Chinese astrology year pillar
Chinese zodiac animal and element calculator
A Chinese zodiac year is not always the same as the Gregorian calendar year. Births in January or February must be checked against the relevant year boundary.
Calculate your Chinese zodiac animal and element
Use the lunisolar New Year boundary instead of assuming January 1.
Calculator input: The birth date is checked against the Chinese lunar-year boundary, which is especially important in January and February.
Result preview: The result shows the zodiac animal, element, polarity, Heavenly Stem and Earthly Branch.
This interactive calculator runs in the browser after the page loads. Inputs are calculated for the request and are not saved by the public preview.
Animal and Earthly Branch
The twelve zodiac animals correspond to the twelve Earthly Branches in a repeating cycle.
Element and Heavenly Stem
The ten Heavenly Stems combine yin or yang polarity with the five elements, creating a sixty-year stem-branch cycle.
January and February births
A simple Gregorian-year lookup can be wrong before the year's traditional cutoff. The calculator checks the actual boundary used by the selected Chinese astrology method.
Frequently asked questions
Why can a January birthday belong to the previous zodiac year?
The Chinese zodiac year boundary does not normally begin on January 1.
What are Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches?
They are the paired cyclical symbols used to label years and other time pillars in Chinese calendrical astrology.
Is the Chinese zodiac element based only on the animal?
No. The element and polarity are associated with the Heavenly Stem, while the animal is associated with the Earthly Branch.