Metal Rat
Gēng Zǐ, yang
- Stem
- 庚 metal, yang
- Branch
- 子 rat
- 納音
- 壁上土 Earth on the Wall
- Years
- 1900, 1960, 2020, 2080
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
Metal carries water, and 庚子 pairs yang metal 庚 with the water of 子, the Rat. The stem generates the branch. The most recent years were 1960 and 2020.
Earth on the Wall is its 納音. Sanming Tonghui describes energy shut in and things still wrapped up, with the inside and outside out of touch, and a wall is the image for that closing off. Earth belongs to neither metal nor water, so the name here is purely a marker of the sixty-part position.
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.