Other astrology systems
Chinese zodiac vs Western zodiac
One follows the Sun through the months, the other counts the years from a new moon. Here is how they differ, where they quietly agree, and your combined sign, computed.
Photo: Sabrina Wishak / Burst
At a glance
The Western zodiac follows the Sun through 12 signs every year; the Chinese zodiac gives each year an animal, starting at Lunar New Year. 2026 is the Fire Horse: Feb 17, 2026 to Feb 5, 2027.
- Fire Horse year
- Feb 17, 2026 to Feb 5, 2027new moon Feb 17, 2026, 12:01 UTC
- Lichun (BaZi year start)
- Feb 4, 2026Feb 3, 2026, 20:02 UTC, 13 days before Lunar New Year
- Lunar New Year falls in
- Aquarius in 118 of 120 yearsPisces in 2 (1985, 2034), 1924 to 2043
- Next year
- Fire Goatfrom Feb 6, 2027
Find your combined signBirthday in, Western sign and Chinese animal out.
The short answer
Two zodiacs, two different clocks
Try this today
- Say your two signs together, Western first. If it sounds like a band name, you are doing it right.
- Ask three friends their Chinese animal. Notice how many have to look it up, then check their birthday against Lunar New Year.
- Pick the trait both of your signs agree on. That is the one both traditions would underline.
Ask someone their sign in New York and you get a month: "I'm a Scorpio." Ask at a Lunar New Year dinner and you may well get a year: "I'm a Dragon." Same question, two clocks.
The Western zodiac is a map of the Sun's path. Its twelve signs are 30° slices of the ecliptic, measured from the March equinox, the way Ptolemy laid it out in the second century. Your Sun sign says where the Sun was on your birthday, so everyone born in late March and most of April shares Aries, whatever the year.
The Chinese zodiac is a cycle of years. Each year takes the next of twelve animals, Rat to Pig, and each also carries one of five elements from the ten Heavenly Stems, so the full cycle of animal plus element takes 60 years. Everyone born between one Lunar New Year and the next shares an animal, whatever the month.
So they do not compete. A combined sign like Aries Fire Horse is simply both answers at once: the season of your birth and the year of it.
The sky behind it
| Western zodiac | Chinese zodiac | |
|---|---|---|
| Your sign comes from | Birth month and day (the Sun's position) | Birth year (counted from Lunar New Year) |
| Cycle | 12 signs in one year | 12 animals over 12 years; 60 with elements |
| Starts at | The March equinox (0° Aries) | Lunar New Year, a new moon in late Jan or Feb |
| Elements | 4: fire, earth, air, water | 5: wood, fire, earth, metal, water |
| Based on | The Sun's path, tropical zodiac | The lunisolar calendar (Moon and Sun) |
| Full chart | Planets, Moon, rising sign, houses | Four Pillars (BaZi): year, month, day, hour |
Where the year starts
The Chinese year starts on a new moon, not January 1
Try this today
- Look up your own birth year's Lunar New Year in the table below. If you were born within a few weeks of it, double-check your animal.
- Watch for the new moon on February 6, 2027 (UTC). It opens the Fire Goat year.
The classic mistake with the Chinese zodiac is starting the year on January 1. The Chinese calendar is lunisolar: months begin on the day of the new moon, and the year is pinned to the Sun by one rule. The lunar month that contains the December solstice is month 11, and Lunar New Year is the start of month 1, usually the second new moon after the solstice.
That is why the date moves around. We computed all 120 Lunar New Years from 1924 to 2043 from the actual new moons and solstices in NASA's DE442 ephemeris, in China time. The earliest was Jan 21, 1966; the latest Feb 20, 1985. Every one of the 120 dates matches the published year table.
The shortcut "second new moon after the solstice" is right in almost every year, but not all. In our range it fails for 2034: a leap month after the 2033 solstice pushes the 2034 New Year to the third new moon. For 2026, the deciding new moon fell at Feb 17, 2026, 12:01 UTC, still February 17, 2026 in China time, so that date became New Year's Day. That same new moon also made an annular solar eclipse over Antarctica.
