The Chinese animal signs are a 12-year cycle used for dating the years. They represent a cyclical concept of time, rather than the Western linear concept of time. The Chinese Lunar Calendar is based on the cycles of the moon, and is constructed in a different fashion than the Western solar calendar. In the Chinese calendar, the beginning of the year falls somewhere between late January and early February.

The Chinese have adopted the Western calendar since 1911, but the lunar calendar is still used for festive occasions such as the Chinese New Year. Many Chinese calendars will print both the solar dates and the Chinese lunar dates.

According to one legend, in the sixth century B.C. the Jade Emperor invited all the animals in creation to a race, only twelve showed up: the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Lamb, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig, and according to their places in the race, the Jade Emperor had given them each a number starting with the Rat who was the winner of the race.

Many legends arose from the Race of the Chinese Zodiacs. One told of the reason why cats and rats shall always be enemies: He and the cat (at the time good friends) were poor swimmers, so they asked the ox if they could stay on top of his head to cross the river. Along the way he pushed the cat off the ox's back. And the cat, incapable of swimming, lagged behind. The rat stayed on top of the ox's head until the ox was almost at the finish line. And as the ox was about to cross it, the rat jumped from the ox's head and became first place. And the cat and rat have been enemies ever since.

Another legend tells that the cat had asked the rat to wake him up the day of the Race. The rat agreed, but on the said day, he did not wake the cat in his greed to win. When the cat finally woke up and got to the racing ground, he found the race to be over. The cat then swore revenge upon the rat.

The legend of the Zodiac Race, of course, is by far the least credible of all explanations of the origin of the Chinese zodiac. Because the "Twelve earthly branches" which correspond with the zodiac, was already in existence as early as the era, long before the advent of Buddhism. A parallel decimal set of symbols called "Ten heavenly stems", corresponding with "Yin-yang" dualism and the "Five elements (Chinese philosophy)" (wood, fire, earth, metal, water) was in existence in the "Shang dynasty" as the stems were part of Shang rulers' names. The order of 12 Chinese zodiac animals was based on the number of toes/hooves, alternating between even and odd numbers. Rat was the first because unlike other animals of the Chinese zodiac which all had the same number of toes/hooves on each leg, rat has four toes on the front legs and five on the rear legs, so it was selected to be number one. Ox is second with four hooves on each leg, and tiger is the third three with five toes, hare is the fourth with four toes, dragon is next in line with five fingers on its claw, while snake ranks number six because it lacked any legs and zero is an even number, etc.

The Zodiac, or the twelve earthly branches, is probably devised together with the ten heavenly stems. However, according to Derek Walters, British scholar and author of several related books, there is no historical evidence for the 12 animals correlation with the Earthly Branches prior to the late Tang or early Song eras. Susan Whitfield asserts that it was not until the Qin Dynasty that the 12 animal cycle was imported along the Silk Road from Buddhist peoples in Khotan, Sogdiana, and India.

As a duodecimal numeral system, the twelve earthly branches is probably evidence for trade between early tribes that later contributed to the Chinese civilization on the one hand, and the Mesopotamian civilization, which perfected duodecimal arithmetics, on the other.

The Chinese zodiac, though not entirely identical with the Greek zodiac, nonetheless shares with it the duodecimal system and the idea of using animals as numerical symbols. This is a hint for the triangular relations between early Chinese, Mesopotamian and Greek cultures.

The Sheng xiao (Chinese: 生肖; also known as Birthpet, or Chinese zodiac animal, Chinese zodiac sign) is 12 animals which are representative of years in some East Asia countries, and the Chinese zodiac is the 12-year cycle of these 12 animals. Each year of the 12-year cycle is named after one of the original 12 animals. Each animal has a different personality and different characteristics. The animal is believed to be the main factor in each person's life that gives them their traits, success and happiness in their lifetime.

The Chinese zodiac refers to a pure calendrical cycle. There are no equivalent constellations like those of the occidental zodiac. In imperial times there were astrologers who watched the sky for heavenly omens that would predict the future of the state, but this was a quite different practice of divination from the popular present-day methods.

In Chinese astrology the animal signs assigned by year represent what others perceive you as being or how you present yourself. It is a common misconception that the animals assigned by year are the only signs, and many western descriptions of Chinese astrology draw solely on this system. In fact, there are also animal signs assigned by month (called inner animals), day, and hours of the day (called secret animals).

