 神后子