Why is There a New Animal Every Lunar New Year?

Year of the Pig? Year of the Rat? Year of the Ox? Why is there a new animal every lunar new year? It has to do with Chinese astrology. In China and many other countries share similar calendars assign an animal to each year. There are 12 animals, and they have characteristics and traits that people born in those years display.[1] Western Astrology is similar, where your birth month links to a zodiac sign and signals particular characteristics. Instead of assigning an animal to a specific month, the Lunar system assigns the animal to a year.[2] What is the origin of animal years?

The Great Race

It all began many, many years ago, when the Jade Emperor of the Celestial Kingdom (Heaven) held a contest. The Emperor declared the winners of the Great Race would have years named after them. Cat and Rat were friends. Cat asked Rat to wake him up in the morning so they could run together. Unfortunately, in the morning, Rat was so eager to get started, he forgot to wake up the Cat. When Rat reached the end of the race, he found a wide river blocking his path. ‟How will I get across such a wide river?” though the Rat.

Luckily, Ox was also in the race and came upon the river too. Rat asked Ox if he could ride on ox’s back across the river. Ox agreed, and together they swam across the river. As Ox approached the far shore, Rat quickly ran across Ox and jumped to the shore. Rat continued running and won the race. Thus the first year is named for Rat. Ox climbed out of the river and finished second.[3]

Tiger arrived next. Though Tiger was a strong swimmer, the tide had fought his progress and delayed his arrival. Rabbit soon followed, hopping from rock to rock across the wide river. Rabbit did falter when he slipped off a rock. Luckily, a log floated by, and Rabbit rode it to the shore. The Jade Emperor named the third and fourth year after Tiger and Rabbit.

When Dragon arrived at the finish line, the Jade Emperor asked why Dragon took so long to race. After all, the Dragon can fly. Dragon explained that as he flew by, a small village suffered from a drought, so Dragon gave them rain. Then Dragon spotted a rabbit drowning in the river, so Dragon sent a log to aid him. The Emperor was impressed by Dragon’s good nature and named him the fifth year.

A wet horse galloped towards the finish line, fresh from swimming across the river. Unbeknownst to the Horse, Snake attached himself to Horse’s leg. Once Horse noticed the rider, he reared up in shock. Snake jumped off the leg and crossed the finish line. The Horse followed across to become the seventh winner.

Sometime later, Goat, Monkey, and Rooster arrived at the finish line. They teamed up to overcome the challenges of the race. Rooster found a raft so all three could ride on the raft. Monkey and Goat paddled to the far side. The Jade Emperor was impressed by the teamwork of these three animals and assigned them to the next years – eight, nine, and ten.

In eleventh place was Dog. Though a good swimmer and fast runner, Dog got distracted in the river. Dog played and swam for quite some time before remembering he was in a race. The Jade Emperor decided to end the event and was starting to close down. ‟Oink.”

The Jade Emperor looked down and saw that Pig had crossed the finish line. ‟Why did you take so long to arrive?” asked the Emperor. Pig was hungry and stopped to eat. After eating, Pig grew sleepy and took a nap. Pig woke up and hurried to the finish.[4]

Sadly much later, Cat woke up and missed the whole race. Furious, Cat hates Rat and will chase him any chance he gets.

Here’s the recap of the story. ‟The 12 animals in order are Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep (Goat), Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig.” [5] This cycle repeats every twelve years.

What’s Your Zodiac Animal

(Table is taken from China Highlight [6])

Chinese Alchemy Has Five Elements

In Europe, Greek Philosophy gave us four elements. They are fire, water, earth, and wind. Chinese alchemy has five elements. These elements describe how things interact and relate to each other. They are ‟…wood, fire, earth, metal, and water — are believed to be the fundamental elements of everything in the universe between which interactions occur.”[7]

Often you’ll hear someone say Metal Pig or Earth Rooster. Each year has an elemental yang aspect, the next year, an elemental yin aspect. This pattern repeats six times in a 60-year cycle. Each animal has an elemental aspect of both yin and yang versions. These aspects color the trait for the animal during the year. Again, this mirrors how Western Zodiac behaves with the Greek elements.

What is Your Birth Year and Element?

