Zi (子) Earthly Branch in Bazi

Definition and place in the cycle

Zi opens the twelve-branch cycle and is followed by Chou.

Zi (子) is classified as a Yang Water Earthly Branch. Its animal is a calendrical mnemonic; neither the animal nor the phase alone establishes personality, strength, or outcome.

Season, solar month, and double-hour

Zi (子) governs the 11th solar month · begins near major snow and is associated with midwinter. The listed civil-clock double-hour is 23:00–00:59.

Zi occupies the deepest part of winter around the winter-solstice period, when Water is seasonally concentrated; charts near the Zi-hour midnight boundary also need an explicit day-change convention. Solar-term boundaries and the time standard used for a chart can shift the practical calendar or hour boundary, so calculate the chart rather than guessing from a date or wall clock alone.

Hidden stems and chart role

Zi (子) conventionally contains 癸 Water. Hidden stems describe internal elemental layers and possible roots; this page does not assign fixed weights because schools and calculation methods differ.

Zi contains Gui Water as its conventional hidden stem, so branch polarity and hidden-stem polarity must not be treated as the same classification.

Branch relations and reliable reading boundary

Zi (子) forms a Six Harmony pair with Chou (丑), a Six Clash axis with Wu (午), and a Water trine group with Shen (申) and Chen (辰). A listed relation is a structural possibility, not proof of a favorable, harmful, or transformed result.

• Read month command, pillar position, hidden stems, visible stems, support, control, and timing together.
• Do not reduce an Earthly Branch to its zodiac animal or one personality adjective.
• Do not assume that a harmony, clash, or trine automatically activates or decides the whole chart.