Chinese zodiac
Monkey — Chinese zodiac sign
The monkey is ninth in the cycle, in 申时 (15:00 to 17:00). Monkey years are read as quick, inventive and sociable — and easily bored by anything already solved.
Where it sits in the twelve
- Position in the cycle: 9 / 12
- Branch, and its two hours: 申 (Shen) · 15:00–17:00
- Fixed element: Metal
- What 2026 asks of this sign: an unmarked year
In the river race the monkey crossed with the goat and the rooster on a raft from the far bank and came in ninth. 申 went to mid-afternoon, the hour monkeys are loudest. Its branch is 申 (shen), its fixed element metal.
Years of the Monkey
| Years | Animal | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 丙申 | Fire |
| 2004 | 甲申 | Wood |
| 1992 | 壬申 | Water |
| 1980 | 庚申 | Metal |
| 1968 | 戊申 | Earth |
| 1956 | 丙申 | Fire |
The animal returns every twelve years; the stem in front of it changes, so the element moves with it. The next one is 2038.
Character
Quick and inventive. A monkey-year person works best on something with a problem inside it, and loses interest the moment the problem is solved.
Sociable, with range: the monkey can talk to the accountant and to the builder in the same hour and be believed by both.
Mischievous in the classical sense — a taste for testing things, including people, including rules. Not cruel: curious, and unwilling to be managed.
Strengths
- Fast on unfamiliar problems
- Versatile — picks up new tools quickly
- Witty, and good company
- Resourceful under constraint
Weak points
- Loses interest once the interesting part is over
- Overestimates its own cleverness
- Skips the boring verification
- Works around people when directness would be faster
Six harmony, three harmony, and the ones it stands off with
Six harmony (六合) is the closest pairing; three harmony (三合) is the working alliance. The rest are the classical frictions: clash (冲), punishment (刑), harm (害), break (破).
- Six harmony: Snake
- Three harmony: Rat · Dragon
- Clash: Tiger
- Punishment: Tiger · Snake
- Harm: Pig
- Break: Snake
Six harmony (六合): the snake (巳申) — and also a break, 巳申破, the one relation in the tables that is both at once. Three harmony (三合): the rat and the dragon (申子辰, the water frame). Standing off: the tiger clashes (寅申冲), the pig harms (申亥害), and the tiger-snake-monkey group itself forms the punishment (寅巳申三刑).
What 2026 asks of this sign
an unmarked year
2026 is 丙午 (fire horse), and the tables connect 申 to 午 in no way at all: an unmarked year. For the monkey that makes it a working year rather than a headline year — nothing external pushes and nothing external blocks. The classical caution about an unmarked year is that the sign's own weakness does the damage: a clever shortcut, a thing left only half tested. Finish one thing properly this year instead of starting three.
Questions
Which years are monkey years?
Twelve years apart: 2016, 2004, 1992, 1980, 1968, and 2028 next.
Are monkey and snake compatible?
They are six harmony and a break at once (巳申): the tables' way of recording a pairing with a strong pull and a sharp edge.
Is the monkey the cleverest sign?
Popular phrasing again. The tables give the monkey 申 and metal: quick, resourceful, and bored by solved problems.