Every Chinese ought to know a thing or two about this important history. But alas, many don't. Come on people, at least read a bit about it. I will smack the next guy who says, "what's the use of knowing that". Yes there isn't a lot of practical use. The mentally retarded don't know that information either and they live a happy lives too.
Rather than discussing the history, which I know little (better than none), I'd like to discuss the ancient calendar.
In ancient China, there isn't BC/AD years like the rest of the world use. They cycle 60 names for their years, using 10 "Heavenly Stems" and 12 "Earthly Branches". See here for glorious details. And those have minimal Chinese education know that "花甲" or "甲子" means 60, a cycle.
For DECADES I didn't understand. Waita minute, 10 and 12... Should the cycle be 120?
The way they increment years is strange 甲子, then 乙丑. Both heavily stems and earthly branches increment by 1. I never bother to figure out when they use up the tenth value of the stems.
Here is the complete list...
甲子 乙丑 丙寅 丁卯 戊辰 己巳 庚午 辛未 壬申 癸酉
甲戌 乙亥 丙子 丁丑 戊寅 己卯 庚辰 辛巳 壬午 癸未
甲申 乙酉 丙戌 丁亥 戊子 己丑 庚寅 辛卯 壬辰 癸巳
甲午 乙未 丙申 丁酉 戊戌 己亥 庚子 辛丑 壬寅 癸卯
甲辰 乙巳 丙午 丁未 戊申 己酉 庚戌 辛亥 壬子 癸丑
甲寅 乙卯 丙辰 丁巳 戊午 己未 庚申 辛酉 壬戌 癸亥
The world is a better place by calling this rather obscure naming system as obsolete.
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