ten celestial stems; ten heavenly stems
A traditional Chinese calendrical and divinatory system consisting of ten signs, each associated with one of the five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, water) in either elder (yang) or younger (yin) form. Used in combination with the twelve earthly branches (十二支) to form the sexagenary cycle.
The ten celestial stems consist of the ten types: kō, otsu, hei, tei, bo, ki, kō, shin, jin, and ki.
Combining the ten celestial stems with the twelve earthly branches yields sixty combinations.
sexagenary cycle; Chinese 60-year cycle
From Chinese 十干 (shígān), literally 'ten stems'. The term entered Japanese as a borrowing and is used in traditional calendrical and divinatory contexts.