Chinese astrology

Chinese astrology is related to the Chinese calendar, particularly its 12-year cycle of animals (aka Chinese Zodiac), and the fortune-telling aspects according to movement of heavenly bodies across the Chinese constellations in the sky.

Chinese Astrology

The ancient Chinese astronomers called the five major planets by the name of the Chinese five elements. Venus is Metal (gold); Jupiter is Wood; Mercury is Water; Mars is Fire; Saturn is Earth. The position of the five planets, the sun, the moon and comets in the sky and the Chinese zodiac sign at the time a person was born determine the destiny of a person's life according to the Chinese astrology. An laborious system of computing one's fate and destiny based on one birthday and birth hours (known as 紫微斗數) is still used regularly in modern days Chinese astrology. The twenty eight Chinese constellation "[xiu4]" (宿) are quite different from the eighty eight Western constellations. For example, the big dipper (Ursa Major) is known as (斗) [dou3]; the belt of Orion is known as (參) [shen], or the "Happiness, Fortune, Longevity" trio of demigods. The seven northern constellations are referred to as [xUan2wu3] (北方玄武). Xuan Wu is also known as the spirit of the northern sky or the spirit of Water in Taoism belief.

In addition to astrological readings of the heavenly bodies, the stars in the sky form the basis of many fairy tales. For example, the Summer Triangle is the trio of the cowherd (Altair), the spinster maid fairy (Vega) and the "tai bai" fairy (Deneb). The two forbidden lovers were separated by the silvery river (the Milky Way). Each year on the seventh day of the seventh month in the Chinese calendar, the birds form a bridge across the Milky Way. The cowherd carries their two sons (the two stars on each side of Altair) across the bridge to reunite with their fairy mother. The tai bai fairy acts as the chaperon of these two immortal lovers. See Qi Qiao Jie for more versions of this story.

Chinese zodiac

The twelve zodiac animal signs are rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat (or sheep), monkey, rooster, dog and pig in that order. The legend had it that the rat was given the task to invite the animals to report to heaven to be selected for the zodiac signs. The cat was a good friend of the rat, but the rat forgot to invite him. So the cat vowed to be the rat's natural enemy for ages to come.

There is also a cycle of the five Chinese elements on top of the cycle of animals. The elements are Metal (Gold), Water, Wood, Fire, and Earth. So the year sign can be a gold dragon, a wood rooster etc. In ancient match-making practice in China, couples were brought together according to their compatible signs. For example, it is believed that dog and dog don't get along, but dog and pig do; a water dog supports a wood pig but dominates a fire pig in their relationship because water benefits wood, but controls fire according to the Chinese five elements' interaction.

The elements are combined with the binary Yin Yang cycle, which enlarges the element cyle to a cycle of ten. Even years are yang, odd years are ying. However as the zodiac animal cycle of 12 is divisible by two every zodiac can only occur in either yin or yang, e.g. the dragon is always yang.

Since the Chinese zodiac follows the Chinese lunar calendar, so the switch over date for each sign is according to the Chinese new year, not January 1 of the western calendar. The Chinese zodiac signs are used by cultures other than Chinese also. For example, some Japanese people use them. The United States Postal Service and those of several other countries issue a "Year of the ???" postage stamp each year to honor this Chinese heritage. However, those unfamiliar with the use the Chinese lunar calendar usually just assume that the signs switch over on Jan 1 of each year.

However, those who are serious about the fortune telling aspect of their signs can consult the table below. It makes a difference especially for those who were born in January or February which is often the end of the previous year according to the lunar calendar.