To sum it up, while a person might appear to be a dragon because they were born in the year of the dragon, they might also be a snake internally and an ox secretively. In total, this makes for 8,640 possible combinations (five elements x 12 animals in the 60 year cycle (12 x 5 = 60) , 12 months, 12 times of day) that a person might be. These are all considered critical for the proper use of Chinese astrology.

Problems with English translation

Due to confusion with synonyms during translation, some of the animals depicted by the English words did not exist in ancient China. For example, 羊 can mean both goat and sheep, but goat is the species that existed in central China before sheep, and goat is the species seen in illustrations, not sheep. Similarly, 鼠 (rat) can also be translated as mouse, as originally there are no distinctive words for the two genera in Chinese. Further, 豬 (pig) is sometimes translated to boar after its Japanese name, and 牛 (water buffalo) is commonly thought to be ox. Another confusion is rabbit. It is known as cat in some Asian countries.

Application in Chinese calendar: The months and the Solar Term

The 12 animals are also linked to the traditional Chinese agricultural calendar, which runs alongside the better known lunar calendar. Instead of months, this calendar is divided into 24 two week segments known as Solar Terms. Each animal is linked to two of these solar terms for a period similar to the Western month. Unlike the 60 year lunar calendar, which can vary by as much as a month in relation to the Western calendar, the agricultural calendar varies by only one day, beginning on the Western February 3 or 4 every year. Again unlike the cycle of the lunar years, which begins with the Rat, the agricultural calendar begins with the Tiger as it is the first animal of spring.

An individual's monthly animal sign is called their inner animal and is concerned with what motivates a person. Since this sign dictates the person's love life and inner persona, it is critical to a proper understanding of the individual's compatibility with other signs.

As each sign is linked to a month of the solar year, it is thereby also linked to a season. Each of the elements is also linked to a season (see above), and the element that shares a season with a sign is known as that sign's fixed element. In other words, that element is believed to impart some of its characteristics to the sign concerned. The fixed element of each sign applies also to the year and hour signs, and not just the monthly sign. It is important to note that the fixed element is separate from the cycle of elements which interact with the signs in the 60 year cycle.

The Twelve Signs

Chart showing the 24 cardinal directions and the symbols of the sign associated with them.

In Chinese astrology the zodiac of twelve animal sign represents twelve different types of personality. The zodiac traditionally begins with the sign of the Rat, and there are many stories about the Origins of the Chinese Zodiac which explain why this is so. When the twelve zodiac signs are part of the sixty year calendar in combination with the five elements, they are traditionally called the twelve earthly branches. The following are the twelve zodiac signs in order and their characteristics.

1. 子 Rat (Yang, 1st Trine, Fixed Element Water):
   The Rat person is forthright, meticulous, charming, industrious, charismatic, generous to close family and friends, eloquent, sociable, shrewd, tenacious. They can also sometimes be vindictive, venal, critical, over-ambitious, manipulative, and ruthless. The Rat's good entrepreneurial and leadership skills, quickness to exploit opportunities and good eye for detail means they can achieve power and wealth. Good politicians, lawyers, detectives, engineers, and pathologists. Rat years include 1900, 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008. The month of the Rat is Dec 7 - Jan 5, and the hours of the Rat are 11pm - 1am.
   
   They are most compatible with people born in the years of the Dragon, Monkey, and Ox.
   
   Famous people born in the Year of the Rat : Charlotte Bronte, Truman Capote, Catherine I, Prince Charles, Sasha Cohen, Eminem, Peter the Great, Mata Hari, Scarlett Johansson, Wolfgang Mozart, Plato, William Shakespeare, Leo Tolstoy, George Washington, Richard Nixon, Julia Child, Louis Armstrong, Prince Andrew, Andrew Lloyd-Webber, Kathleen Battle, Albert Finney.





2. 丑 Ox (Ying, 2nd Trine, Fixed Element Water):
   The Ox person is dependable, calm, methodical, patient, hardworking, ambitious, conventional, disciplined, steady, modest, fair-minded, logical, resolute, tenacious. They can also sometimes be stubborn, narrowminded, materialistic, rigid, demanding and nurture grievances. The Ox can attain prosperity and success through fortitude, hard work and natural leadership qualities. Good dentists, surgeons, engineers, and archaeologists. Ox years include 1901, 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997. The month of the Ox is Jan 6 - Feb 3, and the hours of the Ox are 1am - 3am.
   
   They are most compatible with Snake, Rooster, and Rat people.
   
