The Twelve Earth Branches

Chinese Horoscopes Guide to Relationship
by Theodora Lau

Are you and your partner always quarreling, for no apparent reason? Could it be that one of you is a Dragon and the other a Dog?

If you were looking for a creative person to work for you, would it help to know their birth year? Someone born in the Year of the Monkey would be a strong choice.

Were you born in the Year of the Rooster? Maybe it's no surprise that your closest friends are a Horse and a Rabbit.

The Chinese Horoscopes Guide to Relationships is a fascinating guide to the secrets of the astrological system that has been practiced in China for years. By identifying the people in your life - business associates, family members, teachers, friends, lovers, and spouses - through their respective signs, you will gain valuable insight into their personalities and aptitudes, their quirks and proclivities. More important, you will discover how your own sign and its traits affect how you get along with others born under different signs. At long last, you will have the astrological explanations as to why you can be so compatible with one person yet so completely at odds with someone else.

Most people in the West today are familiar with the twelve animal signs of Chinese astrology, each governing a lunar year and bringing to it, and to the people born in that year, its own individual personality. What is not so widely known is that these animal names were a later addition, dating from the time of the Lord Buddha who, according to legend, assigned a year to each of the twelve animals who came to bid him farewell on his departure from Earth.

In ancient Chinese astrological lore, however, which is now 4,692 years old, the study of horoscopes were based primarily on the theory of the Twelve Earth Branches governed by the twelve-year lunar cycle. Before each year had been given an animal name, these were identified by their earth branches only. In this book I have used the proper branch terms as well as the animal names to identify and classify twelve basic character types, and because the study of human interaction lies at the core of Chinese horoscopes, I have shown the twelve branches in their associated groupings on the Relationship Tree, as a simple way of illustrating how the different personalities relate to and react against one another. Interaction between the earth branches or lunar animal signs is comprehensively explained in everyday terms and examples. By learning how to identify yourself with the correct earth branch you will automatically remember the ranking order and the branch number, which is hard to do when using only the animal names.

For example, if I were to say simply that you are a Dragon, you would not know immediately that the Dragon is actually another name for the fifth earth branch, called Chen. In Chinese astrology and numerology, the position and order of each branch play a significant role and in the Chinese almanac and historical treatise of astrology lunar signs are referred to by their earth branches, not by their colorful mythical animal names. After reading this book you will know that the fifth earth branch (the Dragon) is most compatible with the first (the Rat) and the ninth (the Monkey) branches and that these three form the First Triangle of Affinity. Furthermore, the fifth branch is in conflict with the eleventh branch (the Dog) which is located opposite it in the Circle of Conflict. In this circle, an odd number is ranged against another odd number directly facing it, while an even-numbered branch will likewise find the most difficulty with another even-numbered branch, 180 degrees away.

Special sets of characteristics are found in each of the twelve types according to its earth branch. These interact with one another in a myriad ways and degrees of intensity. Optimum ways to get desired results, defuse antagonism or discover the most workable approach when dealing with one or more lunar personality types are suggested here.

Don't be surprised if you find that you possess the characteristics of several of the earth branches. This is normal, as few of us are pure signs. In addition to our year signs, we all carry the traits of our ascendant signs which rule our birth hours, as well as our personal month's sign governed by the Twenty-Four Segments. The twenty-four segments are synchronized with all the Western Zodiac signs so it is easy to identify which of the twelve earth branches your Western sign belongs to. For instance, Sagittarius is the first earth branch, Capricorn is the second, Aquarius is linked with the third branch and so on, with Scorpio as the twelfth and last earth branch.

To discover the ruling Earth branch of your Western astrological sign based on the month of your birth, please refer to the following chart. This third 'branch', after the year of birth and the time of birth, also plays a significant role in shaping our personalities and relationships. It is relevant to point out that the segments coincide to the exact day of the Western astrological signs and were marked by Chinese festivals to establish their importance further.

The Earth Branches in the Twenty-Four
Segments of the Chinese Almanac

Earth branch	Western sign	Dates
1st = Rat	Sagittarius	November 22 to December 21
2nd = 0x	Capricorn	December 22 to January 20
3rd = Tiger	Aquarius	January 21 to February 19
4th = Rabbit	Pisces	February 20 to March 20
5th = Dragon	Aries	March 21 to April 19
6th = Snake	Taurus	April 20 to May 20
7th = Horse	Gemini	May 21 to June 21
8th = Sheep	Cancer	June 22 to July 21
9th = Monkey	Leo	July 22 to August 21
10th = Rooster	Virgo	August 22 to September 22
11th = Dog	Libra	September 23 to October 22
12th = Boar	Scorpio	October 23 to November 21

You will find four sets of triangles in the Chinese cycle of Twelve Earth Branches. These are Triangles of Affinity and they are made up as follows:

1 Triangle of the Doers: Rat - first; Dragon - fifth; Monkey - month.

2 Triangle of the Thinkers: Ox - second; Snake - sixth; Rooster - tenth.

3 Triangle of the Protectors: Tiger - third; Horse - seventh; Dog - eleventh.

4 Triangle of the Catalysts: Rabbit - fourth; Sheep - eighth; Boar - twelfth.

These four sets of triangles and the resulting interpersonal relationships woven by their interaction will give more insight into the different personality types as revealed by Chinese astrology.

Chinese culture is in itself a most colourful fabric of intricate relationships. Finely woven in brilliant hues and exquisite designs, everything is based on interaction among groups or individuals likely to have the best chance of success. Working on tried and true principles which would produce the highest ratio of affinity or the least amount of discord was the goal of civilised Chinese society.

Success was considered synonymous with good working relationships, the ability and perseverance to make profitable use of the right contacts. Everyone had to possess or develop guan xi which were the special channels for getting things done. Guan xi was indispensable. Politically, militarily, personally and commercially, these interlocking relations lubricated the wheels of everyone's life. The careful cultivation of relationships created influential ties that bound and nurtured, and gave birth to opportunities where none existed before.

Of course, present-day guan xi is a polluted word in China and is also used to refer to corruption, bribery or undue influence (going by the 'back door'). However, the essential meaning of guan xi is that it matters greatly to have the right connections in the right places. Guan xi is only valued when used, so it is an art to know how to recognize and exploit the opportunities available, and the human ties that result must be acknowledged and honored. It is a system of favors for favors, information for information and mutual exchanges of special treatment. It is the eastern equivalent of clout.

Copyright © 1997 by Theodora Lau.

About the Author

Theodora Lau was born in Shanghai and lived with her husband and two children in Hong Kong before moving to California, where she is presently settled. She is the author of The Handbook of Chinese Horoscopes, now in its third edition.