天干

tiāngān

noun #63,796

Meanings

1 the ten Heavenly Stems

Characters

stem (one of the ten signs)

Examples

HSK 3

天干一共有十个。

Tiāngān yígòng yǒu shí ge.

There are ten Heavenly Stems in all.

HSK 7-9

天干和地支相配，六十年循环一次，叫作一个甲子。

Tiāngān hé dìzhī xiāngpèi, liùshí nián xúnhuán yí cì, jiàozuò yí ge jiǎzǐ.

The Heavenly Stems are paired with the Earthly Branches in a cycle that repeats every sixty years, called a jiazi.

Tips

culture

The ten stems are 甲, 乙, 丙, 丁, 戊, 己, 庚, 辛, 壬 and 癸. Besides naming years, the first few work like A, B, C: 甲方 and 乙方 are the two parties to a contract.

mistakes

The night watchman's call 天干物燥 'the weather is dry, mind your fires' has nothing to do with the stems: there 天 and 干 are two words, 'the sky is dry'.

Stroke Order

天 tiān

干 gān