The 12 earthly branches are: ZI 子 (Rat), CHOU 丑 (Ox), YIN 寅 (Tiger), MAO 卯 (Rabbit), CHEN 辰 (Dragon), SI 巳 (Snake), WU 午 (Horse), WEI 未 (Goat), SHEN 申 (Monkey), YOU 酉 (Rooster), XU 戌 (Dog), and HAI 亥 (Pig). 

Each earthly branch bears a technical name in Chinese, which is untranslatable. Hence, the corresponding zodiac sign names are often used. However, when we say “Rat,” we actually mean zi 子, whose meaning has nothing to do with the symbolism of the Rat sign in popular Chinese “astrology.”

The “astrology” of the 12 Chinese signs is a mythology and a popular tradition completely separate from the traditional science of Bazi. Annually, various Chinese-language almanacs are published in Hong Kong (in the People’s Republic of China) with “predictions” for people born in years dominated by each of the 12 signs. This occurs on the eve of the Chinese New Year, around February 4th, and is one of the elements of the biggest Chinese festival. That’s all there is to it.

Earthly branches differ from heavenly stems in that they are deeply rooted principles in concrete reality in their spatial and temporal dimensions. In fact, each earthly branch corresponds to a very precise geographical direction (as seen on a compass rose) and is very useful in feng shui practice. Also, each corresponds to one of the 12 stages of the evolution of the four cosmic seasons of the year.

Another peculiarity of the earthly branches is that they have “hidden” within them one or more heavenly stems. For example, the earthly branch yin 寅 (Tiger) has “hidden” within it the celestial stem jia 甲 (Yang Wood), which is the dominant qi 气, and two other secondary heavenly stems, bing 丙 (Yang Fire) and wu 戊 (Yang Earth). In contrast, the terrestrial branch mao 卯 (Rabbit) contains only one celestial stem, yi 乙 (Yin Wood).