Tị is a Sino-Vietnamese word, derived from the Chinese character 巳 (sì, yǐ). The Kangxi Dictionary states that 巳 is pronounced similarly to tự.
(似, ni); however, according to Shuowen Jiezi and Tang Yun , 巳 has the pronunciation "tuong li", so the Vietnamese transliterate it as ti (巳 = t(uong) + (l)i = ti).
The character Tị (巳) was recorded in the Đại Nam quấc âm tự vị (1895) by Huình Tịnh Paulus Của with the meaning "the 6th character in the 12 zodiac signs"; "Tị year" (Year of birth corresponding to the character Tị); "tả tị" (A word used to caress a baby, also meaning "nã tị"); "thượng Tị" (The third day of the third month, the day for bathing to remove impurities and bad luck). In China , "thượng Tị" is also the day for visiting graves, and since it's an opportunity to go out and have fun, it's also called "Tiểu Thanh minh" or "Cổ Thanh minh".
The spelling of Tị is also consistent with current orthography, as clearly stated in the Vietnamese Dictionary (edited by Hoàng Phê, 1988), but, according to social custom, nowadays the character Tị (巳) is often written as Tỵ .
In Chinese, the character巳(ti) is an ancient character, appearing in the oracle bone script of the Shang Dynasty. It resembles a snake, with a slightly rounded head and a long, curved tail. Later writing styles show variations of the character巳, such as the bronze script of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the seal script, and finally the character巳 as we know it today, originating from the regular script and continuing from the clerical script. This is not to mention other pictographic characters in the Chu system's simplified and Qin system's simplified scripts , and variant forms of the character已(ti).
The term "Tị" also refers to the fourth lunar month ("Agricultural Calendar Fourth Month" - Sima Qian's *Calendar Book*, *Records of the Grand Historian*), symbolizing "snake-elephant" (tị giả xà tượng dã ); in which, the elephant represents "rising yang" while the snake represents "hidden yin," meaning that in the fourth lunar month, yang energy rises, yin energy is hidden, and all things can be seen and formed.
For Vietnamese people, the character for "tị" symbolizes a snake, similar to the " Vận Hành" and "Vật Thế" chapters in the works of Wang Chong, a thinker of the Eastern Han dynasty. Ancient Chinese people also interpreted "tị" as "thỉ" (豕: pig). Please do not confuse this character with "thỉ " (屎: waste); "thỉ" (矢: arrow used for archery); or "thỉ" (舐: licking with the tongue).
Few would have guessed that the original meaning of the character "ti" (巳) is actually "fetus" (胎儿). This was recorded in the book "Shuowen Tongxun Dingqing" by Zhu Junqing (1788 - 1858) - a specialist in annotating Chinese texts during the Qing Dynasty.
"Tị" also means ending, stopping (as in Liu Xi's Thích Thiên and Thích Danh ), later the meaning expanded to "heir," meaning successor (as in Gu Ye Wang's Ngọc Thiên ) or a type of ritual to pray for offspring, hoping for a male heir ( Zhou Yi, Zun Gua ).
The Snake (Tị) corresponds to the Winged Serpent (a fiery serpent) in the Twenty-Eight Constellations; it combines with the Heavenly Stems to mark the year, month, day, and hour ( Er Ya ). Additionally, the Snake is also called "Tị time," signifying the period from 9 to 11 a.m. ( Water Margin, Chapter 23 ).
In terms of the Five Elements, the Snake (Tị) corresponds to Fire; according to the Yin-Yang theory, the Snake is Yin; and in terms of direction, the Snake points south-southeast.
2025 is the year of the Snake (乙巳 - Ất Tị). 乙巳 is the 42nd combination in the Heavenly Stem and Earthly Branch numbering system, appearing before 丙午 (Bính Ngọ) and after 甲辰 (Giáp Thìn).
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/lat-leo-chu-nghia-ti-co-nghia-la-thai-nhi-185241227232020157.htm
