Chinese zodiac

The twelve-year animal cycle.

A careful introduction to the Chinese zodiac: its animal sequence, year tables, historical frame, and the boundary that does not fall on January 1.

A separate system from Western tropical astrology

Western tropical astrology maps planets against twelve sectors of the ecliptic and uses an exact birth moment. The Chinese zodiac pages here begin with a lunisolar calendar year and its animal branch. The two systems can be studied beside each other, but one does not translate into the other.

What the cycle records

The twelve animals are paired with the twelve Earthly Branches. Historical evidence places the animal-calendar association in China by the third century BCE, firmly established by the first century. The branches also combine with ten Heavenly Stems in a sixty-part cycle.

The year starts at Lunar New Year

An animal year does not switch on January 1. If a birth date falls in January or early February, check the Lunar New Year date for that calendar year before choosing an animal. Dates also vary across Asian traditions, and not every community uses the same zodiac.

The twelve animals, in order

Recent and upcoming cycle years

These labels name the lunisolar year that begins during the listed Gregorian year. January and early-February births may belong to the preceding animal.