Chinese zodiac
Each year in the Chinese calendar carries one of twelve animals and one of five elements. Together with yin and yang they make a cycle of sixty years. Enter a date to see which year it belongs to.
What is the Chinese zodiac, and where did it come from?Calculated in your browser. The date is not sent anywhere or saved. It is read as a calendar date in China standard time (UTC+8).
When does the year change?
There are two conventions. Most popular calendars change the animal at Lunar New Year, usually the second new moon after the winter solstice, which falls between late January and mid February.
Almanacs and Four Pillars practice change it at Lichun, the solar term that opens spring, on February 3, 4 or 5. Dates between the two boundaries have two answers. The finder shows both and does not pick one.
The twelve animals
Compatibility
The traditional rules for how the twelve branches relate, for all 78 pairs of signs.
See the compatibility grid