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Tiger in a traditional Chinese landscape

Earthly branch 3 of 12

Tiger 寅 Branch: Hours 03:00–04:59, Wood & Trine

寅 Yin is branch 3 of 12: the Tiger, Yang Wood, hours 03:00–04:59, month opening at Lìchūn 立春. It clashes with Monkey and joins the Fire trine with Horse and Dog.

寅Yin

What 寅 names

  • 01

    The hour

    03:00–04:59

    Traditionally the hour tigers hunt, the most dangerous stretch of the night.

  • 02

    The month

    立春 Lìchūn

    Start of Spring opens it — month 1 counted from 立春, not from January.

  • 03

    The direction

    East-northeast

    The twelve branches divide the compass as they divide the day.

  • 04

    The phase

    Wood

    十二支五行 — the phase the branch itself carries.

Inside 寅: season and hidden stems

spring · yang Wood. The branch contains 甲 (primary wood), 丙 (middle fire), 戊 (residual earth). Compare the full hidden-stem register →

All branch memberships

Its fixed relations

  • 冲 · Clash

    Monkey 申

    Six places opposite, so the two never share a season or an hour.

  • 六合 · Six harmony

    Pig 亥

    One of six pairs whose positions balance across the cycle.

  • 三合 · Trine

    Tiger · Horse · Dog

    Four places apart, governing the Fire phase together.

The Tiger in the Great Race

Place3of 12

A powerful swimmer that fought the current the whole way across and arrived furious to find two smaller animals already there.

Read the complete Great Race story →

The five Tiger pillars

  1. Cycle position3丙寅Yang Fire TigerExample year 1986
  2. Cycle position15戊寅Yang Earth TigerExample year 1998
  3. Cycle position27庚寅Yang Metal TigerExample year 2010
  4. Cycle position39壬寅Yang Water TigerExample year 2022
  5. Cycle position51甲寅Yang Wood TigerExample year 2034

Move around the circle

The twelve branches