Chinese zodiac and the new-year date

How Signology works it out

1. Signology looks up your birth year's Chinese New Year, the date in China (UTC+8), in a table for 1920 to 2045 that matches the Hong Kong Observatory's.
2. If your birthday comes before it, your Chinese year is the year before. Otherwise it is your birth year.
3. The animal follows a twelve-year cycle, and the element the Chinese year's last digit: 0 or 1 metal, 2 or 3 water, 4 or 5 wood, 6 or 7 fire, 8 or 9 earth.
4. Born within a day of the new year? Signology says so, because the hour and place of birth decide it.

Why another site may show something different

Many zodiac tables list only the year, as if the animal changed on January 1. About 1 in 10 people born from 1966 to 1991 were born before that year's Chinese New Year, so those tables give them the next animal.

Some schools of Chinese astrology start the animal year at Lichun, the start of spring, around February 4. About 2 in 100 people born from 1966 to 1991 were born between Lichun and Chinese New Year, so those schools may give them a different animal.

Check it yourself

Open the Hong Kong Observatory's Gregorian-Lunar calendar conversion tables and choose your birth year. The day marked "1st Lunar Month" is Chinese New Year; if your birthday comes before it, your animal belongs to the year before. Signology's dates for 1920 to 2045 match these tables.

What tradition links with it

In Chinese tradition each year carries one of twelve animals and one of five elements. The animal is read as a temperament, like the Rat's quick wits or the Ox's patient strength, and the element as a season. One small step this week: notice one way your animal and element match how you work with others.