The sky behind it
Rule set used: Month 11 contains the December solstice; months start on the China-time date of the new moon; in a 13-month year the first month without a principal term is leap; New Year is the start of month 1. China time = UTC+8 from 1929, Beijing local mean time (UTC+7:45:40) before.
The January trap
Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces: where the two zodiacs collide
For nine Western signs, Aries through Sagittarius, the combination is easy: your animal is your birth year's animal, because their seasons never touch the Chinese year boundary. The trouble sits in winter.
Capricorn always belongs to the previous year's animal if born in January. In all 120 years we computed, Capricorn season ended before Lunar New Year arrived. A Capricorn born in January 1990 is a 1989 Snake, not a Horse.
Aquarius is the sign Lunar New Year cuts in two: in 118 of 120 years the new animal began partway through Aquarius season. In 2026 Lunar New Year came so late that only Feb 17 to Feb 18 of Aquarius season fell in the Fire Horse year.
Pisces almost always belongs entirely to the new year. Only in 1985 and 2034 did Lunar New Year arrive after the Sun had entered Pisces.
Where they agree
The 24 solar terms: the Western signs hiding in the Chinese calendar
Here is the overlap almost nobody mentions. Alongside its lunar months, the Chinese calendar tracks the Sun through 24 solar terms, one every 15° of the ecliptic. That is the same circle the Western zodiac divides by 30°, so every Western sign begins exactly on a solar term: Aries at Chunfen (Spring Equinox), Cancer at Xiazhi (Summer Solstice), Libra at Qiufen (Autumn Equinox), Capricorn at Dongzhi (Winter Solstice).
The terms in between, at 15° of each sign, open the twelve solar months used by Four Pillars (BaZi) astrology, and each solar month has an animal. Lichun, Start of Spring, at 15° Aquarius, opens the Tiger month and the BaZi year. In 2026 it fell at Feb 3, 2026, 20:02 UTC; in 2027 at Feb 4, 2027, 01:46 UTC.
So every Western sign contains two Chinese month animals, one for each half. The table shows them. UNESCO added the Twenty-Four Solar Terms to its intangible cultural heritage list in 2016.
The sky behind it
| Western sign | 0° to 15° | 15° to 30° |
|---|---|---|
| Aries | Rabbit | Dragon (from Qingming, Apr 5) |
| Taurus | Dragon | Snake (from Lixia, May 5) |
| Gemini | Snake | Horse (from Mangzhong, Jun 5) |
| Cancer | Horse | Goat (from Xiaoshu, Jul 7) |
| Leo | Goat | Monkey (from Liqiu, Aug 7) |
| Virgo | Monkey | Rooster (from Bailu, Sep 7) |
| Libra | Rooster | Dog (from Hanlu, Oct 8) |
| Scorpio | Dog | Pig (from Lidong, Nov 7) |
| Sagittarius | Pig | Rat (from Daxue, Dec 7) |
| Capricorn | Rat | Ox (from Xiaohan, Jan 5) |
| Aquarius | Ox | Tiger (from Lichun, Feb 4) |
| Pisces | Tiger | Rabbit (from Jingzhe, Mar 5) |
Why twelve
Why twelve animals? Follow Jupiter
The twelve-year cycle has an astronomical root. Chinese astronomers called Jupiter Suixing, the Year Star, because it moves about one-twelfth of the way around the sky each year. NASA puts its orbital period at about 11.86 years. Over time the counting was handed to an imaginary counter-Jupiter, Taisui, and then to the twelve Earthly Branches, which became the twelve animals of the popular zodiac.
The Western zodiac borrowed its twelve from the Sun and Moon instead: about twelve lunations in a solar year, and twelve signs of 30°.
Jupiter is still worth watching in the Fire Horse year. It started 2026 in Cancer, entered Leo on June 30, 2026, and stays there into 2027.
