Definition

1. Noun:

   • The Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches: A traditional East Asian calendrical system consisting of a 60-year cycle formed by combining 10 Heavenly Stems (Thiên Can) and 12 Earthly Branches (Địa Chi). It is used to mark years, months, days, and hours in the traditional lunisolar calendar and cosmology.
   • The specific combination of a Stem and a Branch: Refers to a particular year or time unit within the 60-year cycle (e.g., the year Giáp Tý).

2. Adverb (archaic/literary usage):

   • What does it matter?; It's nothing; Never mind: An expression used to indicate that something is of no consequence or not a problem.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • Âm lịch tính năm theo can chi. (The lunar calendar counts years according to the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches.)
  • Năm nay là năm Quý Mão trong hệ thống can chi. (This year is the year Quý Mão in the Stems and Branches system.)

• Adverb:

  • "Có bầu, có bạn, can chi tủi" (Tản Đà). ("Having companions, having friends, what is there to feel ashamed about?")

Advanced Usage

• "Thiên Can Địa Chi": The full, formal term for the system of Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches.

  • Học thuyết Thiên Can Địa Chi có ảnh hưởng sâu rộng đến văn hóa Á Đông. (The theory of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches has a profound influence on East Asian culture.)

• "Lục thập hoa giáp": Refers specifically to the 60-year cycle created by the Stems and Branches combinations.

  • Một vòng lục thập hoa giáp bao gồm sáu mươi tổ hợp can chi. (One sexagenary cycle includes sixty combinations of Stems and Branches.)

Variants and Related Words

• Can (Thiên Can): Heavenly Stems. There are ten: Giáp, Ất, Bính, Đinh, Mậu, Kỷ, Canh, Tân, Nhâm, Quý.
• Chi (Địa Chi): Earthly Branches. There are twelve: Tý, Sửu, Dần, Mão, Thìn, Tỵ, Ngọ, Mùi, Thân, Dậu, Tuất, Hợi.
• Tứ trụ (Bát tự): Four Pillars (Eight Characters), a fortune-telling method based on the year, month, day, and hour of birth, each expressed as a pair of one Stem and one Branch.

Synonyms

• Thiên Can Địa Chi: (Noun) The exact synonym for the calendrical system.
• Không sao / Không hề gì: (Adverb) Synonyms for the adverbial meaning of "it's nothing" or "never mind."

Related Phrases

• Xem can chi: To consult or calculate using the Stems and Branches system.
  • Ông thầy xem can chi để dự đoán vận mệnh. (The fortune teller uses the Stems and Branches to predict fate.)

Related Idioms

• Can chi mà ngại: An idiom stemming from the adverbial meaning, expressing "Why hesitate?" or "There's nothing to be afraid of."
  • Việc nhỏ thế, can chi mà ngại. (It's such a small matter, why hesitate?)

1. The signs of the Heavenly Stems and of the Earthly Branches (of ancient cosmology)
2. Have something to do with
   • No need tọ