Which Years Are Rooster Years?
People born in 1993, 2005, 2017 and 2029 are Roosters. Earlier Rooster years are 1945, 1957, 1969 and 1981. The Rooster comes around every 12 years.
A Rooster year begins at the Start of Spring (Lichun), around February 4. It is usually a different day from Chinese New Year.
BaZi writes your birth year, month, day and hour as two characters each. The two for the year are your year pillar.
Enter your birth date and hour in the free BaZi calculator. If the second character of your year pillar is 酉 (Yǒu), you are a Rooster. Born before the Start of Spring, your pillar still ends in the previous year's Shen, so you are a Monkey.
| Year | Stem-branch | Na Yin | Born between |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2029 | Ji You | Great Post-road Earth | Feb 3 – Feb 3 next year |
| 2017 | Ding You | Fire Below the Mountain | Feb 3 – Feb 3 next year |
| 2005 | Yi You | Water in the Spring | Feb 4 – Feb 3 next year |
| 1993 | Gui You | Gold of the Sword Edge | Feb 4 – Feb 3 next year |
| 1981 | Xin You | Pomegranate Wood | Feb 4 – Feb 3 next year |
| 1969 | Ji You | Great Post-road Earth | Feb 4 – Feb 3 next year |
| 1957 | Ding You | Fire Below the Mountain | Feb 4 – Feb 3 next year |
| 1945 | Yi You | Water in the Spring | Feb 4 – Feb 3 next year |
Calculate your BaZi chart
Enter your birth details to discover your Day Master, elemental balance, and how these concepts apply to your Four Pillars.
Rooster Temperament: Exacting, Direct and Hard on Itself
Roosters tend to care about detail, speak plainly and hold themselves to a high standard. The idea comes from the Rooster's branch, Yǒu. Yǒu is Metal, and the purest Metal of all twelve branches.
Tradition reads this Metal as fine and precise. So Roosters tend to work in an orderly way and care about looks and quality. When they see a problem, they say so.
The other side is a high bar. You may find fault with others more easily, and with yourself too. In work that needs precision, this is a strength. Under pressure, it can turn into being too hard on yourself.
None of this differs by gender. A Rooster woman and a Rooster man get the same reading.
Who Are the Rooster's Allies? Snake, Ox and Dragon
The Rooster's allies are the Snake and Ox, through a trine, and the Dragon, through a six harmony. Both are ways two animals get on well. Folk tradition often calls these animals your helpers.
- TrineThree earthly branches form a group whose element is Metal. For the Rooster, the other two are the Snake and the Ox.
- Six HarmonyTwo branches form a pair. The Rooster pairs with the Dragon.
A trine is only complete with all three. But the Rooster sits at the centre of this one. So a Snake or an Ox still bonds with a Rooster on its own.
Which Animals Clash with the Rooster?
The Rabbit is the Rooster's worst match. Friction with the Dog and Rat is lighter. Two Roosters together also rub a little.
- ClashSet the twelve animals in a circle, and the two directly opposite collide. This is the heavier kind.
- HarmHidden obstruction. The Dog clashes with the Dragon, the Rooster's six harmony partner. So the Dog harms the Rooster.
- BreakA minor loss.
- PunishmentFriction, each holding the other back. When Yǒu meets Yǒu, it is called self-punishment.
| Animal | Branch | Relation | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rabbit | Mao | Clash | Heavier |
| Rat | Zi | Break | Lighter |
| Two Roosters | Yǒu | Self-punishment | Lighter |
| Dog | Xu | Harm | Lighter |
Which Years Does the Rooster Offend Tai Sui?
The Rooster offends Tai Sui in Rooster, Rabbit, Dog and Rat years, and not in other years. Tai Sui is the animal of the current year. If your animal is the same, or it clashes, punishes, harms or breaks with yours, folk custom says you offend Tai Sui.
For a Rooster, the twelve-year cycle runs like this:
- RoosterYour own year and punishment
- RabbitClash
- DogHarm
- RatBreak
- Ox, Dragon and SnakeHarmony
- Other yearsTiger, Horse, Goat, Monkey and Pig years have no link to Yǒu, so no offence
A Rooster year is your own year (Ben Ming Nian). Tradition weighs your own year and a clash the most. Punishment, harm and break are lighter, and harmony is seen as a help.
Offending Tai Sui compares two animals only. It is not a full forecast for your year. For each animal's Tai Sui outlook and tips for the year, see the CNY BaZi Fortune Guide.
Five Roosters: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth
The five kinds of Rooster are sorted by the heavenly stem of the birth year. Every Rooster year's pillar ends in Yǒu. What differs is the first character, the stem. Each stem belongs to one element.
For example, 1981 is Xin You, a Metal Rooster, and 2029 is Ji You, an Earth Rooster.
| Type | Year pillar | Birth years |
|---|---|---|
| Metal Rooster | Xin You | 1981 |
| Wood Rooster | Yi You | 1945, 2005 |
| Water Rooster | Gui You | 1993 |
| Fire Rooster | Ding You | 1957, 2017 |
| Earth Rooster | Ji You | 1969, 2029 |
Some sites sort Roosters by Na Yin instead. Na Yin is a second set of element names, one for each stem and branch pair.
For 2005, the Na Yin is Water in the Spring, so those sites call it a Water Rooster. By its stem, it is a Wood Rooster.
Beyond Your Animal: Month, Day and Hour Pillars
Your animal is only the branch of your year pillar, and the other three pillars each tell something else. Everyone born in the same year shares an animal, but their month, day and hour pillars differ.
- Month pillarThe season you were born in, which makes a chart run cold or warm.
- Day pillarIts first character is the Day Master, which stands for you.
- Hour pillarThe hour of birth, which sets apart people born on the same day.
Your temperament and way of working are read from the Day Master, together with the strength of the Five Elements. Whether a year helps or strains you depends on whether its elements are what your chart needs. That year-by-year reading is the annual fortune.
