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KMID : 0104920220320010008
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Journal of Hawhwa Medicine
2022 Volume.32 No. 1 p.8 ~ p.8
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A Study on the Origin and History of Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches
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Han Gook
Yun Chang-Yeol
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Abstract
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Objectives : Ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches are indispensable symbols to understand the medical theories in oriental medicine including the Yunqi theory. The researchers of oriental medicine are required to have a deep understanding on the origin and history of the heavenly stems and earthly branches.
Methods : This paper investigated and studied the meaning of the heavenly stems, the reason behind ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches, and Year Yang (歲陽) and Year Yin (歲陰) which are called the ancient heavenly stems and earthly branches (古甲子), referring to some oriental literature including “Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon.
Results : The sky becomes father and the earth becomes mother. The sky controls mind and the earth controls materials. The sky initiates and the earth completes. Gun (乾, the sky), the nature (性情) of the sky, has ten minds and Gongwae ( , the earth) is made of twelve strokes. The heavenly stems are used to mark the first ten days and the earthly branches to indicate twelve months. Therefore, 10 indicates the sun and the days and 12 represents the moon and the months. Year Yang and Year Yin were originally used to record the years (年) but it was replaced with the heavenly stems and earthly branches after Emperor Guangwu in the Later Han dynasty.
Conclusions : If 1, 2, 3, and 4 are added together, the sum is 10, which is a perfect number that controls the wood, fire, metal, and water; the east, west, south, and north; and the spring, summer, fall, and winter. If 3 is multiplied by 4, the result is 12, which becomes a maturity number indicating the 12 houses of the zodiac, 12 months, 12 cardinal directions, 12 joints, 12 organs, and 12 meridian vessels. Therefore, the ten heavenly stems imply the perfection of the sky and the twelve earthly branches indicate the completion of the earth.
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KEYWORD
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Heavenly Stems, Earthly Branches, Year Yang, Year Yin
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