Changes

Japanese:  干支 ''' Kan-shi''' or '''E-to'''

Japanese:  干支 ''' Kan-shi''' or '''E-to'''

From ancient times China had two series of characters used for numbering (not for numbers!). One is the "ten stems" （jik-kan 十干), the other is the "twelve branches" (jûni-shi 十二支).  They were combined to make a cycle of 60, the sexegenary cycle. These series spread over east and south-east Asia and were taken over by the Japanese in the seventh century<ref>J. Edward Kidder, Jr. "Himiko and Japan's Elusive Chiefdom of Yamatai: Achaeology, History, and Mythology." University of Hawai'i Press: 2007, Page 187</ref>. They are still known in Japan, though since the [[Meiji period]] (1868-1912) their use has been very limited.   

From ancient times China had two series of characters used for numbering (not for numbers!). One is the "ten stems" （jik-kan 十干), the other is the "twelve branches" (jûni-shi 十二支).  They were combined to make a cycle of 60, the sexegenary cycle. These series spread over east and south-east Asia and were early taken over by the Japanese as part of the Chinese culture<ref>A mirror in Sumida (隅田) Hachiman-gu Shrine in Hashimoto City, Wakayama Prefecture has an inscription that includes the year in cyclic form, 癸未年 (see below). Scholars are mostly divided about whether this refers to 443 A.D. or to 503 A.D., but in any case, one can say that the cycle was used in Japan to indicate years in the fifth century. (Yoshida Yoshirô, ''The Japanese Calendar'', p. 50 (岡田芳朗,日本の暦、木耳社、[Mokujisha],1972).</ref>. They are still known in Japan, though since the [[Meiji period]] (1868-1912) their use has been very limited.   

==TheTwelve Branches (Jûni-shi 十二支)==

==TheTwelve Branches (Jûni-shi 十二支)==