MATCH BY ZODIAC
Chinese Zodiac
A twelve-year cycle of animals, layered with a ten-year cycle of five elements — together they repeat every 60 years. This is the Chinese layer of the Match By Zodiac record: the same animals, elements and boundary the Finder reads and members carry on their profiles.
One rule decides more birthdays than any other: the year turns at Lunar New Year, not on January 1. A January or early-February birthday can belong to the previous year's animal — and most quick calculators get exactly those birthdays wrong.
The twelve animals
YEARS 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020, 2032
READ THE RAT PAGE →
YEARS 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021, 2033
READ THE OX PAGE →
YEARS 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022, 2034
READ THE TIGER PAGE →
YEARS 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023, 2035
READ THE RABBIT PAGE →
YEARS 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012, 2024, 2036
READ THE DRAGON PAGE →
YEARS 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025, 2037
READ THE SNAKE PAGE →
YEARS 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014, 2026, 2038
READ THE HORSE PAGE →
YEARS 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015, 2027, 2039
READ THE GOAT PAGE →
YEARS 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016, 2028, 2040
READ THE MONKEY PAGE →
YEARS 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017, 2029, 2041
READ THE ROOSTER PAGE →
YEARS 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030, 2042
READ THE DOG PAGE →
YEARS 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019, 2031, 2043
READ THE PIG PAGE →
The five elements
Each animal carries a fixed element of its own (shown on its card above). Each year adds the year's element, which colors the animal's fixed element rather than replacing it. The year's element follows the year's final digit — 0 or 1: Metal; 2 or 3: Water; 4 or 5: Wood; 6 or 7: Fire; 8 or 9: Earth. What each element adds:
- Wood
- growth, generosity and expansion — a Wood year broadens the animal: more idealistic, more cooperative, always growing toward something.
- Fire
- passion, visibility and speed — a Fire year heats the animal up: bolder, faster, more dramatic, impossible to ignore.
- Earth
- stability, patience and practicality — an Earth year grounds the animal: steadier, more methodical, focused on what lasts.
- Metal
- precision, resolve and edge — a Metal year sharpens the animal: more determined, more exacting, harder to bend. A Metal Dragon (born in a Dragon year ending in 0, like 2000), for example, is the Dragon's boldness with a steel core — ambitious, precise and uncompromising.
- Water
- intuition, flow and diplomacy — a Water year deepens the animal: more perceptive, more adaptable, quieter about its power.
Between people, the elements steer the pairs the animal system does not name. The generating (Sheng) cycle feeds: Wood feeds Fire, Fire feeds Earth, Earth bears Metal, Metal enriches Water, Water nourishes Wood — energy flows one way, supportive while the giving stays willing. The controlling (Ke) cycle checks: Wood parts Earth, Earth dams Water, Water douses Fire, Fire melts Metal, Metal chops Wood — structure and discipline, which steady pairs use well.
Alliances and clashes
Compatibility in the Chinese system runs first through the animals. Four affinity triangles — animals four apart — harmonize: Rat + Dragon + Monkey (the doers); Ox + Snake + Rooster (the thinkers); Tiger + Horse + Dog (the protectors); Rabbit + Goat + Pig (the harmonizers).
Secret friends — six quiet-alliance pairs who look out for each other without drama: Rat–Ox, Tiger–Pig, Rabbit–Dog, Dragon–Rooster, Snake–Monkey, Horse–Goat. The six clash pairs are the opposites, six years apart: Rat–Horse, Ox–Goat, Tiger–Monkey, Rabbit–Rooster, Dragon–Dog, Snake–Pig. Two of the same animal read as kinship: the same instincts, and the same blind spots.
Match By Zodiac reads these relations between two members' Chinese signs on their profile sheets — a second system beside the Western chemistry, never averaged into it. On the public side, the Finder applies this same boundary to any birth date you give it, and names the animal and element it lands on.
Every year, 1960–2032
Generated from the record's own Lunar New Year table — the dates the engine itself applies. A year runs from its Lunar New Year to the day before the next one: a birth before that year's date in the first column belongs to the previous row. For years outside this table the engine turns the year on February 4 (Li Chun) and flags it.
