Chinese zodiac · free tool
Chinese zodiac calculator: your animal, your element, and the year you are in
The Chinese zodiac turns on a twelve-year cycle of animals and a ten-year cycle of elements; the two together make the sixty-year cycle. Enter a birth year and this page gives the animal, the element carried by that year, and how the animal stands to the current year.
Find your animal
Every year carries one stem and one branch: 2020 is 庚子 — metal over the rat, written Metal Rat. Sixty stems and branches make one full turn of the cycle.
The twelve animals
Each of the twelve has its own page: where it comes from, its character, strengths and weak points, the animals it pairs with and stands off from, and what the current year asks of it.
| Animal | Years | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Rat 鼠 | 2020 · 2008 · 1996 · 1984 · 1972 · 1960 | Quick to read a room, keeps its own counsel, works best with a plan and a way out. |
| Ox 牛 | 2021 · 2009 · 1997 · 1985 · 1973 · 1961 | Slow to start, hard to move once started; finishes what is in front of it. |
| Tiger 虎 | 2022 · 2010 · 1998 · 1986 · 1974 · 1962 | Moves first and works it out on the way; takes the front seat without being asked. |
| Rabbit 兔 | 2023 · 2011 · 1999 · 1987 · 1975 · 1963 | Reads people well, steps around the fight, keeps a tidy room and a long memory. |
| Dragon 龙 | 2024 · 2012 · 2000 · 1988 · 1976 · 1964 | Large appetite, large gestures; works at a scale that needs other people to hold it. |
| Snake 蛇 | 2025 · 2013 · 2001 · 1989 · 1977 · 1965 | Quiet, precise, patient; decides late and revises rarely. |
| Horse 马 | 2026 · 2014 · 2002 · 1990 · 1978 · 1966 | Restless, direct, needs room to run; takes the trip over the plan. |
| Goat 羊 | 2015 · 2003 · 1991 · 1979 · 1967 · 1955 | Gentle on the surface, stubborn underneath; gives way on the small things, not the large one. |
| Monkey 猴 | 2016 · 2004 · 1992 · 1980 · 1968 · 1956 | Fast hands, fast fixes; best in an emergency, restless in a routine. |
| Rooster 鸡 | 2017 · 2005 · 1993 · 1981 · 1969 · 1957 | Exact about details, punctual, says what others only notice. |
| Dog 狗 | 2018 · 2006 · 1994 · 1982 · 1970 · 1958 | Loyal to a chosen few, keeps its word, takes the loss rather than the lie. |
| Pig 猪 | 2019 · 2007 · 1995 · 1983 · 1971 · 1959 | Easy to feed, hard to hurry; enjoys what is in front of it and shares it. |
Where the zodiac year starts
The zodiac year begins at Chinese New Year, which falls in late January or February; a birth date before it belongs to the previous year's animal. The chart on this site uses the solar-term boundary (立春) instead, so for the first days of February the two can differ by a few days.
Questions
How is the zodiac animal calculated?
The twelve animals repeat in a fixed order, one a year: after the Rat comes the Ox, then the Tiger, and so on back to the Rat twelve years later. The element runs on a separate ten-year cycle, which is why the full combination repeats every sixty years.
Is the zodiac the same as Chinese astrology?
The animal is the entry point: it comes from the birth year alone. Chinese astrology — Zi Wei Dou Shu on this site — casts the whole chart from the date, the hour and the place, and the readings are written from that chart.
Do the animals decide compatibility?
The classical table names the relation between two animals — Six Harmony, Three Harmony, opposition and the rest. A relation is a relation, not a verdict; a compatibility reading works from two full charts.
Zodiac compatibility table All readings Cast your chart first — free Chinese zodiac vs Western zodiac