Chinese zodiac year sign calculator
Find your Chinese zodiac animal and element from your date of birth. The Chinese year does not start on 1 January — people born in January or early February often belong to the previous animal.
Result
Example — enter your own details and press Calculate.
Yang Metal year of the Horse
- Chinese year
- 1990
- Starts
- 27 Jan 1990
- Ends
- 14 Feb 1991
- Boundary
- Lunar new year
See the allies, clash and secret friend of the Horse.
How the Chinese zodiac year is determined
The twelve animals — Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig — follow each other year by year, while the five elements (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) change every two years. Together they form the 60-year sexagenary cycle: 1990 is Geng Wu, the Yang Metal Horse.
The popular zodiac changes animal at the lunar new year, the second new moon after the winter solstice (between 21 January and 20 February). Four Pillars (Ba Zi) astrology uses Li Chun, the start of spring on about 4 February. Choose the convention in the form; both are computed from astronomical data in China Standard Time.
Use it in your app
This calculator is the GET /api/v2/zodiac/year endpoint of the Feng Shui API. Get a free key, then:
curl -H "X-API-Key: $FENGSHUI_API_KEY" \ "https://fengshui-api.com/api/v2/zodiac/year?date=1990-06-15"
Full reference in the API docs; ready-to-run programs in 8 languages on the code examples page.
Frequently asked questions
I was born in January. Which animal am I?
Most likely the previous year's animal: the Chinese year begins between 21 January and 20 February. Enter your exact date to be sure.
What does the element mean?
It comes from the year's heavenly stem, e.g. Geng = Yang Metal. The same animal returns with a different element every 12 years, so a full cycle takes 60 years.
Lunar new year or Li Chun?
Use the lunar new year for everyday zodiac signs and Li Chun for Ba Zi (Four Pillars) charts and feng shui.
Is this calculator free?
Yes. The web calculator needs no account. For automated use, create a free account to get an API key.
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Chinese zodiac hour sign
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Astrological allies
The two animals of your trine who share your energy.