Fire Rat
Bǐng Zǐ, yang
- Stem
- 丙 fire, yang
- Branch
- 子 rat
- 納音
- 澗下水 Water Beneath the Ravine
- Years
- 1936, 1996, 2056
Each listed year runs from its boundary to the next one, and it depends on the convention. Early dates in the calendar year can belong to the year before.
About this year
Water Beneath the Ravine is the 納音 of 丙子, an image that matches the branch and opposes the stem. 丙 is yang fire and 子, the Rat, is water, and water quenches fire. So the Fire Rat pairs a stem with a branch that overcomes it.
Sanming Tonghui explains the image through terrain. High ground is no place for water to run, low damp ground is where it settles, and so this stream travels inside the earth. Calendars show the pair at 1936, 1996 and 2056, and in all of them the name is a marker of position, whatever the stem's fire might suggest.
Where this text comes from
The 納音 name follows the Wikisource text of 三命通會, volume 1, the only witness we found for the full set of names. The polarity of the stems and branches and the generating and overcoming cycles follow 五行大義 volume 2.
- 三命通會 卷一 (Wikisource 三命通會/卷一, SIMPLIFIED script as stored on Wikisource)
Retrieved 2026-11-09
- 五行大義 卷二 (Wikisource 五行大義/2, traditional script)
Retrieved 2026-11-09
The English here is our own plain wording, not a translation of a single source.