What is the Chinese Zodiac?
The Chinese zodiac (生肖) is a 12-year cycle in which each year is associated with an animal sign: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Each animal carries specific personality traits, elemental associations, and compatibility patterns. The system is thousands of years old and remains deeply influential in Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Japanese cultures. Find your sign by entering your birth year.
The Tradition
The Chinese zodiac is part of the same cosmological system as the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches that underpin Saju and the Chinese calendar. Each zodiac year also carries one of five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, water), creating a 60-year cycle. The animal of your birth year, combined with its element, defines your basic nature in the tradition. Compatibility between signs is based on the relationships between the animals in the zodiac's structured order (trines of harmony, oppositions of tension).
How It Works Here
Enter your birth year to find your animal sign and element. The tool shows your sign's characteristics, compatible and challenging signs, and the current year's animal and how it interacts with yours. Your Chinese zodiac sign also feeds the Daily Cosmic Briefing for registered users.
Explore Related Traditions
- Inner Reflections — all self-discovery tools
- Saju (Four Pillars) — the deeper system built on the same cosmology
- Ancient Chinese traditions in the Cosmic Library
- Daily Cosmic Briefing — your zodiac sign is one of nine inputs
Maintained by Alex Vizcroft. Find your Chinese zodiac sign