The Earthly Branches are twelve basic symbols

The Gan-Zhi and Saju traditions use twelve Earthly Branches.[1][2]

Their traditional sequence is:

子 · 丑 · 寅 · 卯 · 辰 · 巳 · 午 · 未 · 申 · 酉 · 戌 · 亥

This article focuses on their structural relationship to traditional timekeeping rather than turning the Branches into twelve personality types.

The Branches are linked to a traditional month sequence

The Earthly Branches are associated with a traditional month sequence.[2]

The sequence begins with 寅 as 1, followed by 卯 2, 辰 3, 巳 4, 午 5, 未 6, 申 7, 酉 8, 戌 9, 亥 10, 子 11, and 丑 12.

These numbers should not be treated as direct equivalents of modern Gregorian January through December.

The traditional Branch-month sequence and modern calendar month names are different systems of notation.

The Branches are also linked to the twelve shichen

Traditional timekeeping also divides the day into twelve shichen, each roughly two hours long.[1][2]

子 23:00–01:00 → 丑 01:00–03:00 → 寅 03:00–05:00 → 卯 05:00–07:00 → 辰 07:00–09:00 → 巳 09:00–11:00 → 午 11:00–13:00 → 未 13:00–15:00 → 申 15:00–17:00 → 酉 17:00–19:00 → 戌 19:00–21:00 → 亥 21:00–23:00

This is a traditional time-classification structure. It is not a scientifically established causal rule saying that a time interval determines personality or events.

The Branches are not reduced to zodiac personality labels

Earthly Branches are widely known through their association with zodiac animals, but one Branch alone does not determine a person's personality, aptitude, health, wealth, relationships, or future.

Likewise, a traditional month or shichen correspondence does not make that time category a decisive cause of individual outcomes.

Structural classification and individual interpretation are different steps.

A complete four-season grouping is not added here

Traditional discussions connect the Earthly Branches with seasonal context.[1]

However, the currently approved canonical scope has not finalized a complete four-season grouping table for all twelve Branches.

For that reason, this article does not create a new chart such as 寅卯辰 = spring and parallel groupings for the remaining Branches.

For now, three points are enough:

twelve Earthly Branches → traditional month sequence → twelve-shichen time structure