Chinese table: what it is, how it works, how to calculate and more

Chinese table: what it is, how it works, how to calculate and more

Some prefer to wait and others choose to know. After all, 9 months of gestation can be a very long time for curious parents to discover the sex of the baby.

For those who are going through this moment, an option to relieve curiosity is the Chinese table. Although without scientific proof, her chances get the biological sex of the baby to come exist.

In addition, other exams can be performed for proof later. Check out how it works!

What is the Chinese table?

The Chinese table, also known as Chinese pregnancy table, is a method that aims to discover the baby’s gender during a pregnancy. For this, it considers the lunar age of the mother and the month of conception. The chances of hit are 50%, however, it should not be understood as a science.

It is based on the Chinese lunar calendar and lends traditional Chinese medicine techniques for this alternative way of knowing the biological sex of those who are about to be born.

Many people believe that this way it is possible to know the sex of their children. In some past beliefs, the Chinese table was used to try to predict the sex of the baby.

Scientifically, there is no evidence of its effectiveness, being considered by many people as a popular belief. It is considered a sympathy and not an exam.

There are also some considerations that interfere with the result, such as mothers who were born before completing the 9 months of pregnancy or a pregnancy of twins or more babies.

Know the origin, how it works and the difference in this way for other traditional exams.

In this article you will find the following information:

  1. Origin of the Chinese Table
  2. What is the Chinese calendar?
  3. How does the genetic determination of baby sex occur?
  4. How does the Chinese table work?
  5. Chinese table works?
  6. What does science say?
  7. Popularity on the Internet
  8. Alternatives besides the Chinese table

 

Origin of the Chinese Table

There are some legends regarding their origin. One of the main says that its use began with the Chinese emperors.

These men are believed to use this technique as a way of predicting whether their heirs would be men, thus ensuring the continuity of the real lineage.

There are also other versions. One relates the emergence of the table to the Qing dynasty. This period is considered the last imperial dynasty of China.

It was 268 years of dynasty, from 1644 to 1912. The Chinese table, within this context, arises with the theory that it would actually be a graph created within this period and would have disappeared in 1900, when they lost in the same year, The war against the eight nations alliance.

One theory that exists is that this original table was sent to England and that they kept it hidden, because they believed it was a treasure, and that would be the reason for the disappearance.

Some time passed after this episode and, in 1972, in an unknown way, the table appeared again in Austria.

Interestingly, it fell into the hands of a Chinese historian. He then decided to publish this content in a Taiwan newspaper. Since then, the chart appears annually in the almanac of the Chinese farmers. It also gained space in the delivery rooms of China hospitals.

Another variation claims that the chart would have been found near the royal family tomb of the Qing dynasty in Beijing. However, in this version, the age of the table is different. In this case she would have appeared 700 years before the dynasty.

The third version brings different elements, literally. In this story, it is believed that the Chinese table would have emerged according to the theory of Yin Yang and PA KUA (BA Gua).

Yin Yang is a concept of duality and applies to everything that exists in the universe, as a philosophy of balance, with opposite and complementary forces. Yin would be the feminine, the night, the moon and the fire. Yang, the concept of male, sun and water. That is the idea, basically.

PA KUA, like Yin Yang, also emerged in China. These two concepts talk to each other, as pa kua are combinations of Yin Yang energies. As arrangements, they can be arranged in different ways and have several meanings.

They are represented by trigerms, drawings that coincide with the possibilities of combination Yin Yang, in three lines.

The biggest legend around PA kua says that Emperor Fu Hsi saw these trigerms in the hull of a turtle and, right now, realized the secrets of the world and the meaning of everything. Inspiring!

Thus, the Chinese table may have arisen from these theories and union of concepts. In the story with Yang Yang and PA Kua, it is believed that the table was found in the city forbidden in the Qing Dynasty in an underground room. They have also been created based on the metal, water, wood, fire and earth elements.

These stories are versions of what may have happened to the emergence of the table, but the fact is that all coincide in practice.

The Chinese table basically requires information such as the lunar age of the pregnant woman and the month in which the child was conceived.

What is the Chinese calendar?

The Chinese calendar is the oldest record of a chronological calendar. He is lunissolar, that is, it is based on the phases of the moon and the sun.

It began to be used during the early years of Emperor Huang Di’s government, also called the Yellow Emperor.

