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干支

Mandarin · pinyin gān zhī

the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干 shí tiān gān and twelve earthly branches 十二枝
sexagenary cycle

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Characters in this entry

干: gàn · oppose, offend; invade; dried
支: zhī · disperse, pay; support; branch

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–1 · gan1 zhi1

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

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 · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gon1 zi1

Cantonese word readings for 干支. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

noun

The Chinese sexagenary cycle expressed as combinations of the ten heavenly stems and the twelve earthly branches.

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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