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十二支

Mandarin · pinyin shí èr zhī

the 12 earthly branches 子 zǐ, 丑, 寅, 卯, 辰, 巳, 午, 未, 申, 酉, 戌, 亥 (used cyclically in the calendar and as ordinal number)

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Characters in this entry

十: shí · ten, tenth; complete; perfect
二: èr · two; twice
支: zhī · disperse, pay; support; branch

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Mandarin tones

2–4–1 · shi2 er4 zhi1

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Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

noun

the twelve earthly branches, namely 子 (zǐ), 丑 (chǒu), 寅 (yín), 卯 (mǎo), 辰 (chén), 巳 (sì), 午 (wǔ), 未 (wèi), 申 (shēn), 酉 (yǒu), 戌 (xū), 亥 (hài) (used cyclically in the calendar and as ordinal number)
a gambling game, commonly referred to as "chap ji kee" in English sources, which used the 12 cards of the 四色牌 (sìsèpái) (four colour cards) deck, each of which has a different character drawn from those used in Chinese chess (象棋 (xiàngqí))

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