A LITTLE BACKGROUND
An old tradition.
Your own discovery.
Chinese Zodiac is a simple English-language introduction to the twelve-animal cycle and the calendar behind it.
How the calculator works
We compare your birth date with Chinese New Year in that Gregorian year. If you were born before Chinese New Year, your sign belongs to the previous zodiac year. We then use the twelve earthly branches for your animal and the ten heavenly stems for your element and yin or yang quality.
The five elements are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. Each is paired with Yang and then Yin across the ten-stem cycle. Combined with the animal cycle, this creates sixty distinct year combinations.
The dates behind your sign
The built-in calendar covers Chinese New Year dates from 1900 through 2100. A supporting 1899 entry lets the calculator handle birthdays before Chinese New Year in 1900. The calculator works with calendar dates, so results do not change with your browser's time zone.
- Complete date table: The Chinese Lunar Calendar, by Tilman Aretz, page 5; selected years cross-checked against the Hong Kong Observatory conversion tables.
- 1900: Pinyin.info Chinese New Year dates.
- 1899 supporting date: Taiwan Database lunar calendar tables.
We use Chinese New Year as the boundary. Some astrology traditions use the solar term “Spring Commences” instead. This calculator follows the lunar new year convention and does not calculate a full birth chart.
Made for curiosity
Our animal guides explore personality, lucky colors, compatibility, and horoscopes as cultural interpretations, rather than predictions or advice. For entertainment and cultural purposes only.