The sexagenary cycle of heavenly stems and earthly branches is known as 六十花甲 in Mandarin, pronounced as liu shi hua jia.
Among the 10 heavenly stems are 5 yin and 5 yang. And among the 12 earthly branches are 6 yin and 6 yang.
When paired with each other, each character must be of the same polarity. Which means that only yang stems can link up with yang branches and only yin stems can be paired with yin branches.
This implies that there can be 30 yin pairs and 30 yang pairs. Making up a total of 60 possible combinations.
At this point, do note that a bazi consist of 4 pairs which are individually known as pillars.
To put the couplets of characters in order for the sexagenary calendar system, we start the first year of the cycle with the first stem Jia and first branch Zi. Then follow the sequence of stems and branches for the second year, and so on.
The result is the below table of sexagenary cycle.
| 1-10 | 11-20 | 21-30 | 31-40 | 41-50 | 51-60 |
| 甲子 JiaZi H1, E1 Metal |
甲戌 JiaXu H1, E11 Fire |
甲申 JiaShen H1, E9 Water |
甲午 JiaWu H1, E7 Metal |
甲辰 JiaChen H1, E5 Fire |
甲寅 JiaYin H1, E3 Water |
| 乙丑 YiChou H2, E2 Metal |
乙亥 YiHai H1, E11 Fire |
乙酉 YiYou H2, E10 Water |
乙未 YiWei H2, E8 Metal |
乙巳 YiSi H2, E6 Fire |
乙卯 YiMao H2, E4 Water |
| 丙寅 BingYin H3, E3 Fire |
丙子 BingZi H3, E1 Water |
丙戌 BingXu H3, E11 Earth |
丙申 BingShen H3, E9 Fire |
丙午 BingWu H3, E7 Water |
丙辰 BingChen H3, E5 Earth |
| 丁卯 DingMao H4 E4 Fire |
丁丑 DingChou H4, E2 Water |
丁亥 DingHai H4, E12 Earth |
丁酉 DingYou H4, E10 Fire |
丁未 DingWei H4, E8 Water |
丁巳 DingSi H4, E6 Earth |
| 戊辰 WuChen H5, E5 Wood |
戊寅 WuYin H5, E3 Earth |
戊子 WuZi H5, E1 Fire |
戊戌 WuXu H5, E11 Wood |
戊申 WuShen H5, E9 Earth |
戊午 WuWu H5, E7 Fire |
| 己巳 JiSi H6, E6 Wood |
己卯 JiMao H6, E4 Earth |
己丑 JiChou H6, E2 Fire |
己亥 JiHai H6, E12 Wood |
己酉 JiYou H6, E10 Earth |
己未 JiWei H6, E8 Fire |
| 庚午 GengWu H7, E7 Earth |
庚辰 GengChen H7, E5 Metal |
庚寅 GengYin H7, E3 Wood |
庚子 GengZi H7, E1 Earth |
庚戌 GengXu H7, E11 Metal |
庚申 GengShen H7, E9 Wood |
| 辛未 XinWei H8, E8 Earth |
辛巳 XinSi H8, E6 Metal |
辛卯 XinMao H8, E4 Wood |
辛丑 XinChou H8, E2 Earth |
辛亥 XinHai H8, E12 Metal |
辛酉 XinYou H8, E10 Wood |
| 壬申 RenShen H9, E9 Metal |
壬午 RenWu H9, E7 Wood |
壬辰 RenChen H9, E5 Water |
壬寅 RenYin H9, E3 Metal |
壬子 RenZi H9, E1 Wood |
壬戌 RenXu H9, E11 Water |
| 癸酉 GuiYou H10, E10 Metal |
癸未 GuiWei H10, E8 Wood |
癸巳 GuiSi H10, E6 Water |
癸卯 GuiMao H10, E4 Metal |
癸丑 GuiChou H10, E2 Wood |
癸亥 GuiHai H10, E12 Water |
Legend can be found here.
The element described in each grid in the above table is the element the pair of characters becomes when combined according to the musical scale concept of 5 elements (納音五行).
In 2019, we are in the 36th year of the current cycle, which is the year of Ji Hai.
At the end of the 60th year, the cycle repeats itself.
