Chinese Zodiac Signs by Year
The animal year most people mean — the one that changes on Chinese New Year, not at Lichun — for 2020 through 2035, with the exact date each year turns.
Year, animal and Chinese New Year date
| Year | Animal | Chinese New Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Rat | 2020-01-25 |
| 2021 | Ox | 2021-02-12 |
| 2022 | Tiger | 2022-02-01 |
| 2023 | Rabbit | 2023-01-22 |
| 2024 | Dragon | 2024-02-10 |
| 2025 | Snake | 2025-01-29 |
| 2026 | Horse | 2026-02-17 |
| 2027 | Goat | 2027-02-06 |
| 2028 | Monkey | 2028-01-26 |
| 2029 | Rooster | 2029-02-13 |
| 2030 | Dog | 2030-02-03 |
| 2031 | Pig | 2031-01-23 |
| 2032 | Rat | 2032-02-11 |
| 2033 | Ox | 2033-01-31 |
| 2034 | Tiger | 2034-02-19 |
| 2035 | Rabbit | 2035-02-08 |
Two different "years" — and why this page uses the popular one
The zodiac year almost everyone means is bounded by Chinese New Year — the animal changes on that date, which is why it moves by weeks from year to year. That is what this table uses. Precise BaZi analysis uses a different boundary, Lichun (立春, early February), because the BaZi year is a solar year, not a lunar one — so a birth between Lichun and Chinese New Year gets a different year pillar than the popular zodiac sign would suggest. If you need the precise version for an actual chart, use the BaZi calculator, which reads the Lichun boundary automatically from your birth date.
Sources
- lunar-javascript (6tail, MIT) — solar-term instants, 干支 pillars, 大運/流年, 胎元/命宮/身宮 and the almanac tables.
- Hong Kong Observatory, Date and Time of the 24 Solar Terms — the reference used to check solar-term instants.
- Xieji Bianfang Shu and Sanming Tonghui — classical sources for the Wuhu Dun and Wushu Dun stem rules, hidden stems and the Ten Gods.
Algorithms last checked: 2026-07 · Method and accuracy