| 甲 | jiǎ | first of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1] / (used for an unspecified person or thing) / first (in a list, as a party to a contract etc) / letter "A" or roman "I" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc / armor plating / shell or carapace / (of the fingers or toes) nail / bladed leather or metal armor (old) / ranking system used in the Imperial examinations (old) / civil administration unit in the baojia 保甲[bao3 jia3] system (old) / ancient Chinese compass point: 75° |
| 乙 | yǐ | second of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1] / second in order / letter "B" or Roman "II" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc / second party (in legal contract, usually 乙方[yi3 fang1], as opposed to 甲方[jia3 fang1]) / ethyl / bent / winding / radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 5) / ancient Chinese compass point: 105° |
| 丁 | dīng | fourth of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1] / fourth in order / letter "D" or Roman "IV" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc / ancient Chinese compass point: 195° / butyl / cubes (of food) |
| 丙 | bǐng | third of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1] / third in order / letter "C" or Roman "III" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc / ancient Chinese compass point: 165° / propyl |
| 辛 | xīn | (of taste) hot or pungent / hard / laborious / suffering / eighth in order / eighth of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1] / letter "H" or Roman "VIII" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc / ancient Chinese compass point: 285° / octa |
| 己 | jǐ | self / oneself / sixth of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1] / sixth in order / letter "F" or Roman "VI" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc / hexa |
| 壬 | rén | ninth of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1] / ninth in order / letter "I" or Roman "IX" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc / ancient Chinese compass point: 345° / nona |
| 庚 | gēng | age / seventh of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1] / seventh in order / letter "G" or Roman "VII" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc / ancient Chinese compass point: 255° / hepta |
| 戊 | wù | fifth of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1] / fifth in order / letter "E" or Roman "V" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc / penta |
| 癸 | guǐ | tenth of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1] / tenth in order / letter "J" or Roman "X" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc / ancient Chinese compass point: 15° / deca |
| 干支 | gān zhī | the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1] and twelve earthly branches 十二枝 / sexagenary cycle |
| 十天干 | shí tiān gān | the ten Heavenly Stems 甲[jia3], 乙[yi3], 丙[bing3], 丁[ding1], 戊[wu4], 己[ji3], 庚[geng1], 辛[xin1], 壬[ren2], 癸[gui3] (used cyclically in the calendar and as ordinal number like Roman I, II, III) |
| 甲乙 | jiǎ yǐ | first two of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1] |