Legend has it that, just before
entering heaven, a mythical king
summoned all the animals in the
kingdom for an audience. For reasons
unknown, only 12 animals heeded
his call; and to reward the 12
animals, he named a year after
each of the animals, in the order
of its arrival.
The Rat arrived first, followed
by the Ox, then the Tiger, and
so on. Therefore, the Rat was
bestowed the honour of the first
year in the 12 Year Cycle. The
Ox was given the second year and
the Tiger the third, followed
by the Rabbit, Dragon, Snake,
Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster,
Dog, and finally the Pig. These
became the 12 animals that make
up the Chinese Zodiac.
Year
: 1936, 1948, 1960,
1972, 1984, 1996
Month : December (Winter)
Element : Yang Water
Time : 11pm - 1am
People
born in the Year of
the Rat are charming,
hardworking, ambitious,
and are well-known
perfectionists. Famous
for their thriftiness,
they are also very
good at acquiring
possessions, and they
love to gossip
Year
: 1937, 1949, 1961,
1973, 1985, 1997
Month : January (Winter
/ Spring)
Element : Yin Earth
Time : 1am - 3am
People
born in the Year of
the Ox can be stubborn,
eccentric, and temperamental.
They are usually mentally
and physically alert,
and although they
are eloquent and have
little to speak they
hate failures and
opposition.
Year
: 1938, 1950, 1962,
1974, 1986, 1998
Month : February (Spring)
Element : Yang Wood
Time : 3am - 5am
People
born in the Year of
the Tiger are sensitive,
deep thinkers, short-tempered
and courageous. They
command great respect
and are capable of
great sympathy. However,
they can also be quite
indecisive and highly
suspicious of others.
Year
: 1939, 1951, 1963,
1975, 1987, 1999
Month : March (Spring)
Element : Yin Wood
Time : 5am - 7am
People
born in the Year of
the Rabbit are clever,
lucky, cool-headed,
virtuous, reserved,
articulate, talented
and ambitious. They
have excellent tastes
and because they are
conscientious, they
are admired and trusted.
Year
: 1940, 1952, 1964,
1976, 1988, 2000
Month : April (Spring
/ Summer)
Element : Yang Earth
Time : 7am - 9am
People
born in the Year of
the Dragon are honest,
sensitive, brave, healthy,
energetic, excitable,
short-tempered and stubborn.
They also inspire confidence
and trust, and tend
to be too soft hearted
to the extent of being
exploited by others.
Year
: 1941, 1953, 1965,
1977, 1989, 2001
Month : May (Summer)
Element : Yin Fire
Time : 9am - 11am
People
born in the Year of
the Snake have great
wisdom and tremendous
sympathy for others.
Although they may appear
calm, they are intensively
passionate in their
pursuits and generally
hate to fail. Sometimes
they can be rather vain,
selfish and stingy.
Year
: 1942, 1954, 1966,
1978, 1990, 2002
Month : June (Summer)
Element : Yang Fire
Time :11am - 1pm
People
born in the Year of
the Horse are popular,
cheerful, wise, talented,
impatient and fiercely
independent. They sometimes
talk too much but they
rarely listen to others.
They like entertainment
and large crowds, and
are intensively engrossed
in all their undertakings.
Year
: 1943, 1955, 1967,
1979, 1991, 2003
Month : July (Summer
/ Autumn)
Element : Yin Earth
Time : 1pm - 3pm
People
born in the Year of
the Goat are shy, pessimistic,
deeply religious, wise,
gentle, elegant and
compassionate. Usually
highly accomplished
in the arts, they can
also be deeply puzzled
about life. Occasionally
clumsy in their speech,
they nevertheless enjoy
the best things in life.
Year
: 1944, 1956, 1968,
1980, 1992, 2004
Month : August (Autumn)
Element : Yang Metal
Time : 3pm - 5pm
People
born in the Year of
the Monkey are erratic
geniuses. They are clever,
skilful, flexible, original,
remarkably inventive,
and great problem-solvers.
They are impatient and
can lose interest easily.
However, they have good
common sense and make
good decision-makers.
Year
:1945, 1957, 1969, 1981,
1993, 2005
Month : September (Autumn)
Element : Yin Metal
Time : 5pm - 7pm
People
born in the Year of
the Rooster are brave,
eccentric, deep thinkers,
highly capable and talented.
Although they may appear
adventurous, they are
usually loners and often
have difficult relationships
with others. They can
also be too outspoken
and selfish.
Year
: 1946, 1958, 1970,
1982, 1994, 2006Month
: October (Autumn /
Winter)
Element : Yang Earth
Time : 7pm - 9pm
People
born in the Year of
the Dog are honest,
loyal, stubborn, and
somewhat eccentric.
Having the best traits
of human nature, they
inspire confidence and
make good leaders. However,
they are also known
to have sharp tongues
and can be emotionally
cold and distant.
Year
: 1935, 1947, 1959,
1971, 1983, 1995Month
: November (Winter)
Element : Yin Water
Time : 9pm - 11pm
People
born in the Year of
the Pig are chivalrous,
gallant, honest, extremely
loyal, and highly passionate
in their pursuits. They
have great thirsts for
knowledge and generally
study a great deal and
are well informed. They
can also be quick-tempered
but hate to argue and
quarrel.