Your combined sign
Find your Western sign and Chinese animal
Enter a birthday from Feb 5, 1924 to Jan 29, 2044. The Sun's position is computed in your browser; the Chinese year comes from the computed Lunar New Year table, and we show the Lichun (BaZi) answer too, because they disagree for a few weeks every year.
Born on a cusp? Add your birth time (optional)
New York in winter is UTC-5, London UTC+0, Beijing UTC+8. Daylight saving adds an hour.
Pick a date from Feb 5, 1924 to Jan 29, 2044 and both signs appear here.
More to read
Shorter reads. Each opens in place.
Four vs five
The elements don't line up, and that's fine
Western astrology uses four elements (fire, earth, air, water), each ruling three signs. Chinese astrology uses five phases (wood, fire, earth, metal, water), and they work twice: each animal has a fixed element, and each year has a stem element that changes every two years. The Horse's own element is Fire, and 2026's stem is Fire too, which is why the year is famous.
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There is no air in the Chinese set and no wood or metal in the Western one, so any element-matching between systems is a modern overlay, not tradition.
The sky behind it
| Animal | Fixed element | Yin/yang |
|---|---|---|
| Rat | Water | yang |
| Ox | Earth | yin |
| Tiger | Wood | yang |
| Rabbit | Wood | yin |
| Dragon | Earth | yang |
| Snake | Fire | yin |
| Horse | Fire | yang |
| Goat | Earth | yin |
| Monkey | Metal | yang |
| Rooster | Metal | yin |
| Dog | Earth | yang |
| Pig | Water | yin |
Honest answer
Which one is more accurate?
Neither has been shown to predict personality or events in controlled tests. Shawn Carlson's double-blind study (Nature, 1985) found no support for Western astrology's claims, and we know of no study showing the Chinese zodiac does better. What both offer is a vocabulary for reflection. The parts that can be exact, the dates and positions, are computed here.
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By Western sign
Your Western sign with all 12 animals
Each page sorts one Western sign by Chinese year, 1924 to 2043, with the Fire Horse dates for 2026 and a combo for every animal.
Every Chinese zodiac year, 1924 to 2043
Two full 60-year cycles. Start and end dates are China calendar dates of Lunar New Year, computed from DE442 new moons; Lichun is the China date the Sun reached 315°. In 55 of these years Lunar New Year came before Lichun; in 4 (1924, 1943, 1992, 2038) they fell on the same day.
| Year | Animal | Element | Starts | Ends | Lichun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1924 | Rat | Wood (yang) | Feb 5, 1924 | Jan 23, 1925 | Feb 5 |
