Tiger

The Tiger dossier

Traits. Brave, magnetic and unpredictable — born to lead and to leap. The Tiger's charisma comes with a rebel's streak.

Fixed element — Wood. growth, generosity and expansion — a Wood year broadens the animal: more idealistic, more cooperative, always growing toward something. Every Tiger carries Wood underneath, whatever the year adds on top.

The year’s own element rotates by its final digit — 0 or 1 Metal, 2 or 3 Water, 4 or 5 Wood, 6 or 7 Fire, 8 or 9 Earth — so across the 60-year cycle the Tiger returns in five element forms, each one read against the fixed element beneath it.

The Tiger through the cycle

Every Tiger year in the table the record holds, with the year’s element and the Lunar New Year that year began on. A birthday in January or February before that date belongs to the previous animal.

The five Tigers

Wood Tiger — 1974. growth, generosity and expansion — a Wood year broadens the animal: more idealistic, more cooperative, always growing toward something.

Fire Tiger — 1986. passion, visibility and speed — a Fire year heats the animal up: bolder, faster, more dramatic, impossible to ignore.

Earth Tiger — 1998. stability, patience and practicality — an Earth year grounds the animal: steadier, more methodical, focused on what lasts.

Metal Tiger — 2010. 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 Tiger — 1962, 2022. intuition, flow and diplomacy — a Water year deepens the animal: more perceptive, more adaptable, quieter about its power.

Alliances and clashes

The Tiger sits in the Protection trine (the protectors) with the Horse and the Dog. Animals in the same affinity triangle are the classic harmonious pairings of the Chinese system.

Its secret friend is the Pig — one of the six secret-friend pairs, the quiet alliances: loyal, low-drama, mutually protective. Directly opposite in the cycle sits the Monkey — the classic clash pairing: real friction, and the fascination that can come with it.

Tiger questions

What years are Tiger years?
Tiger years in the table the record holds (1960–2032): 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022. The Chinese year begins at Lunar New Year — late January to mid-February — so a birthday before that year's new year date belongs to the previous animal.

What is the Tiger's element?
The Tiger's fixed element is Wood — every Tiger carries it underneath. growth, generosity and expansion — a Wood year broadens the animal: more idealistic, more cooperative, always growing toward something. The year adds a rotating element on top: in the recorded cycle the Tiger appears as Wood Tiger (1974); Fire Tiger (1986); Earth Tiger (1998); Metal Tiger (2010); Water Tiger (1962, 2022).

Who does the Tiger harmonize with?
The Tiger sits in the Protection trine (the protectors) with the Horse and the Dog — one of the classic harmonious pairings of the Chinese system. Its secret friend is the Pig, the quiet alliance; and the animal opposite in the cycle, the Monkey, is its clash.

How does Match By Zodiac read my Chinese sign?
Match By Zodiac works your Chinese animal and element out from your birth date — with the real Lunar New Year boundary, so January and February birthdays land on the right animal — and reads them alongside your Sun, Moon and Rising signs in pair reads. The Western and Chinese systems are kept separate, never averaged.

Find your Chinese sign

The free Finder reads your animal and element from one birth date — with the real Lunar New Year boundary — and your Sun, Moon and Rising signs in the same pass.