doumeizhen Posted March 20, 2004 at 01:40 AM Report Posted March 20, 2004 at 01:40 AM The following characters, 甲，乙， 丙，丁 , can be seen on license plates, books with 3 or more sections, and in the feature film, Cowboy Bebop, so they are worth learning. They are the first four of the Ten Heavenlly Stems (天干） The indicate levels, government rank, etc. 甲 jia3 乙 yi3 丙 bing3 丁 ding4 These are the most commonly seen ones. Do they use the last six frequently? And... Does anyone out there know the last 6 of the ten heavenly stems? Quote
skylee Posted March 20, 2004 at 01:52 AM Report Posted March 20, 2004 at 01:52 AM 天干 - 甲乙丙丁戊己庚辛壬癸 地支 - 子丑寅卯辰巳午未申酉戌亥 Combining them we have a sixty-year cycle called 甲子. This system is still in use and the name of the year can be found on Chinese calendars. Take a look at 為什麼一甲子是六十年? Quite interesting. 天干 is also used as a numbering system. But since nowadays there are other options (e.g. ABCD, 1234, I II III IV, 一二三四), it has become much less popular. 地支 used to be the name of the time of a day, e.g. 子時, 丑時. Now of course we say 一時, 二時. Quote
Guest doubao Posted March 23, 2004 at 02:33 AM Report Posted March 23, 2004 at 02:33 AM 丁 (ding1) should be 1st tone not 4th Quote
confucius Posted March 23, 2004 at 07:46 PM Report Posted March 23, 2004 at 07:46 PM 甲 and 乙 are also often used in business contracts to distinguish between two aforementioned companies. Quote
roddy Posted March 24, 2004 at 03:23 AM Report Posted March 24, 2004 at 03:23 AM I’m reading a three-way contract just now with 甲乙 and 丙, and it’s confusing – I have enough trouble trying not to confuse the first two. You also see these in medicine, for Hepatitis A, B and C for example Quote
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