甲子

jiǎzǐ

noun #14,636

Meanings

1 first year of the sixty-year cycle
2 the sixty-year cycle (in the traditional Chinese calendar)

Characters

first (of the Heavenly Stems); armor

first (of the Earthly Branches); child

Examples

一个甲子就是六十年。

Yī gè jiǎzǐ jiù shì liùshí nián.

One jiazi is sixty years.

他已经活了一个甲子了。

Tā yǐjīng huó le yī gè jiǎzǐ le.

He has already lived a full sixty-year cycle.

Tips

history

The 甲子 cycle combines the 10 Heavenly Stems (天干) and 12 Earthly Branches (地支) to create a repeating 60-year calendar. 甲 is the first stem and 子 is the first branch, making 甲子 year one of the cycle.

culture

The term is also used loosely to mean 'sixty years' in general. 花甲 (huājiǎ) refers to a person's 60th birthday, marking completion of one full cycle.

Stroke Order

甲 jiǎ

子 zǐ