【Zi Shi】Midnight, also known as Ziye and Zhongye: The first of the twelve shichen. (23:00-1:00).
The twelve shichen in China start with Zi Shi, which begins at 23:00 and lasts until 1:00 in the night. Before midnight is considered the previous day, while after midnight is considered the next day.
"Ye ban" refers to the time between 23:00 of the previous night and 1:00 in the morning (Beijing Time, 24-hour system). This period is named "Zi Shi" using the Earthly Branches.
"Ye ban" refers to the middle period between nightfall and dawn, while the commonly used term "ban ye" (midnight) generally refers to the entire dark period, often extending beyond the two hours of "ye ban".
Zi Shi: 23:00 - 01:00. Because during Zi Shi, it is quiet and dark, and it is the time when rats are active, so it is called "zi shu" (rat). Although Zi Shi starts at 23:00, the ancients also considered 0:00 as the beginning of the new day, and this time was called "zi shi ban". Therefore, although the ancient timekeeping system differs from the modern 24-hour system, they do not contradict each other, both considering 0:00 as the start of a new day.
How is Zi Shi divided?
1. The most traditional division is that Zi Shi is from 23:00 to 1:00, meaning that it starts after 23:00 on the same day, and ends at 1:00 on the next day. Throughout history, this has been the most common division, and in ancient texts, this is the only method used. This method means that after 23:00, the day pillar changes accordingly.
2. The second way of division is to take 0:00 as the start of Zi Shi. In fact, this is a view proposed by modern people, and many ancient texts cannot find this method of division.
3. The third way of division is to divide it into late Zi Shi and early Zi Shi, not just using 0:00 as the standard. The difference is that for late Zi Shi, the four pillars still use the day pillar of the same day. In other words, even after 23:00, if it hasn't reached 0:00, the day pillar remains the same. After 0:00, the day pillar becomes the next day's day pillar. This method is used by some people in the study of fate.
