How to Find Out What Chinese Year I Was Born In

Determine your Chinese calendar birth year.

The Chinese Lunar Calendar is based upon a 12-year rotation. It is believed that people born in each year of the series take on characteristics of a specific animal. Legend tells that when the Buddha was making preparations to leave earth, he called upon all animals to meet with him. Twelve animals attended this gathering to bid him farewell and as a result all received a placement on the calendar. Learning how your birth year fits into this legend is interesting and easy.

Instructions

1. Understand the order of the 12 animals in the Chinese Zodiac which is determined by birth year. These 12 animals in order are the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig.

2. Determine your Chinese Year by a website or other resource that lists the rotation of animals in 12-year cycles. In many cases, you can enter your birth-year, find out your animal, and also learn about traditional personality characteristics.

3. Calculate your Chinese Year animal by using the following list of the 12 animals with a past associated year:

   Rat - 1996

   Ox -1997

   Tiger - 1998

   Rabbit -1999

   Dragon - 2000

   Snake - 2001

   Horse -- 2002

   Goat - 2003

   Monkey - 2004

   Rooster - 2005

   Dog - 2006

   Pig - 2007.

   Since you know that Chinese years run in 12-year cycles, you can compute your Chinese Year based on your birth year and these examples.

4. Learn your actual Chinese birth year by calculating the current year and its associated Chinese calendar year. The year 2011 on the Gregorian calendar is year 4708 on the Chinese calendar. You can align your birth year to the Chinese calendar by subtracting the appropriate number of years.

Tips & Warnings

• Chinese New Year is a different day each year given the translation from the Chinese calendar to the Gregorian calendar. It falls somewhere between January 1 -- early February.

• The characteristics of the Chinese Year animals are steeped in tradition and folklore. While they may provide some accuracy in describing a person born to that year, it is not a consistent predictor of personality.

• You may find a one-year discrepancy between sources when determining your Chinese calendar birth year. There is debate because of differences in the calculation of the Yellow King's inauguration in 2697 BC.

References

• Chinese Culture Center's Zodiac Page
• ChineseFortuneCalendar: 2010 Chinese New Year