72 
REV. PROFESSOR JAMES LEGGE, M.A., ON 
challenging consideration. The first cyclical name for a 
year found in Sze-ma Cl’ien is, we have seen, that for the 
era of Kung-Ho, which he enters as the year Kdng-shdn. 
For the measuring of days and years the Chinese use a 
cycle of sixty. It is composed of two series of characters, 
one consisting of ten, which are called “the Heavenly Stems,” 
the other of twelve, which are called “the Earthly Branches.” 
The first stem is called chid, and the first branch tsze. These 
two, jomed together, make chid-tsze, the first term of the 
cycle. The two second characters, yi and ch’au, are similarly 
joined, and make the second term, and so on with the other 
terms to the tenth, which is kwei-yi.* 
* It may be well to subjoin here a table of the cycle both in Chinese 
and English. 
1 HA F, chif-tsze 
2 a a yi-ch'au 
3 AR BH, ping-yin 
4 ayy DNs, ting-méo 
5 JX Je, wo-ch'in 
6 ra i; chi-sze 
7 Bt --, kang-wi 
8 34: Fe, hein-wei 
9 +T- FH, jan-shin 
10 3S PY, kwei-ya 
11 FA FR, chia-hsti 
12 G &%, yi-nai 
13 Py -f, ping-tsze 
14° J Hting-ch'an 
15 ‘Bi, wa-yin 
16 a Dy, chi-mao 
17 JE Jee, king-ch'n 
18 of: BE, hsin-sze 
19 E Af, jin-wa 
20 3S Fe, kwei-wei 
21 FA AA, chia-shan 
22 G, PY, yi-ya 
23 A FX, ping-hsii 
o4 J &, ting-hai 
25 JK -F-, wa-tsze 
26 CY AE, chi-ch'au 
a7 Jt ‘B, king-yin 
28 =¥: Hy, hsin-mao 
29 Ee Jie, jan-ch'sn 
30 AS Ed kwei-sze 
31 FA AP, chia-wa 
32 G Zc, yi-wei 
33 A FA ) ping-shan 
34 J PY, ting-yo 
35 JX% FX, wi-hsii 
36 EL SB, chi-hai 
37 Be -F-, king-tsze 
38 3: SE iainech au 
39 EE ‘BY, jan-yin 
40 as HII, kwei-mao 
11 Fl ie, chia-ch'tn 
42 G E,, yi-sze 
43 Aa A, ping-wa 
44 a I, ting-wei 
45 We HA, w0-shin 
46 CD. 4, chi-ya 
47 At JAX, king-hsii 
4g 3: YB, hsin-hai- 
49 =5 Se jan-tsze 
50 aS AE kwei-ch‘au 
51 FA ‘Bq, chia-yin 
52 Gi Sil, yt-mao 
53 WA Je, ping-ch'tn 
54 Ty B,, ting-sze 
55 JM AE, wa-wa 
56 DA Ag, chi-wei 
57 Bt FAI, king-shin 
58 3: pa, hsin-yQ 
59 Ee JAX, jin-hsit 
60 9S Y, kwei-hai 
