also: へいし
Fire Rat; 13th sexagenary cycle term
Refers to the 13th term of the traditional 60-term sexagenary cycle (干支), combining the celestial stem 丙 (Fire, yang) and the earthly branch 子 (Rat). Used in East Asian calendars and astrology, e.g. for years like 1936, 1996, 2056.
See also: 干支
The year of the Fire Rat is the 13th in the sexagenary cycle.
He was born in the year of the Fire Rat, which corresponds to 1996.
Standard kanji form for the sexagenary cycle term; reading ひのえね is the primary native Japanese reading.
Sino-Japanese reading; less common in everyday contexts but may appear in historical or technical texts.
Compound of 丙 (ひのえ, 'Fire elder brother', the third celestial stem) and 子 (ね, 'Rat', the first earthly branch). The reading へいし is the Sino-Japanese on'yomi.