Chinese zodiac
Chinese zodiac animals, years and meanings
Leon·Updated November 10, 2026·7 minThe Chinese zodiac has twelve animals, and each lunar year belongs to one of them. 2027 is the Year of the Goat, from 6 February 2027 to 25 January 2028.
The zodiac is in Chinese, or in speech. Your animal is the animal of the year you were born in.
Dengdeng, our app, has stories from China at four levels, and you tap a word to see what it means. The Chinese on this page works the same way, with audio.
Find your animal
The zodiac year starts at Lunar New Year, not on 1 January. If you were born in January or early February, your animal may be the one of the year before. Some fortune-tellers start the year at , around 4 February, instead; most people use Lunar New Year.
The twelve animals
In order, with the last and the next year of each:
- 1Ratshǔ2020, 2032
- 2Oxniú2021, 2033
- 3Tigerhǔ2022, 2034
- 4Rabbittù2023, 2035
- 5Dragonlóng2024, 2036
- 6Snakeshé2025, 2037
- 7Horsemǎ2014, 2026
- 8Goatyáng2015, 2027Year of the Goat →
- 9Monkeyhóu2016, 2028
- 10Roosterjī2017, 2029
- 11Doggǒu2018, 2030
- 12Pigzhū2019, 2031
The order never changes. After the pig, the cycle starts again with the rat.
How to ask someone's animal
Asking someone's animal is a polite way to ask their age.
你属什么？
What's your animal?
我属羊。
I'm a goat.
, shǔ, means "to belong to". is literally "I belong to the goat".
Two people with the same animal are the same age, or twelve or twenty-four years apart, so the answer narrows down someone's age fast.
The race
The folk tale explains the order with a race. The Jade Emperor invited every animal to cross a river, and the first twelve to arrive got a year each.
The rat could not swim, so it rode across on the ox's back and jumped off at the last moment to finish first. The ox came second. The pig stopped to eat and came last.
The cat is not in the zodiac. In the story, the rat promised to wake the cat for the race and did not, and that is why cats chase rats.
Elements and the 60-year cycle
Each year also has one of five elements: wood , fire , earth , metal or water . Each element lasts two years, so the same animal comes back with a different element every twelve years.
Together they make a cycle of sixty years. Each year has a two-character name: 2024 was , a wood dragon year, and 2027 is , a fire goat year.
The first name of the cycle is . 1984 was a year, and the next one is 2044.
What people say about each sign
Every animal has its traditional character, as Western star signs do. These are folk beliefs, and people quote them half seriously.
| Animal | What people say |
|---|---|
| , Rat | clever, quick, good with money |
| , Ox | patient, hardworking, stubborn |
| , Tiger | brave, confident, quick to anger |
| , Rabbit | gentle, careful, kind |
| , Dragon | ambitious, proud, lucky |
| , Snake | wise, calm, private |
| , Horse | energetic, free, impatient |
| , Goat | gentle, creative, easily worried |
| , Monkey | clever, funny, restless |
| , Rooster | hardworking, direct, punctual |
| , Dog | loyal, fair, anxious |
| , Pig | generous, easygoing, honest |
Which signs go together
Tradition puts the twelve animals in four groups of three that get along: the , "three harmonies".
- Rat, dragon and monkey
- Ox, snake and rooster
- Tiger, horse and dog
- Rabbit, goat and pig
The animals six places apart are said to clash, : rat and horse, ox and goat, tiger and monkey, rabbit and rooster, dragon and dog, snake and pig.
Some families still check the two animals before a wedding. Most couples now treat it as a joke.
Your own year
When your animal's year comes round, it is your . It is the year you turn 12, 24, 36, 48 and so on.
A is said to bring bad luck, and red keeps it away. People wear red socks, red underwear or a red string on the wrist all year. Shops sell red underwear in the weeks before the New Year.
Common questions
What is the Chinese zodiac animal for 2027?
The goat, . 2027 is a fire goat year, from 6 February 2027 to 25 January 2028.
What is my Chinese zodiac sign if I was born in January?
The animal of the year before, if you were born before that year's Lunar New Year. Someone born on 20 January 2001 is a dragon, because the snake year started on 24 January 2001.
What are the 12 Chinese zodiac animals in order?
Rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.
Is it the Year of the Goat or the Sheep?
Both. means goat, sheep and ram, and the Chinese name does not choose.
What is the next Year of the Dragon?
2036. The last ones were 2012 and 2024.
The lunar dates on this page come from the open-source calendar library lunar-python, checked against the State Council holiday schedules.
The zodiac comes up in every New Year conversation. To read about life in China in Chinese, open today's stories; one story from each daily edition is free in the app.
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