Chinese zodiac
A traditional Chinese system assigns each year one of twelve animal signs in a repeating cycle. It is used in calendrical and astrological traditions.
Chinese calendar: A lunisolar calendar system used historically and ceremonially in China, with months tied to lunar phases and years coordinated with the seasons. The zodiac’s annual animal cycle is embedded in this calendar’s traditional timekeeping.
Chinese astrology: A family of divinatory traditions that interprets celestial cycles and calendrical patterns to understand character, events, and fate. The zodiac’s animal years are used as one framework within broader astrological interpretation.
Chinese zodiac origins: The historical development of the twelve-animal cycle in Chinese calendrical and astrological practice. Historical evidence helps distinguish the cycle’s development from later origin legends.
Chinese New Year: The festival marking the beginning of a new year in the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar. The new year brings the annual transition from one zodiac animal to the next.
Earthly Branches: A cycle of twelve characters used in Chinese calendrical and astrological systems to designate hours, days, months, and years. The animal signs are associated with these twelve cycle positions.
Five Phases: A Chinese system of change describing Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water as interacting phases. Each phase is paired with stems in the full cycle, producing five two-year runs for every animal.
Shiji: A monumental history of China written by Sima Qian around the turn of the second century BCE. Its account of the twelve Earthly Branches is often discussed in tracing animal associations.
Zodiac animal: An animal symbol assigned to a year in a cyclical zodiac system. Animal signs provide the most recognizable symbols of the Chinese yearly cycle.
Twelve-animal cycle: A repeating sequence of Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. These are the animals whose order structures the zodiac’s yearly sequence.
Yin and yang: A Chinese philosophical framework describing complementary, interdependent aspects of change and relation. Alternating yin and yang qualities distinguish successive years in the cycle.