An Introduction to Chinese Astrology








Chinese Astrology Overview

Chinese Zodiac Signs

The Chinese zodiac, also known as the Sheng xiao in Chinese, relates each year to an animal and its alleged traits, according to a 12-year cycle. Besides China and Taiwan, it has wide following in several East Asian countries. The main focus of this page is to study the Chinese zodiac signs and what do they stand for.

The Chinese zodiac bears several similarities to the Western zodiac. In both, the time cycles are divided into 12 parts, with each part labeled with the names of animals. Each of these Chinese zodiac signs, like its western counterpart, is widely connected with a culture of influence of a person’s relationship to the cycle, according to their personality and events in their life. However, there are certain major differences between the Chinese zodiac horoscope and the western. The Chinese zodiac has the 12-part cycle divided into years rather than months. Some of the zodiac signs in the Western forms are not represented by animals, for example the inanimate balance scale “Libra”.

The Chinese zodiac signs of twelve animals stand for twelve different types of personality. The Chinese zodiac year traditionally starts with the sign of the Rat. Given below are the twelve Chinese zodiac signs in order and their characteristics:

To read about the characteristics and other information on this topic go to:


Chinese Zodiac Sign Calculator


Use this link to find out your Chinese Zodiac sign:

According to this list which includes mty birth date and year I was born in the year of the Rooster but if I use just the year I am born in the year of the dog.