切以奸诈生，妖怪出。黄帝时有嗤尤神扰乱，当是之时，黄帝甚忧民之苦，遂战嗤尤于涿之野（涿鹿，郡名）。流血百里，不能治之（时帝始制干戈刀剑之器），黄帝于是斋戒筑坛祀天，方丘礼地。天乃降十干（即：甲、乙、丙、丁、戊、己、庚、辛、壬、癸），十二支（即：子、丑、寅、卯、辰、巳、午、未、申、酉、戌、亥）。帝乃将十干圆布，象天形；十二支方布，象地形。始以干为天，支为地，合光仰职门放之，然后乃能治也（此十干、十二支之所出也）。自后有大挠氏，为后人忧之曰：嗟呼！黄帝乃圣人，尚不能治其恶杀，万一后世见灾被苦，将何奈乎！逐将十干、十二支分配成六十甲子云。
 
Start with evil-doing, and the demon will appear. During the yellow emperor's reign, gods and demons were in chaos. At that time, the Yellow Emperor understood the common people's agony, sacrificing for war and being eaten by the beast. The bleeding will not stop, and the sickness will not cure (when weapons and knives were invented). So the Yellow Emperor abstains from meat and offers sacrifice to heaven, and he prays to heaven and earth for guidance in a grand ceremony.
 
Heaven descend the ten stems namely: 甲Jia, 乙Yi, 丙Bing, 丁Ting, 戊Wu, 己Ji, 庚Geng, 辛Xin, 壬Ren, 癸Kui, and twelve branches namely: 子Zi, 丑Chou, 寅Yin, 卯Mao, 辰Chen, 巳Si, 午Wu, 未Wei, 申Sheng, 酉You, 戌Xu, 亥Hai.