How the 60-pair cycle is formed
The sexagenary cycle, often called Gan-Zhi, combines the Ten Heavenly Stems with the Twelve Earthly Branches in a fixed sequence. The first pair is Jiǎ-Zǐ (甲子). Both lists advance by one step at the same time. Because ten and twelve share a least common multiple of sixty, the original alignment returns only after sixty combinations.
Each Heavenly Stem carries a five-element association—Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, or Water—and a yin or yang polarity. Each Earthly Branch has a traditional zodiac animal. The animal belongs to the branch, not to the stem. That is why a complete label such as Jiǎ-Chén contains more information than simply saying “Dragon.”
How to use the reference
Search by sequence number, Chinese characters, pinyin, element, polarity, animal, or an example year. The year column begins with 1984 as a modern Jiǎ-Zǐ reference and advances through one complete cycle. The same pair also occurred sixty years earlier and will occur sixty years later. A year example is therefore a locator, not the definition of the pair itself.
The table is useful for reading calendars, historical dates, inscriptions, and other tools in this collection. To calculate a specific Gregorian date, use the related Gan-Zhi Date Calculator rather than manually inferring a day or month pillar from this sequence.
Pronunciation and translation
Pinyin tone marks are included because different Chinese characters can look similar in unaccented romanization. Element and animal names are English teaching labels; the original Chinese characters remain visible so readers can compare the result with primary or bilingual sources. This reference does not attach personality predictions to the pairs.