Chinese Zodiac 生肖 — the twelve animal signs
Your Chinese zodiac sign is the animal of your birth year — the sign you can find from a year alone, printed on calendars, red packets and restaurant placemats from Taipei to Toronto. One detail decides the borderline cases, and many quick calculators get it wrong: the zodiac year turns at 立春 Lìchūn, the Beginning of Spring around 4 February — not on 1 January. Born in January or the first days of February, your animal most likely belongs to the year before.
How the zodiac works
The 生肖 Shēngxiào — literally “birth likenesses” — assigns each year one of twelve animals: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. The animals are the friendly faces of the twelve Earthly Branches 地支, the same twelve characters that run through the BaZi chart, the almanac and the clock of double-hours.
Each year is also carried by one of the ten Heavenly Stems 天干, which brings an element with it. The two wheels turn together — twelve animals, ten stems — so the full pair repeats only every sixty years. 2026 is 丙午 Bǐng Wǔ, the Fire Horse; on 4 February 2027 the wheel turns to 丁未 Dīng Wèi, the Fire Goat. A “Horse year” is a twelfth of the story; a Fire Horse year is the whole name.
The Li Chun rule — read this before the chart
In the stem-and-branch reckoning used by BaZi and the classical almanac, the year turns at 立春 Lìchūn, the first of the twenty-four solar terms, which falls on 3–5 February. Lunar New Year is a festival date that wanders between late January and mid-February; the solar-term boundary is the one the chart arithmetic uses, because the year pillar of a BaZi chart is a solar object.
So the years in the chart below run from Li Chun to the next Li Chun. If you were born in January or the first days of February, look at the row above the one your calendar year suggests. The finder on our home page applies the rule for you, using the same solar-term engine as our BaZi charts — the two always agree.
The twelve signs — years and character
| Sign | Birth years (from Li Chun) | The traditional sketch |
|---|---|---|
| Rat 鼠 Shǔ | 1960 · 1972 · 1984 · 1996 · 2008 · 2020 · 2032 | Quick, resourceful, first to spot the stored grain and the coming weather; charm in the service of survival. |
| Ox 牛 Niú | 1961 · 1973 · 1985 · 1997 · 2009 · 2021 · 2033 | Patient strength and a long memory; slow to promise, slower to quit. |
| Tiger 虎 Hǔ | 1962 · 1974 · 1986 · 1998 · 2010 · 2022 · 2034 | Bold, protective, allergic to cages; leads first and checks the map later. |
| Rabbit 兔 Tù | 1963 · 1975 · 1987 · 1999 · 2011 · 2023 · 2035 | Gentle diplomacy and a fine ear for trouble arriving early; wins by not fighting. |
| Dragon 龙 Lóng | 1964 · 1976 · 1988 · 2000 · 2012 · 2024 · 2036 | The only mythical animal of the twelve: big weather energy, high standards, luck that expects to be met halfway. |
| Snake 蛇 Shé | 1965 · 1977 · 1989 · 2001 · 2013 · 2025 · 2037 | Quiet, observant, hard to read; sheds skins other signs would cling to. |
| Horse 马 Mǎ | 1966 · 1978 · 1990 · 2002 · 2014 · 2026 · 2038 | Warm-blooded momentum and a hatred of fences; happiest with open road and good company. |
| Goat 羊 Yáng | 1967 · 1979 · 1991 · 2003 · 2015 · 2027 · 2039 | The artist of the twelve: gentle, aesthetic, stubborn only about kindness. |
| Monkey 猴 Hóu | 1968 · 1980 · 1992 · 2004 · 2016 · 2028 · 2040 | Inventive and mischievous; solves the puzzle, then improves it, then hides the instructions. |
| Rooster 鸡 Jī | 1969 · 1981 · 1993 · 2005 · 2017 · 2029 · 2041 | Sharp-eyed and precise, first awake; says the true thing at the inconvenient moment. |
| Dog 狗 Gǒu | 1970 · 1982 · 1994 · 2006 · 2018 · 2030 · 2042 | Loyal to the bone and fair by instinct; guards friends the way others guard money. |
| Pig 猪 Zhū | 1971 · 1983 · 1995 · 2007 · 2019 · 2031 · 2043 | Sincere, generous, built for the good table and the long friendship; luckier than it has any right to be. |
The sketches are the tradition's shorthand — weather for a twelfth of humanity, not a portrait of you. For the reading that is actually about you, that is the BaZi chart.
Finding your sign — and going further
The finder on our home page takes your full birth date and the time zone of your birthplace, applies the Li Chun boundary exactly, and names your animal together with its stem — so a 1990 birth is not just “Horse” but 庚午 Gēng Wǔ, the Metal Horse. It runs on the same solar-term engine as our BaZi charts, so your sign and your chart's year pillar can never disagree.
And when the costume is not enough: your sign is one character of eight. The BaZi chart adds the month, day and hour of your birth, and reads the pattern they make around your Day Master. Start with the animal if you like — then cast the chart.
Find your animal sign — free.
Enter your birth date on our home page; the finder applies the Li Chun rule and names your sign and its stem on the spot. No sign-up.
Curious what today carries? See how to read the almanac — today's page is computed fresh every day.
Questions, answered plainly
When does the Chinese zodiac year actually start?
In the stem-and-branch system used by BaZi and the classical almanac, the year turns at 立春 Lìchūn — the Beginning of Spring, around 4 February — not on 1 January and not on Lunar New Year. Someone born in January or the first days of February usually belongs to the previous year's animal.
What is the 60-year cycle?
Each year is carried by one animal and one Heavenly Stem, and the two wheels turn together: twelve animals times ten stems gives a sixty-year cycle before the same pair returns. 2026 is 丙午 Bǐng Wǔ, the Fire Horse; the previous Fire Horse year was 1966, and the next is 2086.
Which animal is 2026, and which is 2027?
2026 is 丙午 Bǐng Wǔ, the Fire Horse year. On 4 February 2027, at 立春, the wheel turns to 丁未 Dīng Wèi, the Fire Goat.
My birthday is in January — which sign am I?
Almost certainly the animal of the previous year. Because the zodiac year turns at 立春 (around 4 February), a January birthday falls before the turn. Enter your exact birth date into the finder on our home page — it uses the same solar-term engine as our BaZi charts, so the answer always agrees with your chart's year pillar.
Is my zodiac sign the same as my BaZi chart?
No. The zodiac sign comes from the year pillar alone and is shared by everyone born in the same year — it is a fine front door and a poor whole house. A BaZi chart uses your full birth date and time and is yours alone: the zodiac is the costume, the chart is the body.