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生肖 · by the Start of Spring

Your animal begins at the Start of Spring

Most calendars switch animals on 1 January or at Chinese New Year. The Four Pillars tradition switches at 立春, the Start of Spring, around 4 February — to the minute. Born in late January or early February? Check here.

立春
Why the Start of Spring?The year pillar in BaZi turns at 立春, when the sun reaches 315° of longitude — not at midnight on 1 January, and not at the lunar New Year. In 2027 that moment is 2027-02-04 09:46 (Beijing time).

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The twelve animals

丁未 2027 · the Fire Goat year

How the Chinese zodiac year is counted

The twelve animals are the twelve Earthly Branches (地支) in a friendlier form: 子 Rat, 丑 Ox, 寅 Tiger, 卯 Rabbit, 辰 Dragon, 巳 Snake, 午 Horse, 未 Goat, 申 Monkey, 酉 Rooster, 戌 Dog and 亥 Pig. Each year takes the branch of its year pillar, so the animal repeats every twelve years, and with the ten Heavenly Stems the full name (such as 丁未) repeats every sixty.

When a zodiac year begins depends on which calendar you follow. Popular calendars change the animal at Chinese New Year, the first day of the lunar year, which moves between 21 January and 20 February. The BaZi tradition changes it at 立春 (Start of Spring), the solar term that opens the year pillar, on 3, 4 or 5 February at an exact minute. Almost nobody changes it on 1 January, though many Western sources assume so.

The difference only matters if you were born between late January and mid-February, but for those weeks it decides your animal. Our calculator uses the 立春 instant, converted to your birthplace's time zone, and tells you how close your birth was to the boundary.

Each animal page lists the years, the element of each year (a Fire Tiger and a Water Tiger are different years), the branch's hour of the day and month of the year, the traditional harmonies and clashes, and how the animal meets the coming year.

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Chinese zodiac: common questions

Does the zodiac follow the lunar or the solar calendar?
Both are in use. Folk custom changes the animal at Chinese New Year, which is lunar. BaZi and the almanac tradition change it at 立春 (Start of Spring), a solar term around 4 February. The two dates are usually within a few weeks of each other and fall on the same side of most birthdays; this site follows 立春.
I was born in January. What is my animal?
The animal of the previous year, unless you were born after 立春 and after Chinese New Year, which never happens in January. A January 1990 birth is a Snake (1989), not a Horse. Enter the date in the calculator to confirm.
What animal is 2027?
The Goat (羊). 2027 is a 丁未 year, the Fire Goat, beginning at 立春 on 4 February 2027 at 09:46 Beijing time, with Chinese New Year on 6 February. Before that 2027 is still the Year of the Horse.
What is a 本命年 (own-animal year)?
A year whose animal is the same as your birth animal, which comes round every twelve years: 12, 24, 36, 48 and so on. Tradition reads it as a year that asks for steadiness, and folk custom answers with red clothing or a red cord. It is one of the Tai Sui relations shown on each animal page.
Why does my animal have an element, like Water Tiger?
Because the year pillar has a stem as well as a branch. The branch gives the animal; the stem gives one of the five elements. 2022 was 壬寅, a Water Tiger; 2034 will be 甲寅, a Wood Tiger. The animal pages list every year with its element.
Which animals are compatible?
By the branch relations, each animal has one Six Harmony (六合) partner and two Three Harmony (三合) partners, and one opposite (六沖). Rat pairs with Ox and with Dragon and Monkey, and sits opposite Horse, for example. The animal pages show them, and the He Hun reading weighs them against the rest of two charts.