In Chinese civilisation, the 2021 Lunar New year's day on Feb 12 ushers in the Twelvemonth of the Ox, after a peculiarly challenging Yr of the Rat in 2020. Twelve animals correspond the Chinese zodiac signs (or sheng xiao, translating to "born + resemblance"); in society, they're the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Caprine animal (or Sheep), Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Hog. Each animal is associated with particular personality traits, making it fun to await up what your sign is according to the year of your birth engagement. Just as with Western star divination, other aspects—such as planetary shifts, and in this instance, the V Elements—exert boosted influence at whatever given time, day, and year. Your zodiac animate being is only one piece of the puzzle.

The practice of Chinese astrology dates back thousands of years. Equally authors Gerry Maguire Thompson and Shuen-Lian Hsaio write in The Guide to Chinese Horoscopes, for the first 2000 years of recorded Chinese history, there wasn't really a line between what nosotros consider astrology and the scientific study that nosotros know as astronomy. Back then, "astrology was merely used in the divination of commonage fortunes—those of the community, the state, or the agricultural year." Co-ordinate to Thompson, personal horoscopes just became an idea in the years following the inflow of Buddhism in China during the Han Dynasty (ca. 150 CE), "which brought with it the thought that there are greater forces at piece of work in the mapping of individual destiny."

The massive popularity of Western star divination's horoscopes has nurtured major public interest in what whatsoever zodiac sign ways for people on an individual level. As such, here's a beginner's guide to the twelve Chinese zodiac signs and their meanings, every bit well equally the V Elements.

The mythology behind the Chinese zodiac's order

"This being a Chinese legend, there are many explanations, few entirely matching in their details," Ken Smith and Joanna C. Lee write in the 2020 Pocket Chinese Annual, an almanac daily guide to our same collective fortune—such equally which days are lucky and unlucky for weddings, planting seeds, and more. "They do, however, seem to agree on a couple of things: First, that a prominent Emperor (either Jade or Yellow, depending on your source) appear a peachy race, the club of 12 animals to be determined by their finishing time; and 2d, that the rat cheated."

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The rat tin alternately be considered clever for his role in the story. Upon realizing no one could outrun the ox, he jumped on the ox's shoulders—only to hop off once they'd crossed a river, and then that he won the race by a (rat's) nose. Hence, the Rat is the first animate being in the Chinese zodiac, the Ox is 2d, and the other 10 are ordered according to how they fared in the race. The squealer is last because he stopped for a snack and a nap en road.

The Chinese zodiac animals and their meanings:

chinese calendar with hieroglyphs

Ola-Ola // Getty Images

Here are the birth years that stand for to each animate being in the Chinese zodiac, and a brief overview of the personality traits associated with them, according to Sabrina Liao's Chinese Astrology: Aboriginal Secrets for Modern Life. In addition to zodiac sign profiles, Liao'south volume offers in-depth analysis of Chinese zodiac signs' compatibility with each other—an enormous topic in itself.

Rat

Nascency years: 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020
Personality traits : Ambitious, charming, talkative, resourceful, private, frugal, disquisitional

Ox

Birth years: 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021
Personality traits : Diligent, gentle, hardworking, reliable, patient, materialistic, stubborn

Tiger

Nascency years: 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010
Personality traits: Confident, dauntless, magnetic, idealistic, thrill-seeking, arrogant, selfish

Rabbit

Nascency years: 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023
Personality traits: Kind, sensitive, artistic, romantic, judgmental, timid, refined

Dragon

Nativity years: 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012, 2024
Personality traits: Outspoken, energetic, generous, intelligent, perfectionistic, egocentric, impatient

Ophidian

Nascence years: 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025
Personality traits: Clever, curious, alluring, wise, anxious, calculating, jealous

Horse

Birth years: 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014, 2026
Personality traits: Agreeable, enthusiastic, contained, persuasive, irresponsible, moody, opportunistic

Goat/Sheep

Birth years: 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015, 2027
Personality traits: Low-key, empathetic, creative, cheerful, disorganized, impulsive lazy

Monkey

Birth years: 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016, 2028
Personality traits: Entertaining, intelligent, optimistic, sociable, fickle, secretive, unpredictable

Rooster

Birth years: 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017, 2029
Personality traits: Adventurous, charitable, funny, loyal, argumentative, exhibitionistic, cocky-involved

Dog

Nascence years: 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030
Personality traits: Helpful, honest, trustworthy, unselfish, pessimistic, broken-hearted, timid

Pig

Birth years: 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019, 2031
Personality traits: Caring, generous, smart, outgoing, fearful, impatient, materialistic

The Five Elements

The brute corresponding to the year you were built-in is only i role of your Chinese zodiac profile; the philosophy of the Five Elements is another. Drawn from the Chinese concept of Wu Xing, or Five Element Theory, this doesn't refer to chemical elements, but to types of influencing energies that affect each other through interactions. While Western star divination incorporates beliefs about the four elements of earth, air, burn, and water, the Five Elements of the Chinese zodiac are metal, water, forest, fire, and earth.

five element cycles – wu xing

An illustration of how the Five Elements interconnect with each other.

Thoth_Adan // Getty Images

The Five Elements impact the Chinese zodiac in several means. After yous've located your Chinese zodiac fauna, finding the element for your birth twelvemonth will tell you more. Each zodiac animal also has a "fixed," or permanently rooted, element that they're governed by no matter what the yr. For example, while 2021 is the Yr of the Metal Ox because it'south affected by the "mutable," or varying, element of Metallic, the Ox's fixed element is always Earth.

Here are the Five Elements' basic meanings, co-ordinate to The Guide to Chinese Horoscopes, and how to find your element:

Metal

Birth years: Last number of your birth is 0 or 1
Associated with: "solidity and willpower"

Water

Nativity years: Last number of your nascency is 2 or 3
Associated with: "responsiveness and persuasion"

Wood

Nativity years: Final number of your nativity is 4 or 5
Associated with: "imagination and creativity"

Fire

Nascence years: Final number of your nascence is six or 7
Associated with: "passion, and bursts of dynamic energy"

Earth

Nativity years: Final number of your nascence is half-dozen or vii
Associated with: "down-to-earth qualities that encourage focus and commitment to achieving goals."

Your zodiac year is considered unlucky.

You lot might assume that when the twelvemonth of the beast sign you were born under returns 12 years later, information technology's your time to shine. Not necessarily. "People always say, 'yay, it's my yr!' It's the exact reverse," Nancy Yao Maasbach, president of the Museum of the Chinese in America, tells OprahMag.com. You should actually be actress-careful during the yr of your birth fauna, Maasbach says, lest you attract an accident or other misfortune in what'due south believed to exist a year of obstacles.

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Your Chinese zodiac birth year is called your Ben Ming Nian. Per travel site China Highlights, the superstition that information technology can bring misfortune comes from a belief that "people in their zodiac year are believed to offend Tai Sui, the God of Age, and incur his expletive." Chinese astrology characterizes Tai Sui as an imaginary celestial body, or collection of stars, that corresponds to the position of Jupiter.

Superstition holds that there are ways to avoid conflict with Tai Sui during your Ben Ming Nian. Steer articulate of whatever large moves like starting a business, getting married, or buying a new house, as well as loftier-risk physical endeavors. You may want to attract luck, Red china Highlights suggests, by wearing talismans made of jade, crystal, or golden, dressing in the traditionally-lucky color ruby-red, or fifty-fifty worshipping Tai Sui in a temple to gratify them. So if you're historic period 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, or 84, err on the side of caution and go your best red outfits together.

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