- 1960
- Metal Rat · Lunar New Year Jan 28
- 1961
- Metal Ox · Lunar New Year Feb 15
- 1962
- Water Tiger · Lunar New Year Feb 5
- 1963
- Water Rabbit · Lunar New Year Jan 25
- 1964
- Wood Dragon · Lunar New Year Feb 13
- 1965
- Wood Snake · Lunar New Year Feb 2
- 1966
- Fire Horse · Lunar New Year Jan 21
- 1967
- Fire Goat · Lunar New Year Feb 9
- 1968
- Earth Monkey · Lunar New Year Jan 30
- 1969
- Earth Rooster · Lunar New Year Feb 17
- 1970
- Metal Dog · Lunar New Year Feb 6
- 1971
- Metal Pig · Lunar New Year Jan 27
- 1972
- Water Rat · Lunar New Year Feb 15
- 1973
- Water Ox · Lunar New Year Feb 3
- 1974
- Wood Tiger · Lunar New Year Jan 23
- 1975
- Wood Rabbit · Lunar New Year Feb 11
- 1976
- Fire Dragon · Lunar New Year Jan 31
- 1977
- Fire Snake · Lunar New Year Feb 18
- 1978
- Earth Horse · Lunar New Year Feb 7
- 1979
- Earth Goat · Lunar New Year Jan 28
- 1980
- Metal Monkey · Lunar New Year Feb 16
- 1981
- Metal Rooster · Lunar New Year Feb 5
- 1982
- Water Dog · Lunar New Year Jan 25
- 1983
- Water Pig · Lunar New Year Feb 13
- 1984
- Wood Rat · Lunar New Year Feb 2
- 1985
- Wood Ox · Lunar New Year Feb 20
- 1986
- Fire Tiger · Lunar New Year Feb 9
- 1987
- Fire Rabbit · Lunar New Year Jan 29
- 1988
- Earth Dragon · Lunar New Year Feb 17
- 1989
- Earth Snake · Lunar New Year Feb 6
- 1990
- Metal Horse · Lunar New Year Jan 27
- 1991
- Metal Goat · Lunar New Year Feb 15
- 1992
- Water Monkey · Lunar New Year Feb 4
- 1993
- Water Rooster · Lunar New Year Jan 23
- 1994
- Wood Dog · Lunar New Year Feb 10
- 1995
- Wood Pig · Lunar New Year Jan 31
- 1996
- Fire Rat · Lunar New Year Feb 19
- 1997
- Fire Ox · Lunar New Year Feb 7
- 1998
- Earth Tiger · Lunar New Year Jan 28
- 1999
- Earth Rabbit · Lunar New Year Feb 16
- 2000
- Metal Dragon · Lunar New Year Feb 5
- 2001
- Metal Snake · Lunar New Year Jan 24
- 2002
- Water Horse · Lunar New Year Feb 12
- 2003
- Water Goat · Lunar New Year Feb 1
- 2004
- Wood Monkey · Lunar New Year Jan 22
- 2005
- Wood Rooster · Lunar New Year Feb 9
- 2006
- Fire Dog · Lunar New Year Jan 29
- 2007
- Fire Pig · Lunar New Year Feb 18
- 2008
- Earth Rat · Lunar New Year Feb 7
- 2009
- Earth Ox · Lunar New Year Jan 26
- 2010
- Metal Tiger · Lunar New Year Feb 14
- 2011
- Metal Rabbit · Lunar New Year Feb 3
- 2012
- Water Dragon · Lunar New Year Jan 23
- 2013
- Water Snake · Lunar New Year Feb 10
- 2014
- Wood Horse · Lunar New Year Jan 31
- 2015
- Wood Goat · Lunar New Year Feb 19
- 2016
- Fire Monkey · Lunar New Year Feb 8
- 2017
- Fire Rooster · Lunar New Year Jan 28
- 2018
- Earth Dog · Lunar New Year Feb 16
- 2019
- Earth Pig · Lunar New Year Feb 5
- 2020
- Metal Rat · Lunar New Year Jan 25
- 2021
- Metal Ox · Lunar New Year Feb 12
- 2022
- Water Tiger · Lunar New Year Feb 1
- 2023
- Water Rabbit · Lunar New Year Jan 22
- 2024
- Wood Dragon · Lunar New Year Feb 10
- 2025
- Wood Snake · Lunar New Year Jan 29
- 2026
- Fire Horse · Lunar New Year Feb 17
- 2027
- Fire Goat · Lunar New Year Feb 6
- 2028
- Earth Monkey · Lunar New Year Jan 26
- 2029
- Earth Rooster · Lunar New Year Feb 13
- 2030
- Metal Dog · Lunar New Year Feb 3
- 2031
- Metal Pig · Lunar New Year Jan 23
- 2032
- Water Rat · Lunar New Year Feb 11
Chinese zodiac questions
It comes from your birth date, with the year turning at Lunar New Year. The free Finder reads it — animal and element together — from one date, using the actual Lunar New Year date for your year, and the same answer is saved on a member's profile.
Most quick tools turn the Chinese year on January 1. The tradition turns it at Lunar New Year — late January to mid-February, depending on the year. For a birthday inside that window the simple tools are a whole year off: someone born on February 5, 2024 is a Water Rabbit here, not a Wood Dragon, because Lunar New Year fell on February 10 that year.
The table on this page covers the years the record holds exact Lunar New Year dates for, 1960 to 2032. Outside it, the engine applies the February 4 convention — Li Chun, the traditional start of spring — and flags that it did, rather than pretending to an exact date it does not hold.
Two elements ride on every animal. Each animal carries a fixed element of its own, and each year adds the year's element, which colors the fixed one rather than replacing it. The year's element follows the year's final digit: 0 or 1 Metal, 2 or 3 Water, 4 or 5 Wood, 6 or 7 Fire, 8 or 9 Earth. So 2000 — final digit 0 — is the Metal Dragon: the Dragon's own Earth, colored by Metal.
The system names its alliances. Animals four apart form affinity triangles — Rat, Dragon and Monkey the doers; Ox, Snake and Rooster the thinkers; Tiger, Horse and Dog the protectors; Rabbit, Goat and Pig the harmonizers. Six secret-friend pairs look out for each other quietly, and the animal six years away sits opposite — the classic clash, friction that can fascinate or frustrate. Match By Zodiac reads these relations between members' Chinese signs alongside the Western score; the two systems are kept separate, never averaged.