Confused? Here’s the Wikipedia table to clear up the confusion. Use it to find your Animal and Element. [8]

	Year	Associated element	Associated animal	Year
	1924–1983			1984–2043
1	Feb 05 1924–Jan 23 1925	Yang Wood	Rat	Feb 02 1984–Feb 19 1985
2	Jan 24 1925–Feb 12 1926	Yin Wood	Ox	Feb 20 1985–Feb 08 1986
3	Feb 13 1926–Feb 01 1927	Yang Fire	Tiger	Feb 09 1986–Jan 28 1987
4	Feb 02 1927–Jan 22 1928	Yin Fire	Rabbit	Jan 29 1987–Feb 16 1988
5	Jan 23 1928–Feb 09 1929	Yang Earth	Dragon	Feb 17 1988–Feb 05 1989
6	Feb 10 1929–Jan 29 1930	Yin Earth	Snake	Feb 06 1989–Jan 26 1990
7	Jan 30 1930–Feb 16 1931	Yang Metal	Horse	Jan 27 1990–Feb 14 1991
8	Feb 17 1931–Feb 05 1932	Yin Metal	Goat	Feb 15 1991–Feb 03 1992
9	Feb 06 1932–Jan 25 1933	Yang Water	Monkey	Feb 04 1992–Jan 22 1993
10	Jan 26 1933–Feb 13 1934	Yin Water	Rooster	Jan 23 1993– Feb 09 1994
11	Feb 14 1934–Feb 03 1935	Yang Wood	Dog	Feb 10 1994–Jan 30 1995
12	Feb 04 1935–Jan 23 1936	Yin Wood	Pig	Jan 31 1995–Feb 18 1996
13	Jan 24 1936–Feb 10 1937	Yang Fire	Rat	Feb 19 1996–Feb 06 1997
14	Feb 11 1937–Jan 30 1938	Yin Fire	Ox	Feb 07 1997–Jan 27 1998
15	Jan 31 1938–Feb 18 1939	Yang Earth	Tiger	Jan 28 1998–Feb 15 1999
16	Feb 19 1939–Feb 07 1940	Yin Earth	Rabbit	Feb 16 1999–Feb 04 2000
17	Feb 08 1940–Jan 26 1941	Yang Metal	Dragon	Feb 05 2000–Jan 23 2001
18	Jan 27 1941–Feb 14 1942	Yin Metal	Snake	Jan 24 2001–Feb 11 2002
19	Feb 15 1942–Feb 04 1943	Yang Water	Horse	Feb 12 2002–Jan 31 2003
20	Feb 05 1943–Jan 24 1944	Yin Water	Goat	Feb 01 2003–Jan 21 2004
21	Jan 25 1944–Feb 12 1945	Yang Wood	Monkey	Jan 22 2004–Feb 08 2005
22	Feb 13 1945–Feb 01 1946	Yin Wood	Rooster	Feb 09 2005–Jan 28 2006
23	Feb 02 1946–Jan 21 1947	Yang Fire	Dog	Jan 29 2006–Feb 17 2007
24	Jan 22 1947–Feb 09 1948	Yin Fire	Pig	Feb 18 2007–Feb 06 2008
25	Feb 10 1948–Jan 28 1949	Yang Earth	Rat	Feb 07 2008–Jan 25 2009
26	Jan 29 1949–Feb 16 1950	Yin Earth	Ox	Jan 26 2009–Feb 13 2010
27	Feb 17 1950–Feb 05 1951	Yang Metal	Tiger	Feb 14 2010–Feb 02 2011
28	Feb 06 1951–Jan 26 1952	Yin Metal	Rabbit	Feb 03 2011–Jan 22 2012
29	Jan 27 1952–Feb 13 1953	Yang Water	Dragon	Jan 23 2012–Feb 09 2013
30	Feb 14 1953–Feb 02 1954	Yin Water	Snake	Feb 10 2013–Jan 30 2014
31	Feb 03 1954–Jan 23 1955	Yang Wood	Horse	Jan 31 2014–Feb 18 2015
32	Jan 24 1955–Feb 11 1956	Yin Wood	Goat	Feb 19 2015–Feb 07 2016
33	Feb 12 1956–Jan 30 1957	Yang Fire	Monkey	Feb 08 2016–Jan 27 2017
34	Jan 31 1957–Feb 17 1958	Yin Fire	Rooster	Jan 28 2017–Feb 15 2018
35	Feb 18 1958–Feb 07 1959	Yang Earth	Dog	Feb 16 2018–Feb 04 2019
36	Feb 08 1959–Jan 27 1960	Yin Earth	Pig	Feb 05 2019–Jan 24 2020
37	Jan 28 1960–Feb 14 1961	Yang Metal	Rat	Jan 25 2020–Feb. 11 2021
38	Feb 15 1961–Feb 04 1962	Yin Metal	Ox	Feb 12 2021–Jan 31 2022
39	Feb 05 1962–Jan 24 1963	Yang Water	Tiger	Feb 01 2022–Jan 21 2023
40	Jan 25 1963–Feb 12 1964	Yin Water	Rabbit	Jan 22 2023–Feb 09 2024
41	Feb 13 1964–Feb 01 1965	Yang Wood	Dragon	Feb 10 2024–Jan 28 2025
42	Feb 02 1965–Jan 20 1966	Yin Wood	Snake	Jan 29 2025–Feb 16 2026
43	Jan 21 1966–Feb 08 1967	Yang Fire	Horse	Feb 17 2026–Feb 05 2027
44	Feb 09 1967–Jan 29 1968	Yin Fire	Goat	Feb 06 2027–Jan 25 2028
45	Jan 30 1968–Feb 16 1969	Yang Earth	Monkey	Jan 26 2028–Feb 12 2029
46	Feb 17 1969–Feb 05 1970	Yin Earth	Rooster	Feb 13 2029–Feb 02 2030
47	Feb 06 1970–Jan 26 1971	Yang Metal	Dog	Feb 03 2030–Jan 22 2031
48	Jan 27 1971–Feb 14 1972	Yin Metal	Pig	Jan 23 2031–Feb 10 2032
49	Feb 15 1972–Feb 02 1973	Yang Water	Rat	Feb 11 2032–Jan 30 2033
50	Feb 03 1973–Jan 22 1974	Yin Water	Ox	Jan 31 2033–Feb 18 2034
51	Jan 23 1974–Feb 10 1975	Yang Wood	Tiger	Feb 19 2034–Feb 07 2035
52	Feb 11 1975–Jan 30 1976	Yin Wood	Rabbit	Feb 08 2035–Jan 27 2036
53	Jan 31 1976–Feb 17 1977	Yang Fire	Dragon	Jan 28 2036–Feb 14 2037
54	Feb 18 1977–Feb 06 1978	Yin Fire	Snake	Feb 15 2037–Feb 03 2038
55	Feb 07 1978–Jan 27 1979	Yang Earth	Horse	Feb 04 2038–Jan 23 2039
56	Jan 28 1979–Feb 15 1980	Yin Earth	Goat	Jan 24 2039–Feb 11 2040
57	Feb 16 1980–Feb 04 1981	Yang Metal	Monkey	Feb 12 2040–Jan 31 2041
58	Feb 05 1981–Jan 24 1982	Yin Metal	Rooster	Feb 01 2041–Jan 21 2042
59	Jan 25 1982–Feb 12 1983	Yang Water	Dog	Jan 22 2042–Feb 09 2043
60	Feb 13 1983–Feb 01 1984	Yin Water	Pig	Feb 10 2043–Jan 29 2044