| 1925 | Ox | Wood (yin) | Jan 24, 1925 | Feb 12, 1926 | Feb 4 |
| 1926 | Tiger | Fire (yang) | Feb 13, 1926 | Feb 1, 1927 | Feb 4 |
| 1927 | Rabbit | Fire (yin) | Feb 2, 1927 | Jan 22, 1928 | Feb 5 |
| 1928 | Dragon | Earth (yang) | Jan 23, 1928 | Feb 9, 1929 | Feb 5 |
| 1929 | Snake | Earth (yin) | Feb 10, 1929 | Jan 29, 1930 | Feb 4 |
| 1930 | Horse | Metal (yang) | Jan 30, 1930 | Feb 16, 1931 | Feb 4 |
| 1931 | Goat | Metal (yin) | Feb 17, 1931 | Feb 5, 1932 | Feb 5 |
| 1932 | Monkey | Water (yang) | Feb 6, 1932 | Jan 25, 1933 | Feb 5 |
| 1933 | Rooster | Water (yin) | Jan 26, 1933 | Feb 13, 1934 | Feb 4 |
| 1934 | Dog | Wood (yang) | Feb 14, 1934 | Feb 3, 1935 | Feb 4 |
| 1935 | Pig | Wood (yin) | Feb 4, 1935 | Jan 23, 1936 | Feb 5 |
| 1936 | Rat | Fire (yang) | Jan 24, 1936 | Feb 10, 1937 | Feb 5 |
| 1937 | Ox | Fire (yin) | Feb 11, 1937 | Jan 30, 1938 | Feb 4 |
| 1938 | Tiger | Earth (yang) | Jan 31, 1938 | Feb 18, 1939 | Feb 4 |
| 1939 | Rabbit | Earth (yin) | Feb 19, 1939 | Feb 7, 1940 | Feb 5 |
| 1940 | Dragon | Metal (yang) | Feb 8, 1940 | Jan 26, 1941 | Feb 5 |
| 1941 | Snake | Metal (yin) | Jan 27, 1941 | Feb 14, 1942 | Feb 4 |
| 1942 | Horse | Water (yang) | Feb 15, 1942 | Feb 4, 1943 | Feb 4 |
| 1943 | Goat | Water (yin) | Feb 5, 1943 | Jan 24, 1944 | Feb 5 |
| 1944 | Monkey | Wood (yang) | Jan 25, 1944 | Feb 12, 1945 | Feb 5 |
| 1945 | Rooster | Wood (yin) | Feb 13, 1945 | Feb 1, 1946 | Feb 4 |
| 1946 | Dog | Fire (yang) | Feb 2, 1946 | Jan 21, 1947 | Feb 4 |
| 1947 | Pig | Fire (yin) | Jan 22, 1947 | Feb 9, 1948 | Feb 4 |
| 1948 | Rat | Earth (yang) | Feb 10, 1948 | Jan 28, 1949 | Feb 5 |
| 1949 | Ox | Earth (yin) | Jan 29, 1949 | Feb 16, 1950 | Feb 4 |
| 1950 | Tiger | Metal (yang) | Feb 17, 1950 | Feb 5, 1951 | Feb 4 |
| 1951 | Rabbit | Metal (yin) | Feb 6, 1951 | Jan 26, 1952 | Feb 4 |
| 1952 | Dragon | Water (yang) | Jan 27, 1952 | Feb 13, 1953 | Feb 5 |
| 1953 | Snake | Water (yin) | Feb 14, 1953 | Feb 2, 1954 | Feb 4 |
| 1954 | Horse | Wood (yang) | Feb 3, 1954 | Jan 23, 1955 | Feb 4 |
| 1955 | Goat | Wood (yin) | Jan 24, 1955 | Feb 11, 1956 | Feb 4 |
| 1956 | Monkey | Fire (yang) | Feb 12, 1956 | Jan 30, 1957 | Feb 5 |
| 1957 | Rooster | Fire (yin) | Jan 31, 1957 | Feb 17, 1958 | Feb 4 |
| 1958 | Dog | Earth (yang) | Feb 18, 1958 | Feb 7, 1959 | Feb 4 |
| 1959 | Pig | Earth (yin) | Feb 8, 1959 | Jan 27, 1960 | Feb 4 |
| 1960 | Rat | Metal (yang) | Jan 28, 1960 | Feb 14, 1961 | Feb 5 |
| 1961 | Ox | Metal (yin) | Feb 15, 1961 | Feb 4, 1962 | Feb 4 |
| 1962 | Tiger | Water (yang) | Feb 5, 1962 | Jan 24, 1963 | Feb 4 |
| 1963 | Rabbit | Water (yin) | Jan 25, 1963 | Feb 12, 1964 | Feb 4 |
| 1964 | Dragon | Wood (yang) | Feb 13, 1964 | Feb 1, 1965 | Feb 5 |
