Directory_and_Chronicle_1845 — Page 760

6

11 to 1 or noon, wa, Horse.

11 to 1, or midnight,

1 to 3-4th watch,

tsz', Rat.

chau, Cow.

1 to 3

wi, Sheep.

3 to 5-5th watch

5 to 7

7 to 9

9 to 11 -

yin, Tiger. || máu, Rabbit.

3 to 5 -

-

shin, Monkey

5 to 7

yu, Cock.

shin, Dragon. sz', Snake.

7 to 9-1st watch

siuh, Dog,

7 to 11-2d. do.

hái, Boar.

By prefixing to the characters the words Eching and kiáu, these twelve periods are divided into twenty-four hours: thus Eching-tsz' denotes midnight or 12 o'clock, and forwards to 1 o'clock; and

kiáu- tsz', denotes from 11 to 12 o'clock. The shi-shin, or two hour periods, are divided into eight kih

Di] – ti

剌

or quarters. Ching-máu yih kih E 卯

signifies a quarter past six in the morning; and kiáu-shin urh kih

二亥

denotes half past seven o'clock.

The night from 7 o'clock in the evening to 5 in the morning is also divided

into five kang, or watches, each watch consisting of one shí-shin, or of two hours.

In reference to the compass, Tsz' is the North, Wú the South, Miu the East, and Yu the West; the other eight are intermediate points between these. The 'ten stems' and 'twelve branches' are otherwise named after various animals, but are made use of in that way chiefly by the Manchus and Mongols.

The following characters, which are the names of the twenty-eight lunaṛ constellations, are likewise employed to designate the days.

2

3 Tí

角亢氏房心

Kwei

22 # Tsing

≈ * * * &

Wei

18昂 Miu

Máu 25星

井鬼柳星張翼

Kwei

Lig

Kioh

8

斗

Tau

15

奎

Káng

9 4:

Nid

16

婁 LG

10 女 No

17

胄

4

Fáng

11

扁 Ha

Sing

12 危 Wei

19 畢 Peih

26張 Chang

20 Tsz'

27 翼 Yih

7箕 Ki

14壁 Peih

21. 參 Tsán 28 軫 Chin

5 Sin

6尾 Wei 13 室 Shih

These characters are applied in regular order to the days of the month. Four of them (those printed in italks) always mark the Christian Sabbath, while the others designate the week days respectively. January 1st, 1851, is designated by the 28th character chin, and February 1st, the 1st day of the Chinese year, is marked 1⁄4y the 3d character, 14. See Anglo-Chinese Calendar for 1841 ; Chinese Chrestomathy, page 388.