Why does my Chinese zodiac differ from my Gregorian birth year?

The Chinese zodiac follows the lunisolar calendar, whose new year falls between roughly 21 January and 21 February. If you were born before Chinese New Year in your Gregorian birth year, you belong to the previous lunar year and animal.

How is the element decided?

The element follows the 60-year stem-and-branch cycle. Each element spans two consecutive lunar years: years ending 4/5 are Wood, 6/7 Fire, 8/9 Earth, 0/1 Metal, 2/3 Water.

What does yin or yang mean for my zodiac?

Even-numbered lunar years are yang (active, outward), odd-numbered lunar years are yin (receptive, inward). Combined with your animal and element, this gives a 60-year unique combination.

What date range does the calculator support?

The calculator covers Chinese New Year from 1900 through 2100. Dates outside that window return an out-of-range message.

How accurate is the lunar New Year date?

The dates come from official Chinese astronomical reckoning and were cross-referenced against the Hong Kong Observatory conversion tables, timeanddate.com, and chinesenewyear.net.

DATDate & Time

Chinese Zodiac Calculator

Find your Chinese zodiac animal, element, and yin/yang polarity from your birth date. Accounts for the Chinese New Year boundary so dates in January and early February resolve to the correct lunar year.

Date of birth

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How It Works

Formula

\text{animalIndex} = (Y_{\text{lunar}} - 1900) \bmod 12

\text{element} = \left\lfloor ((Y_{\text{lunar}} - 4) \bmod 10) / 2 \right\rfloor

\text{yang} \Leftrightarrow Y_{\text{lunar}} \bmod 2 = 0

Where

$Y_{\text{lunar}}$: The lunar (Chinese) year your birth date falls into
$\text{animalIndex}$: Position in the 12-animal cycle, 0 = Rat through 11 = Pig
$\text{element}$: Element index, 0 = Wood, 1 = Fire, 2 = Earth, 3 = Metal, 4 = Water

Enter your date of birth. The calculator looks up the Chinese New Year date for that year — if your birth date falls before it, the lunar year is the previous one. From the lunar year, it derives your animal (12-year cycle), element (10-year stem cycle), and yin/yang polarity, plus the four most recent years that share the same animal.

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