Chinese ancestors invented the 10 “tian gan” 天干 (heavenly stems) and the 12 “di zhi” 地支 (earthly branches) for chronological purposes. The signs are used to designate the time period or “shi chen” (時辰), days, months and years. It is believed that the years represented by the animals affect the characters of people, much like the western astrology signs. The red and black base coated lacquerware from Qua, glinted with gold wording each carry one zodiac sign. The cursiveness in fonts that reflect the animal year.