| 1965 | Snake | Wood (yin) | Feb 2, 1965 | Jan 20, 1966 | Feb 4 |
| 1966 | Horse | Fire (yang) | Jan 21, 1966 | Feb 8, 1967 | Feb 4 |
| 1967 | Goat | Fire (yin) | Feb 9, 1967 | Jan 29, 1968 | Feb 4 |
| 1968 | Monkey | Earth (yang) | Jan 30, 1968 | Feb 16, 1969 | Feb 5 |
| 1969 | Rooster | Earth (yin) | Feb 17, 1969 | Feb 5, 1970 | Feb 4 |
| 1970 | Dog | Metal (yang) | Feb 6, 1970 | Jan 26, 1971 | Feb 4 |
| 1971 | Pig | Metal (yin) | Jan 27, 1971 | Feb 14, 1972 | Feb 4 |
| 1972 | Rat | Water (yang) | Feb 15, 1972 | Feb 2, 1973 | Feb 5 |
| 1973 | Ox | Water (yin) | Feb 3, 1973 | Jan 22, 1974 | Feb 4 |
| 1974 | Tiger | Wood (yang) | Jan 23, 1974 | Feb 10, 1975 | Feb 4 |
| 1975 | Rabbit | Wood (yin) | Feb 11, 1975 | Jan 30, 1976 | Feb 4 |
| 1976 | Dragon | Fire (yang) | Jan 31, 1976 | Feb 17, 1977 | Feb 5 |
| 1977 | Snake | Fire (yin) | Feb 18, 1977 | Feb 6, 1978 | Feb 4 |
| 1978 | Horse | Earth (yang) | Feb 7, 1978 | Jan 27, 1979 | Feb 4 |
| 1979 | Goat | Earth (yin) | Jan 28, 1979 | Feb 15, 1980 | Feb 4 |
| 1980 | Monkey | Metal (yang) | Feb 16, 1980 | Feb 4, 1981 | Feb 5 |
| 1981 | Rooster | Metal (yin) | Feb 5, 1981 | Jan 24, 1982 | Feb 4 |
| 1982 | Dog | Water (yang) | Jan 25, 1982 | Feb 12, 1983 | Feb 4 |
| 1983 | Pig | Water (yin) | Feb 13, 1983 | Feb 1, 1984 | Feb 4 |
| 1984 | Rat | Wood (yang) | Feb 2, 1984 | Feb 19, 1985 | Feb 4 |
| 1985 | Ox | Wood (yin) | Feb 20, 1985 | Feb 8, 1986 | Feb 4 |
| 1986 | Tiger | Fire (yang) | Feb 9, 1986 | Jan 28, 1987 | Feb 4 |
| 1987 | Rabbit | Fire (yin) | Jan 29, 1987 | Feb 16, 1988 | Feb 4 |
| 1988 | Dragon | Earth (yang) | Feb 17, 1988 | Feb 5, 1989 | Feb 4 |
| 1989 | Snake | Earth (yin) | Feb 6, 1989 | Jan 26, 1990 | Feb 4 |
| 1990 | Horse | Metal (yang) | Jan 27, 1990 | Feb 14, 1991 | Feb 4 |
| 1991 | Goat | Metal (yin) | Feb 15, 1991 | Feb 3, 1992 | Feb 4 |
| 1992 | Monkey | Water (yang) | Feb 4, 1992 | Jan 22, 1993 | Feb 4 |
| 1993 | Rooster | Water (yin) | Jan 23, 1993 | Feb 9, 1994 | Feb 4 |
| 1994 | Dog | Wood (yang) | Feb 10, 1994 | Jan 30, 1995 | Feb 4 |
| 1995 | Pig | Wood (yin) | Jan 31, 1995 | Feb 18, 1996 | Feb 4 |
| 1996 | Rat | Fire (yang) | Feb 19, 1996 | Feb 6, 1997 | Feb 4 |
| 1997 | Ox | Fire (yin) | Feb 7, 1997 | Jan 27, 1998 | Feb 4 |
| 1998 | Tiger | Earth (yang) | Jan 28, 1998 | Feb 15, 1999 | Feb 4 |
| 1999 | Rabbit | Earth (yin) | Feb 16, 1999 | Feb 4, 2000 | Feb 4 |
| 2000 | Dragon | Metal (yang) | Feb 5, 2000 | Jan 23, 2001 | Feb 4 |
| 2001 | Snake | Metal (yin) | Jan 24, 2001 | Feb 11, 2002 | Feb 4 |
| 2002 | Horse | Water (yang) | Feb 12, 2002 | Jan 31, 2003 | Feb 4 |
| 2003 | Goat | Water (yin) | Feb 1, 2003 | Jan 21, 2004 | Feb 4 |
| 2004 | Monkey | Wood (yang) | Jan 22, 2004 | Feb 8, 2005 | Feb 4 |
