Heavenly Stem · 6 of 10
Ji己
/dʒiː/
Ji is the sixth of the ten Heavenly Stems, and in everyday Chinese the character means "self". It is yin Earth and belongs to the centre. Ji has no cell of its own on the chart: it lodges on Goat with Ding, so wherever the chart shows Goat, read Ji.
- 甲JiaYang Wood
- 乙YiYin Wood
- 丙BingYang Fire
- 丁DingYin Fire
- 戊WuYang Earth
- 己JiYin Earth
- 庚GengYang Metal
- 辛XinYin Metal
- 壬RenYang Water
- 癸GuiYin Water
Term details
| Chinese | 己 |
|---|---|
| Pinyin | jǐ |
| Standard name | Ji |
| First mention | Ji (Yin Earth 己) |
| Order | 6 of 10 |
| Element | Earth |
|---|---|
| Yin or yang | yin |
| Lodges on | Goat 未 of the Earth Plate |
| Patron by day | Rat 子 |
| Patron by night | Monkey 申 |
Etymology
In oracle-bone script 己 pictures a silk cord for tying things, the original form of 紀 "to bind, to record". The commonest sense of 己 is "self", and the stem is a borrowed use.
The Shuowen Jiezi, the Han dynasty dictionary, assigns it to the centre and reads the form as "all things drawing in, hidden and bent", adding that the character pictures the belly. This is a Han dynasty explanation through the Five Elements.
The Old Chinese pronunciation is reconstructed as *k(r)əʔ (Baxter and Sagart). Middle Chinese was kiX. The character is easily confused with 已 and 巳, which differ only in how far the left side is closed: 己 fully open, 已 half closed, 巳 fully closed.
Significations
- direction and time
- the centre
Source text
Ji lodges on Goat, so Goat is Ji. (Liuren Zhizhi, Yin Earth Goat day, Goat general)
己課寄未，未即己也。
Sources: 大六壬指南 卷一、卷四神煞指南; 六壬直指 己未日未将; 大六壬集应钤 己巳日卯将; 毕法赋注解 天祸课