Enter a year of birth to get the animal and the element, plus what the sign is supposed to be like. Two caveats are covered below: the year starts at Chinese New Year, and the animal is only half the sign.
Two cycles run at once. Twelve animals take turns year by year, and ten stems (five elements, each in a yang and a yin form) run alongside them. Because 12 and 10 share a factor, the pair only repeats every 60 years, which is why a Chinese year is usually described as both, for example "yang wood rat" for 1984.
People usually quote the animal, and the element is treated as the finer detail. Knowing both puts you in a 1-in-60 bracket rather than a 1-in-12 one.
The Chinese year does not begin on 1 January. It begins at Chinese New Year, which falls between late January and mid February depending on the lunar calendar. If you were born in that window, your sign is usually the previous year's.
Someone born on 20 January 1990 is a Snake, not a Horse, because the Year of the Horse had not started yet. This lookup works on the calendar year, so check a Chinese New Year date table if your birthday is in January or the first half of February.
We do not ship a lunar calendar, so rather than guess we flag the ambiguity. For most birthdays outside that window the year alone is enough.
Tap a sign to look it up. The order comes from the Great Race, a folk story in which the animals were invited to cross a river, and the order they finished in became the order of the years.
Quick-witted and adaptable. Rats notice what other people walk past.
Good at: Resourceful under pressure, good with money, socially nimble.
Watch out for: Can hoard, overthink, and talk their way out of trouble a little too easily.
Gets on with: Dragon, Monkey, Ox
Clashes with: Horse
The rat came first in the race by riding on the ox and jumping off at the finish, which tells you most of what the sign is about.
Patient and steady. The ox finishes what other signs start.
Good at: Reliable, hard-working, honest, unshakeable once committed.
Watch out for: Stubborn, slow to change course, and bad at asking for help.
Gets on with: Rat, Snake, Rooster
Clashes with: Goat
In the zodiac race the ox carried the rat across the river, then lost first place at the last second. Slow, thorough, unlucky with company.
Bold and competitive. Tigers would rather act than wait.
Good at: Courageous, decisive, protective of the people around them.
Watch out for: Impulsive, impatient with detail, quick to take offence.
Gets on with: Horse, Dog, Pig
Clashes with: Monkey
The tiger is the king of the beasts in Chinese folklore, but the zodiac puts the rat ahead of it.
Quiet and observant. Rabbits read a room before they enter it.
Good at: Diplomatic, thoughtful, calm in a crisis, good taste.
Watch out for: Avoids conflict to a fault, can be indecisive and oversensitive.
Gets on with: Goat, Pig, Dog
Clashes with: Rooster
The rabbit is associated with the moon and with longevity; the moon rabbit pounds medicine, not rice cakes.
Ambitious and magnetic. Dragons are the sign everyone remembers.
Good at: Confident, imaginative, generous, natural leaders.
Watch out for: Arrogant, impatient, thin-skinned about criticism.
Gets on with: Rat, Monkey, Rooster
Clashes with: Dog
In the Chinese zodiac the dragon is not a monster to be slain. It is rain, rivers, and good fortune, and the most auspicious sign to be born under.
Private and perceptive. Snakes work things out quietly.
Good at: Wise, analytical, elegant, hard to fool.
Watch out for: Secretive, jealous, prone to holding a grudge.
Gets on with: Ox, Rooster, Monkey
Clashes with: Pig
The snake is often called the little dragon: same intelligence, less noise.
Energetic and free-moving. Horses need room.
Good at: Warm, lively, independent, quick to act.
Watch out for: Restless, blunt, easily bored, bad with routine.
Gets on with: Tiger, Goat, Dog
Clashes with: Rat
The horse is the animal of travel and commerce, and of the northern steppe.
Gentle and creative. Goats notice how things look and feel.
Good at: Kind, artistic, calm, generous with time.
Watch out for: Anxious, indecisive, easily discouraged.
Gets on with: Rabbit, Horse, Pig
Clashes with: Ox
羊 covers both goat and sheep; English usually writes it as Goat, but the sign is closer to a soft-natured flock animal.
Inventive and mischievous. Monkeys learn anything fast.
Good at: Clever, curious, funny, superb problem-solvers.
Watch out for: Impatient, manipulative, constitutionally unable to be bored.
Gets on with: Rat, Dragon, Snake
Clashes with: Tiger
The monkey of the zodiac is the Monkey King: clever enough to make trouble in heaven and talk his way out of it.
Direct and hard-working. Roosters call things as they see them.
Good at: Observant, punctual, courageous, honest.
Watch out for: Blunt to the point of rude, perfectionist, boastful.
Gets on with: Ox, Snake, Dragon
Clashes with: Rabbit
The rooster's crow marks the start of the working day, which is why the sign is tied to punctuality.
Loyal and fair-minded. Dogs take other people's side.
Good at: Honest, dependable, protective, good judges of character.
Watch out for: Worrying, pessimistic, stubborn when hurt.
Gets on with: Tiger, Rabbit, Horse
Clashes with: Dragon
The dog is the sign of loyalty, and in the race it is said the dog stopped to play in the water and lost places for it.
Easygoing and generous. Pigs enjoy what is in front of them.
Good at: Warm, tolerant, honest, quietly diligent.
Watch out for: Naive, self-indulgent, too trusting.
Gets on with: Tiger, Rabbit, Goat
Clashes with: Snake
In Chinese usage the sign is 猪 or the softer 亥猪; it stands for abundance rather than sloth. The pig came last, having stopped for a meal and a nap.
Chinese astrology groups the signs into four triangles of three, and those are the "gets on with" lists above. It also pairs each sign with an opposite sign, listed as a clash. You will see these used in dating advice and in the choice of wedding years.
Treat it as cultural context rather than a rule about people. Most Chinese people under 40 know their sign and their compatible signs, and almost none of them organise their lives around it.
The ten stems pair five elements, Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water, with yang and yin. The element changes every year, which is why the same animal can be a different kind of animal from one cycle to the next.