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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

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.