丑 is one member of the stem-and-branch system. There are ten Heavenly Stems and twelve Earthly Branches; paired together they form the sixty-term cycle used to count years, months, days, and hours.

What do element, polarity, and hidden stems mean?

The element is which of the five phases (Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth) the stem or branch belongs to; polarity is its yin or yang quality. Beyond its primary element, an Earthly Branch also contains one to three hidden stems — these determine what relationships the branch can form.

Can this page read a chart for me?

No. It gives only the fixed attributes of a single stem or branch. Any conclusion has to go back into the whole chart, read together with its structure, favorable element, and luck cycles.

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Earthly Branch

丑chou

丑 (chou) is number 2 of the twelve Earthly Branches — Yin Earth.

Element: Earth
Polarity: Yin
Hidden Stems: 己 · 癸 · 辛

The Earthly Branches are the "substance" layer: they carry direction, season, and hidden stems, holding residual qi beyond their primary element. Hidden stems determine what relationships a branch can form with the stems, and they are key to weighing elemental strength. This page gives the character's own attributes; any real reading still has to consider the whole chart.

Other Earthly Branches

子寅卯辰巳午未申酉戌亥