| 2005 | Rooster | Wood (yin) | Feb 9, 2005 | Jan 28, 2006 | Feb 4 |
| 2006 | Dog | Fire (yang) | Jan 29, 2006 | Feb 17, 2007 | Feb 4 |
| 2007 | Pig | Fire (yin) | Feb 18, 2007 | Feb 6, 2008 | Feb 4 |
| 2008 | Rat | Earth (yang) | Feb 7, 2008 | Jan 25, 2009 | Feb 4 |
| 2009 | Ox | Earth (yin) | Jan 26, 2009 | Feb 13, 2010 | Feb 4 |
| 2010 | Tiger | Metal (yang) | Feb 14, 2010 | Feb 2, 2011 | Feb 4 |
| 2011 | Rabbit | Metal (yin) | Feb 3, 2011 | Jan 22, 2012 | Feb 4 |
| 2012 | Dragon | Water (yang) | Jan 23, 2012 | Feb 9, 2013 | Feb 4 |
| 2013 | Snake | Water (yin) | Feb 10, 2013 | Jan 30, 2014 | Feb 4 |
| 2014 | Horse | Wood (yang) | Jan 31, 2014 | Feb 18, 2015 | Feb 4 |
| 2015 | Goat | Wood (yin) | Feb 19, 2015 | Feb 7, 2016 | Feb 4 |
| 2016 | Monkey | Fire (yang) | Feb 8, 2016 | Jan 27, 2017 | Feb 4 |
| 2017 | Rooster | Fire (yin) | Jan 28, 2017 | Feb 15, 2018 | Feb 3 |
| 2018 | Dog | Earth (yang) | Feb 16, 2018 | Feb 4, 2019 | Feb 4 |
| 2019 | Pig | Earth (yin) | Feb 5, 2019 | Jan 24, 2020 | Feb 4 |
| 2020 | Rat | Metal (yang) | Jan 25, 2020 | Feb 11, 2021 | Feb 4 |
| 2021 | Ox | Metal (yin) | Feb 12, 2021 | Jan 31, 2022 | Feb 3 |
| 2022 | Tiger | Water (yang) | Feb 1, 2022 | Jan 21, 2023 | Feb 4 |
| 2023 | Rabbit | Water (yin) | Jan 22, 2023 | Feb 9, 2024 | Feb 4 |
| 2024 | Dragon | Wood (yang) | Feb 10, 2024 | Jan 28, 2025 | Feb 4 |
| 2025 | Snake | Wood (yin) | Jan 29, 2025 | Feb 16, 2026 | Feb 3 |
| 2026 | Horse | Fire (yang) | Feb 17, 2026 | Feb 5, 2027 | Feb 4 |
| 2027 | Goat | Fire (yin) | Feb 6, 2027 | Jan 25, 2028 | Feb 4 |
| 2028 | Monkey | Earth (yang) | Jan 26, 2028 | Feb 12, 2029 | Feb 4 |
| 2029 | Rooster | Earth (yin) | Feb 13, 2029 | Feb 2, 2030 | Feb 3 |
| 2030 | Dog | Metal (yang) | Feb 3, 2030 | Jan 22, 2031 | Feb 4 |
| 2031 | Pig | Metal (yin) | Jan 23, 2031 | Feb 10, 2032 | Feb 4 |
| 2032 | Rat | Water (yang) | Feb 11, 2032 | Jan 30, 2033 | Feb 4 |
| 2033 | Ox | Water (yin) | Jan 31, 2033 | Feb 18, 2034 | Feb 3 |
| 2034 | Tiger | Wood (yang) | Feb 19, 2034 | Feb 7, 2035 | Feb 4 |
| 2035 | Rabbit | Wood (yin) | Feb 8, 2035 | Jan 27, 2036 | Feb 4 |
| 2036 | Dragon | Fire (yang) | Jan 28, 2036 | Feb 14, 2037 | Feb 4 |
| 2037 | Snake | Fire (yin) | Feb 15, 2037 | Feb 3, 2038 | Feb 3 |
| 2038 | Horse | Earth (yang) | Feb 4, 2038 | Jan 23, 2039 | Feb 4 |
| 2039 | Goat | Earth (yin) | Jan 24, 2039 | Feb 11, 2040 | Feb 4 |
| 2040 | Monkey | Metal (yang) | Feb 12, 2040 | Jan 31, 2041 | Feb 4 |
| 2041 | Rooster | Metal (yin) | Feb 1, 2041 | Jan 21, 2042 | Feb 3 |
| 2042 | Dog | Water (yang) | Jan 22, 2042 | Feb 9, 2043 | Feb 4 |
| 2043 | Pig | Water (yin) | Feb 10, 2043 | Jan 29, 2044 | Feb 4 |