   Famous people born in the Year of the Ox include: Johann Sebastian Bach, Napoleon Bonaparte, Charlie Chaplin, George Clooney, Walt Disney, Anton Dvorak, Clark Gable, George Frideric Handel, Oscar De La Hoya, Richard Nixon, Barack Obama, Aishwarya Rai, Wayne Rooney, Vincent Van Gogh, Tung Chee-Hwa, Sukarno, Richard Burton, Peter Sellers, Margaret Mead, Jawaharlal Nehru, Eisaku Sato, Princess Diana.





3. 寅 Tiger (Yang, 3rd Trine, Fixed Element Wood):
   The Tiger person is unpredictable, rebellious, colorful, powerful, passionate, daring, impulsive, vigorous, stimulating, sincere, affectionate, humanitarian, generous. They can also sometimes be restless, reckless, impatient, quick-tempered, obstinate, selfish. The Tiger person will trust to luck and their own charisma and daring to achieve success, and their idealism and humanitarian instincts will inform their goals. Good actors, writers, pilots, and police officers. Tiger years include 1902, 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998. The month of the Tiger is Feb 4 - Mar 5, and the hours of the Tiger are 3am - 5am.
   
   Tigers are most compatible with Horses, Dragons, and Dogs.
   
   Famous people born in the Year of the Tiger: Emily Bronte, Sheryl Crow, Tom Cruise, Emily Dickinson, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Jay Leno, Karl Marx, Marilyn Monroe, Marco Polo, Beatrix Potter, Groucho Marx, Queen Elizabeth II, Jon Stewart, Sun Yat-Sen, Jiang Zemin, Ho Chih Minh, Princess Anne, General Charles de Gaulle, Charles Lindbergh, Beethoven, Queen Beatrix, King Juan Carlos I, Jonas Salk.





4. 卯 Rabbit (Ying, 4th Trine, Fixed Element Wood):
   The Rabbit person is gracious, kind, sensitive, soft-spoken, amiable, elegant, reserved, cautious, artistic, thorough, tender, self-assured, astute, compassionate, flexible. They can also sometimes be moody, detached, superficial, self-indulgent, opportunistic, lazy. The Rabbit person will pursue objectives methodically but unobtrusively, using friendliness and amiability to persuade others, and inscrutability and astuteness to outwit their opponents. Rabbit Years include 1903, 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999. The month of the Rabbit is Mar 6 - Apr 4, and the hours of the Rabbit are 5am - 7am.
   
   They are most compatible with those born in the years of the Sheep, Pig, and Dog.
   
   Famous people born in the Year of the Rabbit: Albert Einstein, Leon Trotsky, Frank Sinatra, Pope Benedict XVI, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, David Beckham, Tiger Woods, Whitney Houston, Hu Shih, Hu Yao-Bang, Kim Young Sam, Sally Ride, Leonardo Di Caprio, Bob Hope, Arturo Toscanini, Leontyne Price, Clare Boothe Luce.





5. 辰 Dragon (Yang, 1st Trine, Fixed Element Wood):
   The Dragon person is magnanimous, vigorous, strong, self-assured, proud, direct, eager, zealous, fiery, passionate, decisive, pioneering, ambitious, generous, loyal, idealistic. They can also sometimes be arrogant, demanding, eccentric, dogmatic, over-bearing, impetuous, brash. The Dragon person needs a mission or goal in life, and they will rely on their strength and confidence to achieve it. Good educators, instructors and sportspeople. Dragon years include 1904, 1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012. The month of the Dragon is April 5 - May 4, and the hours of the Dragon are 7am - 9am.
   
   They are compatible with Rats, Snakes, Monkeys, and Roosters.
   
   Famous people born in the Year of the Dragon: Susan B. Anthony, Joan of Arc, Orlando Bloom, Sigmund Freud, Bruce Lee, John Lennon, Florence Nightingale, Keanu Reeves, Ronaldo, Mae West, Ringo Starr, Edward Heath, Dr. Seuss, Harold Wilson, Helen Keller, Pearl S. Buck, Salvador Dali, Francois Mitterrand, Hosni Mubarek, Maya Angelou..





6. 巳 Snake (Ying, 2nd Trine, Fixed Element Fire):
   The Snake person is a deep thinker, wise, mystic, graceful, soft-spoken, sensual, creative, prudent, shrewd, ambitious, elegant, cautious, responsible, calm, strong, constant, purposeful. They can also sometimes be a loner, bad communicator, possessive, hedonistic, controlling, ruthless, distrustful, vengeful. Like the Rat, though perhaps to a lesser degree, the Snake person too can pursue goals ruthlessly and with calculation, and strives for control through power. Good politician, business person, teacher, theologian, and philosopher. Snake years include 1905, 1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001. The month of the Snake is May 5 - Jun 5, and the hours of the Snake are 9am - 11am.
   