What does it all mean?

Once you know what your zodiac animal is and your yin or yang element, you can look up the traits you possess and display to others. For instance, if you were a Rat, you would be intelligent and ambitious. You are good at socializing and keep your personal life private. You may have difficulty trusting others, and you are very bright. If you were a Water Rat, you would express wisdom and display an agile mind. If you were an Earth Rat, you would show nurturing traits and honesty.[9] The possible combinations are immense. Layer in the theory that months have assigned animals, solar terms (two-week segments), and hours.[10] This quagmire of influences is just as obscure as Western Zodiac, which does the same thing with zodiac houses and hours.

By now, you can fully appreciate the Lunar New Year. In my previous article, I explain what the Lunar New Year is and what to expect. My other article discusses the Lantern Festival, which caps the Lunar New Year celebration, dragon, and lion dance. These festive activities are the highlight of young and old alike. Until next time, Gong Hay Fat Choi.

[1] China Highlights, https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-zodiac/
[2] Wikipedia.org, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_zodiac
[3] China Highlights, https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-zodiac/
[4] Wikipedia.org, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_zodiac
[5] Your Chinese Astrology, https://www.yourchineseastrology.com/zodiac/
[6] China Highlights, https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-zodiac/
[7] China Highlights, https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-zodiac/china-five-elements-philosophy.htm
[8] Wikipedia.org, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_zodiac
[9] Zodiac Signs, https://www.zodiacsigns-horoscope.com/chinese-zodiac/
[10] Wikipedia.org, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_zodiac