The list of ten Heavenly Stems (天干 pinyin: tian1 gan1) was an enumeration of discrete entities, as in years and dates often employed in Chinese astrology. It has been in use in China since the Shang Dynasty (1600 BC).
The phonetic characterss are:
- Jiǎ (甲)
- Yǐ (乙)
- Bǐng (丙)
- Dīng (丁)
- Wù (戊)
- Jǐ (己)
- Gēng (庚)
- Xīn (辛)
- Rén (壬)
- Guǐ (癸)
The Branches are still used commonly nowadays in China in counting systems parallel to how alphabet is used in English, namely,
- Students' grades: with an additional Yōu (優 "Excellence") before Jiǎ.
- Choices on multiple choice exams, surveys, and etc.
- Vitamins' names (although currently, in this case, the ABC system is more popular)
- Organic chemicalss' names (e.g. Methanol=甲醇; Ethanol=乙醇.)
See also: Chinese numerals