# Chinese horoscope **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 25, 2003, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-horoscope/209485 "2003-10-25T14:21:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-horoscope/209485/1 "2003-10-25T14:21:07Z")
I’m not an astrology buff but TLL has made note of my Chinese symbol, the ox, after reading it on a menu in a restaurant. Don’t the chinese use a lunar calendar though with a movable new year? Is there a published chart that shows how chinese symbols map to the Gregorian calendar? ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-horoscope/209485/2 "2003-10-25T14:55:38Z")
[http://www.new-year.co.uk/chinese/calendar.htm](http://www.new-year.co.uk/chinese/calendar.htm) took me a few seconds with google ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-horoscope/209485/3 "2003-10-25T18:02:38Z")
That’s the part I already know sailor, but since the Chinese new year isn’t the same as the western calendar you can’t say that all of 1961 corresponds to a single year in the chinese calendar. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-horoscope/209485/4 "2003-10-25T18:31:49Z")
I am not clear about your question then. The Chinese new year day coincides with the new moon between late January and late February. The do not have 12 signs of the horoscope. They have five signs (gold, water, etc) which are pretty complex and not related directly to month or anything like that. They have intercalar months. Check out [http://www.tondering.dk/claus/calendar.html](http://www.tondering.dk/claus/calendar.html) ---
**Author:** ![Aldebaran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Aldebaran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aldebaran)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-horoscope/209485/5 "2003-10-25T19:17:47Z")
As far as my experience on the issue goes: When calculating your sign in the Chinese horoscope, the year starts at 12 februari. That is how it is done in books published in the West. I don’t know how it is done by the Chinese themselves though, but I guess there is no discrepancy otherwise the authors of the Western books would be aware of it. So if you are born before 12 februari 1961, you belong to the previous sign. Salaam. A ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-horoscope/209485/6 "2003-10-25T19:33:20Z")
Thanks **Sailor** , I hadn’t been able to find the new year rule for the varying new year’s day. **Aldebaran** , that’s what I was trying to clear up. It’s a lunar calendar so the new year will be a different solar day every year. That first web page Sailor linked contradicts itself by stating in once place that new year’s day is Feb 12 but giving varying future dates somewhere else. ---
**Author:** ![torie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@torie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torie)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-horoscope/209485/7 "2003-10-25T21:23:44Z")
right for example…i was born January 14 1982, the year of the Dog. But the Chinese year 1982 didnt start until mid-febuary. Therefore even though i was born in 82 my sign is 81, the year of the Rooster. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2003, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-horoscope/209485/8 "2003-10-25T22:52:32Z")
> [@](#): > > [the Chinese New Year is the second New Moon after the winter solstice](http://www.chinapage.com/newyear.html) > January 22, 2004 is the first day in the Year of the Monkey. It is Year 4701 by Chinese calendar. > February 1, 2003 was the first day in the Year of the Ram (sheep, goat). > February 12, 2002 was the first day in the Year of the Horse > January 24, 2001 was the first day in the Year of the Snake. This is Year 4698. [Some says this is Year 4638, which is also plausible. Others claim this year to be either 4699 or 4399, which are almost certainly wrong.] ---
**Author:** ![Aldebaran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Aldebaran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aldebaran)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-horoscope/209485/9 "2003-10-26T01:12:37Z")
Yes it varies, just like our Muslim calendar. And as we see on that website - presuming it is correct in its information : The Chinese do keep in account the exact day of the new year to calculate their horoscope sign. Probably the Western books who give indication about “your sign” are inaccurate because of lazyness of the editors to do some calculation. Salaam. A ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-horoscope/209485/10 "2003-10-26T04:23:40Z")
> [@](#): > > the Chinese New Year is the second New Moon after the winter solstice That doesn’t seem right. The Winter Solstice is a fixed solar event, but the Chinese New Year varies a lot. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-horoscope/209485/11 "2003-10-26T05:20:13Z")
[This site](http://www.gre.ac.uk/~C.H.Lai/comment5.html) gives to ways to calculate the date of Chinese New Year: > [@](#): > > The second new moon day after winter solstice, i.e. the shortest day or 21st/22nd December, is the Lunar New Year Day. > > (…) > > The Chinese New Year Day, also known as the Lunar New Year Day or the Spring Festival, is the New Moon Day closest to February 4th or the “Signs of Spring”. Easter day is calculated in a similar fashion, and the date also varies a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2003, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-horoscope/209485/12 "2003-10-26T05:40:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Urban Ranger \* > \*\*That doesn’t seem right. The Winter Solstice is a fixed solar event, but the Chinese New Year varies a lot. \*\* Because it’s based not just on the Solstice, but the phases of the moon. The second New Moon after the Solstice can differ in when it hits by ~ a month.