section_path: Years and elements
section_name: Years and elements
paragraph_text: Years and elements
  
  According to Chinese and related traditions, people born within the date ranges of the snake year have been said to have been born in the "Year of the Snake". Each snake year may traditionally be said to correspond with a cycle of five changes of Wuxing (Chinese philosophy), often translated as "elements". The following table lists dates for years of the snake together with the associated elemental signs:
  
  In Japan, the new sign of the zodiac starts on 1 January, while in China it starts, according to the traditional Chinese calendar, at the new moon that falls between 21 January and 20 February, so that persons born in January or February may have two different signs in the two countries, but persons born in late February (i.e. on or after 20 February) automatically have one sign in both countries.