Chinese Horoscope, The Twelve Animal Signs, Sixty-Year Cycle of the Chinese Zodiac, Chinese Lunar Calendar
Chinese Horoscope Astrology is one of the earliest Chinese arts, most people in the West today are familiar with its 12 animal signs, but it has been influencing the lives of the Chinese centuries ago. Chinese horoscope is based upon philosophical or even mathematical conception of existence, though today it no longer plays such an important role in affairs of state, and yet it still absorbs the interest of millions of people all over the world.
Chinese invented a system named Jikkan Junishi (literally 10 stems and 12 branches). The 10 heavenly stems referred yin-yang principles and the elements of wood, fire, earth, metal and water. The 12 earthly branches included 12 animals: the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and wild boar.
The 10 stems and 12 branches were used together to create a cycle of 60 two-symbol combinations. The complex calendar, called the sexagenarian cycle.
Typically the calendar is depicted in a line, but when written out in a circle, the symbols are also used to note the time of day and directions. For example, the period between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. corresponds roughly to the hour of the rat and points north. The horse indicates a two-hour interval around midday and points south.
Chinese Horoscope
Follow the horoscope links below accordingly of the birth year.
The Rat personality
The Year of the Rat
1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008
The Ox personality
The Year of the Ox
1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009
The Tiger personality
The Year of the Tiger
1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010
The Rabbit personality
The Year of the Rabbit
1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011
The Dragon personality
The Year of the Dragon
1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000
The Snake personality
The Year of the Snake
1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001
The Horse personality
The Year of the Horse
1918, 1930, 1942, 1954,1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014
The Ram personality
The Year of the Ram
1919, 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015
The Monkey personality
The Year of the Monkey
1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016
The Rooster personality
The Year of the Rooster
1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017
The Dog personality
The Year of the Dog
1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018
The Pig personality
The Year of the Pig
1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019
Chinese Lunar Calendar
The Chinese animal signs are a 12-year cycle used for dating the years. They represent a cyclical concept of time, rather than the Western linear concept of time. The Chinese Lunar Calendar is based on the cycles of the moon, and is constructed in a different way than the Western solar calendar. In the Chinese calendar, the beginning of the year falls somewhere between late January and early February. The lunar year has twelve moons and each moon lasts for just over twenty-nine and a half days. In order to make the days in each moon full days, there are six 'small' months which have twenty-nine days each and six larger months which have thirty days each, making a total of 354 days, eleven days short of the solar calendar. Occasionally the length of the Chinese years changes and there may be either seven 'small' months (a total of 353 days), or sometimes seven 'large' months (a total of 355 days). As each year passes, the lunar calendar usually falls short of the solar year by ten to twelve days, so in order to bring the lunar calendar in line with the solar calendar an extra month is added at roughly three-year intervals. The Chinese have adopted the Western calendar since 1911, but the lunar calendar is still used for festive occasions such as the Chinese New Year or when Chinese horoscope is used. Many Chinese calendars will print both the solar dates and the Chinese lunar dates.
The Twelve Animal Signs Chinese Horoscope
In the West, the years are dated from the birth of Jesus Christ, for example, 1977 means 1,977 years after the birth of Christ. This represents a linear perception of time, with time proceeding in a straight line from the past to the present and the future. In traditional China, dating methods were cyclical, cyclical meaning something that is repeated time after time according to a pattern. A popular folk method which reflected this cyclical method of recording years are the Twelve Animal Signs. Every year is assigned an animal name or "sign" according to a repeating cycle: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar. Therefore, every twelve years the same animal name or "sign" would reappear. There is also a sixty-year cycle used in China. This cycle is made by cooperation of astrological features known as Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches. Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches are up to give sixty different combinations and these combinations form a sixty-year period. They are also linked to days and hours, and to the twelve animals. It means that your Heavenly Stem and Earthly Branch also influence your fortune and your temperament.
