Rooster in the Chinese zodiac: years, character and affinities

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The Rooster in brief

The Rooster is the tenth animal of the cycle. Its branch, 酉 (yǒu), corresponds to the hour from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., at sunset, and to autumn. The character 雞 refers to poultry in general (hen, rooster, chicken); the zodiac uses the figure of the rooster, herald of dawn, courageous and proud, a bird of light in tradition.

Its Chinese name is 雞 (simplified: 鸡), pronounced jī. It corresponds to the earthly branch 酉 (yǒu), which has yin polarity and which, in the theory of the five phases, carries the Metal element. Be careful not to confuse this element, which belongs to the animal, with the element of your year of birth, which varies: see below. In the traditional division of the day, the branch 酉 designates the hour from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. It is linked to the season of “autumn” and to the west direction on the traditional compass.

The years of the Rooster (1936 to 2032)

Here are the years under the sign of the Rooster, with the element of each and the exact dates (Chinese New Year, according to the tables of the Hong Kong Observatory). A person born in January or early February, before the date indicated, generally belongs to the previous sign.

Year	Sign and element	Polarity	Period (from Chinese New Year to the eve of the next one)
1945	Wood Rooster	yin	from 13 February 1945 to 1 February 1946
1957	Fire Rooster	yin	from 31 January 1957 to 17 February 1958
1969	Earth Rooster	yin	from 17 February 1969 to 5 February 1970
1981	Metal Rooster	yin	from 5 February 1981 to 24 January 1982
1993	Water Rooster	yin	from 23 January 1993 to 9 February 1994
2005	Wood Rooster	yin	from 9 February 2005 to 28 January 2006
2017	Fire Rooster	yin	from 28 January 2017 to 15 February 2018
2029	Earth Rooster	yin	from 13 February 2029 to 2 February 2030

To understand this calculation, see the page on how to calculate your Chinese zodiac sign.

Symbolic portrait of the Rooster

Tradition describes the Rooster as observant, hardworking and straightforward. It is associated with an eye for detail, organisation, a love of work well done, punctuality, a marked taste for appearance and plain speaking. The Rooster wants things in order and dislikes approximation.

The symbolic reverse side: perfectionism, easy criticism, pride that turns into vanity, a need to be right, and anxiety about others’ opinions. Popular portraits also suggest a taste for display and for talk. These are traditional images, not diagnoses of character.

In the zodiac, the Rooster is a yin sign of Metal: precision, clarity, a taste for polish. Tradition links it to autumn, to the harvest and to the moment of taking stock.

The Rooster in Chinese culture

Five virtues. A text of the Han period, the Han Shi waizhuan, credits the rooster with five virtues: a scholar’s bearing (its comb recalls the cap of officials), martial courage (its spurs), valour (it fights the enemy), kindness (it calls the hens to share food) and fidelity (it crows on time). The rooster is thus the example of an almost perfect animal.

A wordplay. The word jī (rooster, hen) sounds close to jí (吉), “auspicious”. The rooster is therefore a motif of luck in prints, paintings and New Year objects, in the spirit of wishes such as 大吉大利 (dà jí dà lì), “great luck, great profit”.

The first day of the year. According to a tradition recorded in a divination text attributed to Dongfang Shuo (Western Han period), the first seven days of the year are each devoted in turn to the hen (day 1), the dog (day 2), the pig, the goat, the ox, the horse, and then to humans (day 7). The seventh day, Renri, is the festival of humankind. This calendar is recorded in several ancient texts.

A character linked to wine. The character 酉 originally depicts a vessel for fermented drink. It appears in words related to wine and fermentation, such as 酒 (jiǔ, alcohol) or 醋 (cù, vinegar), which have nothing to do with poultry: the animal was linked to the branch, not the other way round.

The five Roosters by element

In the sixty-year cycle, each animal successively receives each of the five elements. The portraits below are traditional symbolic nuances: they do not designate real personalities and are not universal.

Variant	Years (1924 to 2043)	Symbolic nuance
Wood Rooster	1945, 2005	Sociable, creative and generous; the warmest of Roosters.
Fire Rooster	1957, 2017	Brilliant, passionate and expressive; its pride is visible from afar.
Earth Rooster	1969, 2029	Composed, realistic and practical; cultivates discretion.
Metal Rooster	1981, 2041	The most demanding: precise, disciplined and orderly, sometimes rigid.
Water Rooster	1933, 1993	Finer, more receptive and intuitive; its frankness goes down better thanks to gentleness.

Take the example of a Wood Rooster year: the element of the year is Wood, while the animal’s own element is Metal. Some schools look at how the two respond to each other (production, control, harmony). These are frameworks for reading, not verdicts.

Traditional affinities of the Rooster

Tradition compares the animals of two people by looking at their place on the circle of the twelve branches. For the Rooster, here are the classic relationships.

Traditional relationship	Animals concerned	Image
Affinity trio (sanhe)	Rooster, Ox and Snake	Three animals four positions apart, often presented as sharing the same momentum
Union (liuhe, “six harmonies”)	Rooster and Dragon	A pair of animals associated by tradition, seen as complementary
Opposition (liuchong)	Rooster and Rabbit	Two animals six positions apart, facing each other on the circle: contrast, friction
Harm (liuhai)	Rooster and Dog	A link said to be “troublesome”: possible misunderstandings, according to tradition

These rules come from the theory of the branches and do not measure the value of a relationship: two people with “opposed” animals can get along very well, and two “united” animals can quarrel. Some sources add other relationships (“punishments”, “destructions”), which shows that these grids vary from school to school. Keep them as a set of mirrors, never as a verdict on a couple, a friendship or a hiring decision.

Going further: questions for reflection

If you were born under this sign, or simply want to understand the image it carries, here are some questions to ask yourself, without expecting a right answer.

• What do I want to see done “by the book”, and what can I let go of?
• Does my frankness really help the other person, or does it mainly relieve me?
• How much of my energy goes to appearances, and how much to what I feel?
• When have I finished a piece of work by telling myself “it’s good enough”?

Like all Chinese astrology, the portrait of the Rooster is a symbolic tradition: without scientific proof, it predicts neither your character nor your future. For an overview, read the introduction to Chinese astrology.

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The meanings mentioned belong to tradition and symbolism. They are neither promises of results nor medical advice. Back to Chinese astrology.