Chinese Zodiac for the past century

Begin	End	Begin	End	Element	Sign
1900 Jan 31	1901 Feb 18	1960 Jan 28	1961 Feb 14	Metal	rat
1901 Feb 19	1902 Feb 07	1961 Feb 15	1962 Feb 04	Metal	ox
1902 Feb 08	1903 Jan 28	1962 Feb 05	1963 Jan 24	Water	tiger
1903 Jan 29	1904 Feb 15	1963 Jan 25	1964 Feb 12	Water	rabbit
1904 Feb 16	1905 Feb 03	1964 Feb 13	1965 Feb 01	Wood	dragon
1905 Feb 04	1906 Jan 24	1965 Feb 02	1966 Jan 20	Wood	snake
1906 Jan 25	1907 Feb 12	1966 Jan 21	1967 Feb 08	Fire	horse
1907 Feb 13	1908 Feb 01	1967 Feb 09	1968 Jan 29	Fire	goat
1908 Feb 02	1909 Jan 21	1968 Jan 30	1969 Feb 16	Earth	monkey
1909 Jan 22	1901 Feb 09	1969 Feb 17	1970 Feb 05	Earth	rooster
1910 Feb 10	1911 Jan 29	1970 Feb 06	1971 Jan 26	Metal	dog
1911 Jan 30	1912 Feb 17	1971 Jan 27	1972 Feb 14	Metal	pig
1912 Feb 18	1913 Feb 05	1972 Feb 15	1973 Feb 02	Water	rat
1913 Feb 06	1914 Jan 25	1973 Feb 03	1974 Jan 22	Water	ox
1914 Jan 26	1915 Feb 13	1974 Jan 23	1975 Feb 10	Wood	tiger
1915 Feb 14	1916 Feb 02	1975 Feb 11	1976 Jan 30	Wood	rabbit
1916 Feb 03	1917 Jan 22	1976 Jan 31	1977 Feb 17	Fire	dragon
1917 Jan 23	1918 Feb 10	1977 Feb 18	1978 Feb 06	Fire	snake
1918 Feb 11	1919 Jan 31	1978 Feb 07	1979 Jan 27	Earth	horse
1919 Feb 01	1920 Feb 19	1979 Jan 28	1980 Feb 15	Earth	goat
1920 Feb 20	1921 Feb 07	1980 Feb 16	1981 Feb 04	Metal	monkey
1921 Feb 08	1922 Jan 27	1981 Feb 05	1982 Jan 24	Metal	rooster
1922 Jan 28	1923 Feb 15	1982 Jan 25	1983 Feb 12	Water	dog
1923 Feb 16	1924 Feb 04	1983 Feb 13	1984 Feb 01	Water	pig
1924 Feb 05	1925 Jan 24	1984 Feb 02	1985 Feb 19	Wood	rat
1925 Jan 25	1926 Feb 12	1985 Feb 20	1986 Feb 08	Wood	ox
1926 Feb 13	1927 Feb 01	1986 Feb 09	1987 Jan 28	Fire	tiger
1927 Feb 02	1928 Jan 22	1987 Jan 29	1988 Feb 16	Fire	rabbit
1928 Jan 23	1929 Feb 09	1988 Feb 17	1989 Feb 05	Earth	dragon
1929 Feb 10	1930 Jan 29	1989 Feb 06	1990 Jan 26	Earth	snake
1930 Jan 30	1931 Feb 16	1990 Jan 27	1991 Feb 14	Metal	horse
1931 Feb 17	1932 Feb 05	1991 Feb 15	1992 Feb 03	Metal	goat
1932 Feb 06	1933 Jan 25	1992 Feb 04	1993 Jan 22	Water	monkey
1933 Jan 26	1934 Feb 13	1993 Jan 23	1994 Feb 09	Water	rooster
1934 Feb 14	1935 Feb 03	1994 Feb 10	1995 Jan 30	Wood	dog
1935 Feb 04	1936 Jan 23	1995 Jan 31	1996 Feb 18	Wood	pig
1936 Jan 24	1937 Feb 10	1996 Feb 19	1997 Feb 06	Fire	rat
1937 Feb 11	1938 Jan 30	1997 Feb 07	1998 Jan 27	Fire	ox
1938 Jan 31	1939 Feb 18	1998 Jan 28	1999 Feb 15	Earth	tiger
1939 Feb 19	1940 Feb 07	1999 Feb 16	2000 Feb 04	Earth	rabbit
1940 Feb 08	1941 Jan 26	2000 Feb 05	2001 Jan 23	Metal	dragon
1941 Jan 27	1942 Feb 14	2001 Jan 24	2002 Feb 11	Metal	snake
1942 Feb 15	1943 Feb 04	2002 Feb 12	2003 Jan 31	Water	horse
1943 Feb 05	1944 Jan 24	2003 Feb 01	2004 Jan 21	Water	goat
1944 Jan 25	1945 Feb 12	2004 Jan 22	2005 Feb 8	Wood	monkey
1945 Feb 13	1946 Feb 01	2005 Feb 8	2006 Jan 28	Wood	rooster
1946 Feb 02	1947 Jan 21	2006 Jan 29	2007 Feb 17	Fire	dog
1947 Jan 22	1948 Feb 09	2007 Feb 18	2008 Feb 6	Fire	pig
1948 Feb 10	1949 Jan 28	2008 Feb 7	2009 Jan 25	Earth	rat
1949 Jan 29	1950 Feb 16	2009 Jan 26	2010 Feb 23	Earth	ox
1950 Feb 17	1951 Feb 05	2010 Feb 24	2011 Feb 2	Metal	tiger
1951 Feb 06	1952 Jan 26	2011 Feb 3	2012 Jan 22	Metal	rabbit
1952 Jan 27	1953 Feb 13	2012 Jan 23	2013 Feb 9	Water	dragon
1953 Feb 14	1954 Feb 02	2013 Feb 10	2014 Jan 30	Water	snake
1954 Feb 03	1955 Jan 23	2014 Jan 31	2015 Feb 18	Wood	horse
1955 Jan 24	1956 Feb 11	2015 Feb 19	2016 Feb 7	Wood	goat
1956 Feb 12	1957 Jan 30	2016 Feb 8	2017 Jan 27	Fire	monkey
1957 Jan 31	1958 Feb 17	2017 Jan 28	2018 Feb 15	Fire	rooster
1958 Feb 18	1959 Feb 07	2018 Feb 16	2019 Feb 4	Earth	dog
1959 Feb 08	1960 Jan 27	2019 Feb 5	2020 Jan 24	Earth	pig

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In addition to years, the Chinese zodiac is also traditionally used to label times of day, with each sign corresponding to a "large-hour" or shichen (時辰), which is a two-hour period

The following hours are in Beijing local time.

• 23:00 - 01:00: rat
• 01:00 - 03:00: ox
• 03:00 - 05:00: tiger
• 05:00 - 07:00: rabbit
• 07:00 - 09:00: dragon
• 09:00 - 11:00: snake
• 11:00 - 13:00: horse
• 13:00 - 15:00: goat
• 15:00 - 17:00: monkey
• 17:00 - 19:00: rooster
• 19:00 - 21:00: dog
• 21:00 - 23:00: pig