Discover Your Chinese
Zodiac Animal

Our calculator determines your Chinese zodiac animal by comparing your birth date against the precise Spring Festival (立春) dates for each year from 1924 to 2043. We use a curated database of verified historical 立春 dates rather than relying on the approximate January 1st or Chinese New Year cutoffs used by most tools. Simply enter your birth year — or your full birth date for maximum precision — and the calculator instantly identifies your zodiac animal along with its personality traits, compatible signs, lucky colors, and cultural significance.

The Chinese zodiac is rooted in the traditional lunisolar calendar, where 立春 (lì chūn, 'Start of Spring') marks the true beginning of the new solar year. This date typically falls on February 3rd or 4th — not January 1st or even the Lunar New Year. People born between January 1st and 立春 technically belong to the preceding zodiac year. Most Western zodiac calculators ignore this distinction entirely, producing incorrect results for anyone born in late January or early February. Our tool uses the authentic 立春 system.

The 12 Chinese zodiac animals in order are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Each animal rules one year in a repeating 12-year cycle. According to legend, the Jade Emperor held a great race and the animals arrived in this order to claim their place in the zodiac. Each animal is also paired with one of the Five Elements (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) on a 60-year cycle, creating 60 unique year types before the pattern fully repeats.

Our calculator is among the most accurate available in English. We use verified 立春 dates for all 120 years from 1924 to 2043, sourced from traditional Chinese almanacs and cross-referenced against astronomical data. For birth dates that fall between January 1st and mid-February — the period where most calculators produce errors — our tool correctly applies the 立春 boundary rather than the common but inaccurate January 1st cutoff. We also incorporate the full 60-year heavenly stem and earthly branch cycle for a complete traditional analysis.

2026 is the Year of the Horse. The Horse year begins at 立春 (around February 4th, 2026) and continues until 立春 2027. People born in 2026 before 立春 technically belong to the Year of the Snake (2025). Horse individuals are known for their vibrant energy, love of freedom, honesty, and adventurous spirit. The Horse is associated with the Fire element and is considered one of the most social and dynamic signs in the Chinese zodiac. 2026 is a Wood Horse year, combining the Horse's natural Fire energy with expansive Wood qualities.

Yes — and this is exactly where our calculator shines. January and February births are the trickiest to calculate correctly because 立春 (the start of the zodiac year) falls anywhere between February 3rd and 5th. If you were born in January, you almost certainly belong to the previous year's zodiac. If you were born in early February, it depends on whether your birth date falls before or after 立春 in your specific birth year. Enter your full birth date into our calculator and we'll apply the exact 立春 date for your year to give you a definitive answer.

The Five Elements — Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water — form the foundation of Chinese cosmological thinking. In the zodiac, each of the 12 animals has a fixed elemental association (for example, the Rat is Water, the Tiger is Wood), and each year is additionally influenced by one of the five elements on a 10-year heavenly stem cycle. This creates a 60-year grand cycle before all combinations repeat. Your specific elemental year (e.g., Metal Rat vs. Water Rat) adds meaningful nuance to your personality profile, influencing qualities like ambition, creativity, emotional depth, and interpersonal style.

Chinese zodiac compatibility is based on the harmonious or conflicting energies between different animals' elemental associations, positions in the 12-year cycle, and traditional astrological relationships. The most compatible pairings tend to form equilateral triangles in the zodiac wheel: Rat-Dragon-Monkey, Ox-Snake-Rooster, Tiger-Horse-Dog, and Rabbit-Goat-Pig. Natural opposition exists between animals positioned directly across from each other in the cycle (e.g., Rat and Horse). While compatibility offers useful insight, Chinese astrology emphasizes that conscious effort and mutual respect matter far more than any predetermined astrological pairing.