Which animal
are you in the Chinese zodiac?

The Chinese zodiac gives every year one of twelve animals: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. On top comes one of five elements — Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water — and a side: yin or yang. Animal and element together form a 60-year cycle. Only then does the same combination return.

Unlike your Western star sign, which changes every month, you share your Chinese animal with everyone born in the same lunar year. It describes the generation and the basic tone. It gets finer with the hour animal from your birth time. If you want to go deeper, read your birth chart alongside it.

The Chinese year does not begin on 1 January but at Chinese New Year. It falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice, in Beijing time — somewhere between 21 January and 20 February. Many tables online only use the calendar year. For anyone born in January or February, that can give the wrong animal.

• February 2026: The Year of the Fire Horse began on 17 Feb 2026. Someone born on 10 February 2026 is still a Wood Snake.
• February 1985: New Year came late, on 20 Feb 1985. Everyone born from 1 January to 19 February 1985 still belongs to the Year of the Wood Rat.
• Lichun: Four Pillars astrology (Ba Zi) counts differently: its year begins at the start of spring, Lichun, around 4 February. Our calculator tells you when that makes a difference for you.

Find your birth year. If your birthday falls before the New Year date in that row, take the row above. All dates are calculated from the actual new moon.

You can tell the element from the last digit of the Chinese year: 4 and 5 Wood, 6 and 7 Fire, 8 and 9 Earth, 0 and 1 Metal, 2 and 3 Water. Even years are yang, odd years yin. The elements feed each other in a circle — Wood feeds Fire, Fire Earth, Earth Metal, Metal Water, Water Wood.

• Wood: Wood stands for growth, planning and new beginnings.
• Fire: Fire stands for warmth, enthusiasm and being seen.
• Earth: Earth stands for grounding, care and patience.
• Metal: Metal stands for clarity, resolve and clear boundaries.
• Water: Water stands for feeling, intuition and adapting.

Your birth time adds a second animal. The table shows which clock time belongs to which animal. We use the clock time, without daylight-saving correction.

The year animal is only the first of four pillars. Chinese astrology also counts the month, the day and the hour of your birth, each pillar made of an element with yin or yang (the stem) and an animal (the branch). Together that makes eight characters, Ba Zi in Chinese. Tradition says the year shows how others see you, the month your parental home and environment, the day you yourself, the hour the side only close people know.

The element of the day is called the Day Master and is your core in this teaching: Yin Wood is the climbing plant, Yang Fire the sun, Yin Metal the jewellery. The other elements feed it, check it or are shaped by it. The calculator above shows you all four pillars under “Four pillars, four views”: overview, pillars, connections and patterns. Note that Four Pillars starts the year at the start of spring, Lichun, around 4 February, not at the lunar New Year. Anyone born in between has a different year animal in the two systems.

In the circle of twelve animals, three at a time stand at equal distance from each other. Tradition calls them San He, the three harmonies. They are said to share a similar rhythm. The animal directly opposite counts as the counterpart — a lot of attraction, a lot of friction.