All times are UTC. In the Americas the local date can be a day earlier; in Asia and Australia a day later.
Quick answers
What is the difference between the Chinese zodiac and the Western zodiac?
The Western zodiac divides the Sun's yearly path into 12 signs of 30°, so your sign comes from your birth month and day. The Chinese zodiac gives each year one of 12 animals in a repeating cycle, so your sign comes from your birth year, counted from Lunar New Year. Western signs have four elements; Chinese years combine an animal with one of five elements, a cycle that repeats every 60 years.
Can you combine Chinese and Western zodiac signs?
Yes, as long as you treat them as two separate layers. Many people use a combined name like "Aries Fire Horse": the Western sign for the season of your birth, the Chinese animal and element for the year. There is no classical text that merges the two systems; the combination is a modern way of reading both at once.
What is my Chinese zodiac sign if I was born in January or February?
Check the exact date. Lunar New Year falls between Jan 21 and Feb 20 (1924 to 2043), so anyone born in January, and many people born in February, belong to the previous year's animal. Every January Capricorn does. Use the lookup on this page.
Is 2026 the year of the Fire Horse?
Yes. The Fire Horse year (Bing Wu) runs from February 17, 2026 to February 5, 2027. Babies born in January and early February 2026 are still in the Wood Snake year. The previous Fire Horse year began on January 21, 1966.
What Chinese zodiac is 2027?
2027 is the Fire Goat year (Ding Wei), from February 6, 2027 to January 25, 2028. The Goat is also translated Sheep or Ram.
Does the Chinese zodiac year start on Lichun or Lunar New Year?
Popular zodiac charts start the animal year at Lunar New Year. Four Pillars (BaZi) astrology starts it at Lichun, the solar term when the Sun reaches 315°, which in 2026 fell on February 4, 2026 (China time). The two can be up to 16 days apart, so births between them get different animals depending on the rule.
Is Chinese astrology more accurate than Western astrology?
No controlled study has shown either to predict personality or events. The best-known test, Shawn Carlson's double-blind study in Nature (1985), found no support for Western astrology's claims, and we know of no study showing the Chinese zodiac does better. Both are traditions for reflection. What can be exact is the calendar: the dates on this page are computed.
What is an Aries in the year of the Fire Horse?
Any Aries born in spring 2026: Aries season (Sun in Aries from Mar 20, 2026) falls entirely inside the Fire Horse year. Tradition reads it as a double-fire pairing: a Western fire sign in a year whose stem and branch are both Fire.