In addition to telling the weather in years, the Chinese calendar also considers cycles. These cycles complete every 12 years and each bears the name of a different animal.

They are the same that give rise to the 12 Chinese signs. They are: ox, ram, horse, rabbit, dragon, rooster, monkey, pig, mouse, serpent, tiger and dog.

How does the genetic determination of baby sex occur?

Before discovering the sex of the baby, it is interesting to know how this genetic determination happens.

If your child will be a girl or a boy, by biological sex, this is a “decision” that happens at the time of fertilization, that is, the meeting of the sperm with the egg.

Our body produces sexual gametes through a process called meiosis, or meiotic divisions. It means that a division of cells happens and the number of chromosomes is reduced to half.

The female gamete (egg) and the male gamete (sperm), so they have 23 chromosomes each. Their union should form 46 chromosomes. This is the number of chromosomes of a healthy human being.

It is important to understand this process to understand how the baby’s gender is determined because it is the sperm, the male gamete, which establishes whether it will be a boy or a girl.

The egg always originates a cell with the X sex chromosome, while man produces sperm with the X or Y sex chromosome.

Thus, the genetic determination of sex happens according to the combination of the gametes of the father and mother of the child, and the mother can only donate x and the father can donate both x and Y.

Thus, the baby’s gender depends on the father’s sperm, which joins the egg and creates the XX combinations for baby girls and xy for babies boys.

How does the Chinese table work?

To find out the baby’s sex using the Chinese table, you need to follow some steps. Are they:

Lunar

The lunar age, for those who want to use the Chinese table, is the first step below. To know what yours is very simple.

The pregnant woman just needs to know the age she was when she became pregnant and add another year. However, there are exceptions for women born in January and February.

A woman who was born on 10/05/89, in 2017, turns 28. When in pregnancy, your lunar age will be 29 years.

For pregnant women who were born in January and February, no longer have 1 year. The lunar age will be the same age at which she became pregnant.

It is necessary to use the lunar age, because in China, there is a belief that children are born 1 year old and, during the Chinese New Year, are 2 years old. However, the Chinese New Year has no fixed date.

Thus, add 1 year more to find the lunar age means to match the age of mother and child with Chinese culture.

It is also necessary to consider mothers who were born premature, that is, before the expected 9 months in a pregnancy. In such cases, lunar age should be calculated according to the date that would have been their birth.

For example, if the pregnant woman was born of 8 months, between January and February, she should add another 1 year, as she should have been born in March.

Month of conception

The second step to use the Chinese table is to know the exact month where the baby was conception. To find out, it is possible to perform an ultrasound or even calculate by the last menstruation.

Choosing to identify the date for menstruation, it is not possible to know the exact day in all cases, but as the Chinese table considers only the month, it can be a useful way to guide.

Without this information, accurately, the table will show a different result from what could be the real.

Application in the table

After the month of conception and the lunar age, the pregnant woman follows to apply this information in the table.

The Chinese table is divided into two parts: in one direction, it presents the months and, in the other, the lunar age. It may have variations, sometimes presenting the age in the vertical lines, sometimes in the horizontal. The same thing with the months.

The pink squares indicate that the pregnancy is from a girl and, the blue color, of a boy.

chinese baby gender

Chinese table works?

The Chinese table is not an exact science, so the chances of making mistakes are great. Despite all its tradition, to discover the sex of the baby more reliably, it is best to resort to an ultrasound exam.

One of the gaps in the Chinese table is the lack of explanation, and even a logic, to decipher the relationship of lunar age, the month of conception and the sex of the baby.

Another argument raised concerns a matter of probability. The chances of all women at the same lunar age and the same conception month have a same-sex baby.

In addition, there are issues related to the day of conception and its accuracy. The conception, in most cases, does not happen on the day of the sexual act.

Thus, a sexual intercourse that occurred on the last day of one month can result in a conception the following month alone.

The Chinese table also points out any explanation of pregnant women of twins.

And, coming back in time, according to the legend of the emperors who wanted to continue the real lineage, the fact that they did not have only men as children is an indication of the supposed failure.

In short, what we know is that the Chinese table is a tradition and does not cling to scientific data. For parents who yearn to know the sex of the child who expect, it can be an option, but more as an belief than irrefutable information.

