Rat
1996 · 2008 · 2020wit · timing · thriftThe Rat year makes a quick, watchful, resourceful person, the one who sees the opening before it is obvious and keeps a reserve for the season nobody planned for.Easy with
Friction with
Astrology · Twelve animals, one boundary
Chinese Zodiac Animal by Birth Date
Your Chinese sign comes from the year you were born into, and that year begins at Lunar New Year, somewhere between 21 January and 20 February as the moon falls. The first of January has nothing to do with it, so a January birthday usually belongs to the animal of the year before. The animal reads as a temperament, the instincts you move by and the way you enter a room.
A twelve year cycleFive elements on topThe year turns with the moon
Your animal
Find your Chinese zodiac sign
The full date settles it, because the year turns on a different day every time.
The whole date matters here, not just the year. January and February birthdays sit on the wrong side of the boundary more often than not.
The boundary
When Lunar New Year turns the year
Lunar New Year is the second new moon after the winter solstice, so it shifts by up to a month from one year to the next. Here are the five nearest turns of the year.
The year can turn no earlier than 21 January and no later than 20 February.
- the day the year turns
- the whole stretch it can fall in
The twelve
The twelve Chinese zodiac animals
Sample years are there to place yourself quickly, with the same warning as above. A birthday in January belongs to the animal listed for the year before.
Ox
1997 · 2009 · 2021endurance · method · silenceUnder the Ox, steadiness becomes the instrument. You carry weight other people put down, and you get to the far end by method where others try speed.Easy with
Friction with
Tiger
1998 · 2010 · 2022impulse · courage · heatA Tiger year hands out courage ahead of caution, and a room changes temperature the moment you make a decision in it.Easy with
Friction with
Rabbit
1999 · 2011 · 2023tact · shelter · tasteRabbits live by tact and attention, reading the mood of a room and making a place inside it that feels safe to everyone who enters.Easy with
Friction with
Dragon
2000 · 2012 · 2024scale · drive · presenceThe Dragon is built for scale, for the version of a plan that other people call unrealistic until you are already halfway through it.Easy with
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Snake
2001 · 2013 · 2025patience · secrecy · precisionSnake years keep their own counsel. You move rarely and with accuracy, and you understand a situation long before you say anything about it.Easy with
Friction with
Horse
2002 · 2014 · 2026motion · candour · freedomFor the Horse, freedom is a working condition, and the thinking happens while you are already moving.Easy with
Friction with
Goat
1991 · 2003 · 2015intuition · softness · beautyGoat years navigate by feeling where others navigate by schedule, and they bring beauty and gentleness into places that were running on duty alone.Easy with
Friction with
Monkey
1992 · 2004 · 2016invention · speed · mischiefThe Monkey mind takes the sideways route, finds the trick inside the problem and refuses to be bored by the obvious answer.Easy with
Friction with
Rooster
1993 · 2005 · 2017order · exactness · punctualityRoosters hold a standard out loud, keep time for the people around them and notice the detail everyone else agreed to ignore.Easy with
Friction with
Dog
1994 · 2006 · 2018loyalty · vigilance · fairnessLoyalty is the axis of a Dog year. People get measured by whether their word and their behaviour are the same thing.Easy with
Friction with
Pig
1995 · 2007 · 2019generosity · appetite · trustWarmth and generosity come first in a Pig year, and life is met with an open table and an appetite for the good part of it.Easy with
Friction with
The element in front
The five elements of the Chinese zodiac
The animal comes from a twelve year cycle of earthly branches. The element comes from a ten year cycle of heavenly stems running underneath it, two years to each element, one yang and one yin. The two cycles mesh into sixty.
The last digit of the year
| 4 · 5 | Wood |
| 6 · 7 | Fire |
| 8 · 9 | Earth |
| 0 · 1 | Metal |
| 2 · 3 | Water |
A birthday in January or early February takes the element of the year before.
WoodGrowth and reaching outward. Wood years read as expansion and a willingness to start.
FireHeat and visibility. Fire years read as speed, appetite and a temper that burns clean.
EarthWeight and holding. Earth years read as patience and a taste for what lasts.
MetalEdge and clarity. Metal years read as structure and the courage to cut something off.
WaterFlow and depth. Water years read as intuition and a habit of going around obstacles.
Questions
Asked most often about the Chinese zodiac
My birthday is in January. Which animal am I?
Almost certainly the animal of the year before your birth year. The Chinese year had not turned yet, because Lunar New Year never falls earlier than 21 January and usually falls in February. The full date decides it, and the year on its own is not enough to answer.
Is my Chinese animal the same thing as my star sign?
No, and they are not competing. The western sign comes from where the Sun was on the day you were born, so it changes every month. The Chinese animal comes from the year, so everyone born in the same lunar year shares it. One describes a personal temperature, the other a generational one, and reading both is more interesting than choosing.
What does the element in front of my animal mean?
It is the heavenly stem of your year, and it colours the animal the way a modifier colours a noun. A Metal Rat and a Water Rat share the same quickness and spend it differently, one on precision and the other on feel. The element repeats every ten years, the animal every twelve, so the pair you were born with comes round once every sixty.
Where next
Your Chinese animal and your birth chart
The animal describes the year you arrived in. The birth chart describes the hour. Where the two disagree is usually the interesting part, because a broad temperament is meeting a specific one.
Build your birth chartRead the twelve western signsBack to astrology
Read here as a language of symbols. Medical, legal and financial questions belong with a professional.
