Chinese Zodiac and Elements

Since the beginning of a Chinese new year falls on different day and date from the Western calendar every year, those who born early in the year (between January and late February) may not have the same animal sign with those born in the rest of the months within the same year. The Chinese new year does not begin on 1st January but on a date which coresponds with the second new moon after the winter equinox, so therefore it varies from year to year.

For example, if someone born on 13th February 1977 according to the Western calender would actualy be born in 1976 according to the Chinese calender. Look at the “Chinese Animal Calender” below, it gives the exact dates when aech year begins and ends, as well as its element and its ruling animal.

Chinese Animal Calender

In order to find your own sign and element, then you have to:

1. Locate the year you were born (i.e 1907).
2. On that row, check when does the year of your birth begins and ends to see if your brthday falls into that lunar year (i.e. 13 Feb. 1907 – 1 Feb.1908).
3. If you do fall into that lunar year, now you can identify your animal zodiac sign and also your element (i.e. Sign=Sheep, element=Metal).
4. After that you can go to your animal zodiac sign and read the description. You can look up your friends and family and check their personalities as well as the compatibilities.