   They are most compatible with the Ox and Rooster.
   
   Famous people born in the Year of the Snake: Dick Cheney, Bob Dylan, John F. Kennedy, James Joyce, Pablo Picasso, Martha Stewart, Kanye West, Oprah Winfrey, Mao Tse-tong, Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Ferdinand Marcos, Abraham Lincoln, Lady Pamela Mountbatten, Martin Luther King, Grace Kelly, Jacqueline Kennedy, Edgar Allen Poe, Prime Minister Tony Blair, Bob Dylan.





7. 午 Horse (Yang, 3rd Trine, Fixed Element Fire):
   The Horse person is cheerful, popular, quick-witted, changeable, earthy, perceptive, talkative, agile mentally and physically, magnetic, intelligent, astute, flexible, open-minded. They can also sometimes be impetuous, hot-tempered, rude, stubborn, lack stability and perseverance. The Horse person is success and performance oriented and relies on their astuteness and keen minds and persuasive abilities to achieve it. Horse years include 1906, 1918, 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002. The month of the Horse is Jun 6 - Jul 6, and the hours of the Horse are 11am - 1pm.
   
   They are most compatible with Tigers, Dogs, and Sheep.
   
   Famous people born in the Year of the Horse: Clay Aiken, Davy Crockett, James Dean, Clint Eastwood, Ella Fitzgerald, Harrison Ford, Aretha Franklin, Janet Jackson, Sandra Day O'Connor, Teddy Roosevelt, Mike Tyson, Boris Yeltsin, Duke of Windsor, Princess Margaret, Billy Graham, Igor Stravinsky, Bertrand Russell, Joseph Haydn, Barbra Streisand, Nelson Mandela, Anwar Sadat, Neil Armstrong.





8. 未 Sheep (Ying, 4th Trine, Fixed Element Fire):
   The Sheep person is righteous, sincere, sympathetic, mild-mannered, shy, artistic, creative, gentle, compassionate, understanding, mothering, determined, peaceful, generous, seeks security. They can also sometimes be moody, indecisive, over-passive, worrier, pessimistic, over-sensitive, complainer. The Sheep person relies on their good nature and sensitivity to persuade others to meet their needs and use subtle, indirect methods and persistence to achieve them. Good at artistic and creative pursuits. Sheep years include 1907, 1919, 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003. The month of the Sheep is Jul 7 - Aug 7, and the hours of the Sheep are 1pm - 3pm.
   
   They are compatible with Rabbits, Pigs, and Horses.
   
   Famous people born in the Year of the Sheep: Jane Austen, Boris Becker, Jamie Foxx, Mel Gibson, King George VI, Franz Liszt, Michelangelo, Michael Owen, Mark Twain, Rudolph Valentino, Barbara Walters, Bruce Willis, Orville Wright, Sir Laurence Olivier, Josephine Bonaparte, Margot Fonteyn, Mikhail Gorbachev, Toni Morrison, Leonard Nimoy, Pierre Trudeau, Katharine Hepburn, Boris Yeltsin.





9. 申 Monkey (Yang, 1st Trine, Fixed Element Metal):
   The Monkey person is an inventor, motivator, improviser, quick-witted, inquisitive, flexible, innovative, problem solver, self-assured, sociable, polite, dignified, competitive, objective, factual, intellectual. They can also sometimes be egotistical, vain, selfish, cunning, jealous, suspicious. The Monkey person is competitive and success oriented and uses their guile, charm and self confidence to achieve their goals. Good actors, writers, lawyers, diplomats, sportspeople, teachers. Monkey years include 1908, 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004. The month of the Monkey is Aug 8 - Sep 7, and the hours of the Monkey are 3pm - 5pm.
   
   They are most compatible with the Dragon and Rat.
   
   Famous people born in the Year of the Monkey : Julius Caesar, Daniel Craig, Bette Davis, Jake Gyllenhaal, Eleanor Roosevelt, Betsy Ross, Diana Ross, Will Smith, Elizabeth Taylor, Harry S. Truman, Leonardo da Vinci, Alice Walker, Naomi Watts, Elizabeth Taylor, Charles Dickens, Lyndon Johnson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Nelson Rockefeller, Simone de Beauvoir, Isaac Stern, George Lucas.