What does science say?

A study conducted in Sweden in 2010 proposed to identify the scientific values of the Chinese table and its probabilities of hit.

The researchers gathered data from 1973 to 2006, regarding the birth of 3.4 million babies, considering the Chinese table.

This study is considered the most important in relation to this culture, due to the numbers obtained and time dedicated to field research.

Of this number, the researchers were able to remove safe information from 2.8 million mothers, who could say exact month of conception and lunar age.

The result was that the Chinese table was able to properly reveal the sex of babies in 50% of cases, approximately.

This result appears in all age scales and month of conception. This is considered a bad result and is compared to a gambling, such as face and crown.

There are other scientific research that seeks to understand the Chinese table and its relationship with pregnancy, going beyond the sex of the baby. However, there is no proof yet that it actually works. You can get it right, as well as you can make mistakes. A lucky game.

Popularity on the Internet

The internet is a very fertile place for testing and for those curious about whatever the theme. With pregnant women, it’s no different.

Discovering the sex of the baby is a normal curiosity of parents and many are based on what will come after birth.

By presenting a 50% hit chance, its fame on the internet grows. However, it is healthy to resort to safer tests if the intention is to be absolutely sure about the sex of the coming baby.

Creating expectations about the result obtained through the Chinese table can be negative for parents.

Alternatives besides the Chinese table

pregant woman ultrasound scan

Some clinical examinations have greater accuracy about the baby’s gender. For those who want to go beyond what the Chinese table makes it possible, some options are:

Blood test

Also known as fetal sexing, this blood test allows for a result of up to 99% certainty. Pregnant women can perform this test right after the first 8 weeks of gestation, which is considered a very recent time.

This exam finds the presence of the Y chromosome (male) in the pregnant woman’s blood. When there is the presence of this chromosome, it means that the mother may be expecting a male baby. His absence indicates a girl’s gestation.

In case of a twin pregnancy, the lack of the Y chromosome indicates that the two babies are girls. However, the presence of this chromosome only reveals that there is the gestation of a boy, does not confirm their sex.

The result takes 5 to 10 days to get ready and it is not necessary for the mother to be fasting. It is only necessary that the pregnant woman has not performed blood transfusion or transplantation of any organ.

Urine analysis

This exam can be purchased in pharmacies and is the simplest way to get the baby’s gender as it can be done at home.

The chance of hit is approximately 82%. To do this test you need to collect a jet of the first urine of the day.

It works similarly to the pharmacy pregnancy test. The hormones present in the mother’s urine interact with the chemical crystals present in the test formula. This interaction causes a color change.

This color will reveal the result: boy or girl. To know the meaning of color in the test, you need to see what is established in the package as it may vary from testing for testing.

To accomplish it, it is necessary that the pregnancy is at least in the tenth week. The result appears in a few minutes.

It is not suitable for twin pregnancies, for those who have been treatment for infertility – due to progesterone drugs – and when pregnancy is already in the 32nd week.

In addition, the result can be affected when the pregnant woman has had sex in the last 48 hours and when it is a pregnancy for artificial insemination.

Ultrasound

It is one of the most common and accurate exams to get the sex of the baby. In addition, it has the advantage of not being an invasive test.

However, its result is more assertive when one is in a more advanced pregnancy from the 16th week.

The baby’s genitalia begins to develop around the 12th and 13th week. If the medical appliances are good, it is possible to discover the sex of the baby right now. When they are not, it is best to wait a little longer.

The great advantage of ultrasound to the other tests is to be able to reveal the sex of the baby in multiple pregnancies.

Genetic tests

It is a rarer test because it is only indicated when there is suspicion of genetic diseases, not being recommended as a test just to find out if it is a pregnancy of a girl or a boy.

Performed through biopsies, this exam can be done by a placenta sample (village), by collection of amniotic fluid (amniocentesis) or gathering of fetal blood by the umbilical cord (cordocontois).

It has risks to the mother and baby, such as bleeding and abortion by vilocorial biopsy, as well as possible infections caused by breaking the bag in amniocentesis biopsy.

For pregnant women and all curious parents, the Chinese table can be a way of trying to hit the baby’s gender. The chances of error are great and there is no scientific foundation that proves its effectiveness. However, it is worth knowing its origin and meaning.

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