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What giờ hoàng đạo (auspicious hours) are and how to read them

Published · 4 min read

A day has 12 double-hours named after the earthly branches, and the old calendar calls 6 of them hoàng đạo. Here is how they are worked out, how to read them and what to know before using them.

Lacquer painting of a circle divided into twelve vermilion and gold sections, with the sun and a crescent moon beside it

Open a page of the lunar calendar and you will often see a line like “Giờ hoàng đạo: Tý, Sửu, Mão, Ngọ, Thân, Dậu”. Many people use it to pick a time to set out on a trip or hold a ceremony. So what are giờ hoàng đạo (auspicious hours), and why do they change from day to day?

A day has 12 hours, not 24

The traditional calendar splits a day and night into 12 time slots. Each lasts about two hours and is named after an earthly branch (địa chi):

  • Tý: 23:00–01:00
  • Sửu: 01:00–03:00
  • Dần: 03:00–05:00
  • Mão: 05:00–07:00
  • Thìn: 07:00–09:00
  • Tỵ: 09:00–11:00
  • Ngọ: 11:00–13:00
  • Mùi: 13:00–15:00
  • Thân: 15:00–17:00
  • Dậu: 17:00–19:00
  • Tuất: 19:00–21:00
  • Hợi: 21:00–23:00

In Vietnam these slots follow Vietnam time (UTC+7), the same way the Vietnamese calendar works out lunar dates. The Tý hour spans midnight. Whether 23:00–24:00 belongs to the Tý hour of the day you are looking at or of the next day depends on the school; there is no single agreed reading.

Lacquer painting of a round dial split into twelve parts, each holding one gold zodiac animal: the rat at the bottom, then clockwise the buffalo, tiger, cat, dragon, snake, the horse at the top, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. The upper half is gold with a sun, the lower half dark red with a crescent moon
The twelve earthly-branch hours laid out like a clock face: Tý (rat, midnight) at the bottom, Ngọ (horse, noon) at the top. Clockwise from Tý: Sửu, Dần, Mão (a cat in Vietnam, not a rabbit), Thìn, Tỵ, Ngọ, Mùi, Thân, Dậu, Tuất, Hợi.

Twelve spirits, six good and six bad

Each slot is given one of 12 “duty spirits” (trực thần), always in this order:

  1. Thanh Long, Green Dragon (hoàng đạo)
  2. Minh Đường, Bright Hall (hoàng đạo)
  3. Thiên Hình, Heavenly Punishment (hắc đạo)
  4. Chu Tước, Vermilion Bird (hắc đạo)
  5. Kim Quỹ, Golden Chest (hoàng đạo)
  6. Kim Đường, also called Bảo Quang (hoàng đạo)
  7. Bạch Hổ, White Tiger (hắc đạo)
  8. Ngọc Đường, Jade Hall (hoàng đạo)
  9. Thiên Lao, Heavenly Prison (hắc đạo)
  10. Huyền Vũ, printed as Nguyên Vũ in some books (hắc đạo)
  11. Tư Mệnh, Life Keeper (hoàng đạo)
  12. Câu Trận (hắc đạo)

Six spirits are called hoàng đạo (“yellow path”), the other six hắc đạo (“black path”). A slot that falls on a hoàng đạo spirit is an auspicious hour. So every day has exactly six hoàng đạo hours and six hắc đạo hours.

A ring of twelve lacquer tiles, six in gold leaf and six in black lacquer edged with vermilion; a red pearl marks the starting tile at the top and a gold arrow points clockwise
The twelve spirits in the order of the list above, starting at the tile under the red pearl (Thanh Long) and going clockwise. Gold tiles are hoàng đạo spirits, black tiles are hắc đạo spirits.

Why does each day differ?

The order of the 12 spirits never changes. What changes is the starting point: which hour Thanh Long falls on. That depends on the earthly branch of the day:

  • Dần or Thân days: Thanh Long is at the Tý hour.
  • Mão or Dậu days: Thanh Long is at the Dần hour.
  • Thìn or Tuất days: Thanh Long is at the Thìn hour.
  • Tỵ or Hợi days: Thanh Long is at the Ngọ hour.
  • Ngọ or Tý days: Thanh Long is at the Thân hour.
  • Mùi or Sửu days: Thanh Long is at the Tuất hour.

From the Thanh Long hour, count on in branch order to get the spirit of every other hour.

Example: on a Tý day, Thanh Long is at the Thân hour. Counting on: Dậu is Minh Đường, Tuất is Thiên Hình, Hợi is Chu Tước, Tý is Kim Quỹ, Sửu is Kim Đường, Dần is Bạch Hổ, Mão is Ngọc Đường, Thìn is Thiên Lao, Tỵ is Huyền Vũ, Ngọ is Tư Mệnh, Mùi is Câu Trận. Keep the six hoàng đạo spirits and you get the auspicious hours of a Tý day: Tý, Sửu, Mão, Ngọ, Thân, Dậu. A Ngọ day gives the same six hours.

Because the day’s branch repeats every 12 days, the list of auspicious hours comes back round every 12 days.

Auspicious days are not auspicious hours

Calendars also mark a day as a “hoàng đạo day” or a “hắc đạo day”. It uses the same table of 12 spirits, but the starting point comes from the lunar month, and the cell to read is the day’s branch. A hắc đạo day still has six auspicious hours, and the other way round.

One thing that easily differs between calendars is which month is used for auspicious days: the lunar month or the solar-term month. Where the two give different answers, the Vietnamese perpetual calendars the Qelunai team checked all follow the lunar month. For example, 08/11/2026 is listed as a Bạch Hổ hắc đạo day by ngaydep.com and xemlicham.com. Whether Chinese calendars or the original books do it differently, we have not verified.

Reading auspicious hours sensibly

Hoàng đạo and hắc đạo are conventions of the traditional calendar. There is no scientific evidence that they decide whether something succeeds or fails. A few suggestions:

  • Treat it as a piece of culture. Many families feel more at ease holding a ceremony at a good hour.
  • Do not let a hắc đạo hour stop you from doing what has to be done now, such as seeing a doctor, dealing with an emergency or signing papers on time.
  • When choosing a time, put practical things first: safety, health, weather, paperwork and everyone’s schedule.

Auspicious hours in Qelunai

In the Qelunai app, the Pick a day tab shows each day’s spirit and its auspicious hours, worked out in Vietnam time right on your phone. You can also check quickly on our auspicious hours today page, no account needed.

Sources

Articles are cultural reference, not professional advice. Illustrations drawn by AI.

Topics: auspicious hourslunar calendar