10. 酉 Rooster (Ying, 2nd Trine, Fixed Element Metal):
    The Rooster person is acute, neat, meticulous, organized, self-assured, decisive, conservative, critical, perfectionist, alert, zealous, practical, scientific, responsible. They can also sometimes be over zealous and critical, puritanical, egotistical, abrasive, opinionated. The Rooster person uses their good administrative skills, and efficient, precise and methodical nature to achieve their goals. Good accountants, scientists, administrators, teachers, nurses. Rooster years include 1909, 1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005. The month of the Rooster is Sep 8 - Oct 7 and the hours of the Rooster are 5pm - 7pm.
    
    They are most compatible with Ox, Snake, and Dragon.
    
    Famous people born in the Year of the Rooster : Jessica Alba , Catherine the Great, Amelia Earhart, Paris Hilton, Rudyard Kipling, Britney Spears, Peter Ustinov, Suharto, Deborah Kerr, D. H. Lawrence, John Glenn, Emperor Akihito, Yoko Ono, Eudora Welty, Bette Midler..





11. 戌 Dog (Yang, 3rd Trine, Fixed Element Metal):
    The Dog person is honest, intelligent, straightforward,popular, loyal, sense of justice and fair play, attractive, amiable, unpretentious, sociable, open-minded, idealistic, moralistic, practical, intelligent, affectionate, dogged. They can also sometimes be cynical, lazy, cold, judgmental, pessimistic, worrier, stubborn, quarrelsome. The Dog person uses their sense of fair play, determination and practicality to achieve their goals. Good soldiers, teachers, lawyers, judges, doctors, religious workers. Dog years include 1910, 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006. The month of the Dog is Oct 8 - Nov 7, and the hours of the Dog are 7pm - 9pm.
    
    They are compatible with those born in the Years of the Horse, Tiger, and Rabbit.
    
    Famous people born in the Year of the Dog : Mariah Carey, Cher, Winston Churchill, Bill Clinton, Dorothea Dix, Benjamin Franklin, George Gershwin, Jane Goodall, Herbert Hoover, Madonna, Shirley McLaine, Chiang Chin-Kuo, Zhou En-Lai, Lee Teng-Hui, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Jacques Cousteau, King Carl XVI Gustaf, Yitzhak Rabin, Golda Meir, Mother Teresa, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.





12. 亥 Pig (Ying, 4th Trine, Fixed Element Water):
    The Pig person is honest, simple, gallant, sturdy, courageous, persevering, resolute,sociable, peace-loving, patient, loyal, hard-working, trusting, sincere, diligent, calm, understanding, thoughtful, scrupulous, passionate, intelligent. They can also sometimes be naive, over-reliant, self-indulgent, condescending, fatalistic, materialistic. The Pig person uses their patience, hard work, strength, sociability and loyalty to achieve their goals. Good teachers, fundraisers, club and society organisers. Pig years include 1911, 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007. The month of the Pig is Nov 8 - Dec 6, and the hours of the Pig are 9pm - 11pm.
    
    They are most compatible with Rabbits and Sheep.
    
    Famous people born in the Year of the Pig : Lucille Ball, Humphrey Bogart, Thomas Jefferson, Ernest Hemingway, Alfred Hitchcock, Mahalia Jackson, David Letterman, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chiang Kai-Shek, Lee Kuan Yew, Kim Dae Jung, Syngman Rhee, Tennessee Williams, Julie Andrews, Albert Schweitzer, Jerry John Rawlings, Prince Rainier, Georges Pompidou, Chuck Yeager, Henry Kissinger, King Fahd.

Rat

1924

1936

1948

1960

1972

1984

1996

2008

Ox

1925

1937

1949

1961

1973

1985

1997

2009

Tiger

1926

1938

1950

1962

1974

1986

1998

2010

Rabbit

1927

1939

1951

1963

1975

1987

1999

2011

Dragon

1928

1940

1952

1964

1976

1988

2000

2012

Snake

1929

1941

1953

1965

1977

1989

2001

2013

Horse

1930

1942

1954

1966

1978

1990

2002

2014

Sheep

1931

1943

1955

1967

1979

1991

2003

2015

Monkey

1932

1944

1956

1968

1980

1992

2004

2016

Rooster

1933

1945

1957

1969

1981

1993

2005

2017

Dog

1934

1946

1958

1970

1982

1994

2006

2018

Pig

1935

1947

1959

1971

1983

1995

2007

2019

If you were born in JANUARY or FEBRUARY look here to find your zodiac animal.

The Chinese zodiac is based on a Lunar Year. So the first day of the New Year varies from year to year. The lunar year normally starts in January or February. If your birthday is in January or February, use the following chart to find your correct zodiac animal.

Example: A person born in the year 2010 between January 1st and February 13th is an Ox, not a Tiger.