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Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches

Every pillar of Saju is a pair of characters: a heavenly stem and an earthly branch. There are ten stems (five elements in a yang and a yin form) and twelve branches (the zodiac animals). Their combination repeats once every sixty years — which is where the sixty-year measure of a human life in East Asia comes from.

The Ten Heavenly Stems (천간)

No.HanjaKoreanElementPolarity
1woodyang 陽
2woodyin 陰
3fireyang 陽
4fireyin 陰
5earthyang 陽
6earthyin 陰
7metalyang 陽
8metalyin 陰
9wateryang 陽
10wateryin 陰

The Twelve Earthly Branches (지지)

No.HanjaKoreanAnimal
1Rat
2Ox
3Tiger
4Rabbit
5Dragon
6Snake
7Horse
8Goat
9Monkey
10Rooster
11Dog
12Pig

Ten stems and twelve branches combine in pairs, but not every pair is possible — even goes with even, odd with odd. That is why there are sixty combinations, not one hundred and twenty.

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