Zodiac Signs

According to the book of 12 animals in Vietnam & China culture, the 12 zodiac signs are derived from the CAN (10 Heaven CANs) – CHI (12 Earth CHIs) calendar. This type of calendar appeared in the Shang Dynasty (1766-1122 BC) in China. Accordingly, the 12 zodiac signs mentioned are associated with the Twelve AnimalsCHIs.

Origin of the 12 Zodiac signs

1. Thap Thien Can – Ten Can system (10 CANs)

2. Thap Nhi Dia Chi – Ten Earth CHIs (12 Earth CHIs)

Ty – Rat
Suu – Ox
Dan – Tiger
Mao – Cat (Rabbit in Chinese Zodiac System but same attributes)
Thin – Dragon
Ty – Snake
Ngo – Horse
Mui – Goat
Than – Monkey
Dau – Rooster
Tuat – Dog
Hoi – Pig

Made up of five elements of the Five Elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire Earth. Each element is paired with Yin or Yang to form a 10-year cycle.

When the 12 zodiac signs of the Twelve Earth CHIs are combined with an element in the Five Elements, along with the Yin or Yang of the Heaven CANs, it will form 60 years from different combinations, collectively known as the Luc Thap Hoa Giap, or Can Chi system.

3. CANs (10) & CHIs (12) make Same Frequency follow Five Elements creating 60 Frequency of Destiny

According to this calendar, the ancient Esten chose 12 zodiac animals associated with human life or the earliest domesticated by humans to put them into the CANs – CHIs calendar, in the order of Rat, Ox, Tiger, Cat, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig (Ty – Suu – Dan – Mao – Thin – Ty – Ngo – Mui – Than – Dau – Tuat- Hoi).

12 Zodiac Signs by Year

How to find your Vietnamese zodiac sign

The tables on this page hold everything you need, but they are easiest to use in a particular order. Three steps will take you from a birth date to the right animal and the right article.

1. Find your birth year in the animal lookup table above. Each year from 1924 to 2043 is matched to one of the twelve animals, from the Rat through to the Pig.
2. If you were born in January or February, check the Tet boundary. The zodiac year does not start on 1 January. It starts at Tet, the Lunar New Year, which falls on a different date in January or February each year because the calendar is lunisolar. If your birthday came before Tet, you belong to the previous year’s animal. Use that previous year label for the stems and elements as well, not your Gregorian birth year.
3. Open your animal’s full guide. Each of the twelve articles linked below covers that sign’s years, element types, traditional strengths and challenges, and frequently asked questions.

A quick example: someone born in early January 2026 shares a Gregorian year with the Horse, but Tet had not yet arrived. Their zodiac year is therefore 2025, a Snake year, and the stem and element readings should follow 2025 too.

The animals of the Vietnamese zodiac

The Vietnamese zodiac, known as the twelve con giáp, follows this order: Rat, Buffalo, Tiger, Cat, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. Each animal has its own place in the repeating twelve-year cycle.

Two names are especially helpful when reading the guides on this website. The second animal is the Buffalo (Trâu), associated with the Sửu branch; our English article uses the familiar title Ox. The fourth animal is the Cat (Mèo), associated with Mão. Use these Vietnamese names when looking up family birth years or reading about Tet traditions.

Why one birth year can have more than one element

Readers sometimes look up a single year in the tables on this page and find what seem to be conflicting elements. They are not contradictions. They are different layers of the traditional calendar, each answering a different question.

• The stem element. Each year combines one of the ten heavenly stems with one of the twelve earthly branches. The stem gives the year its everyday element, and the stems table above maps it from the last digit of the year label. This is the element in names such as “Fire Horse” or “Water Rat”.
• The branch association. Each of the twelve branches also has a fixed element of its own, shown in the branch-element table above. It stays the same whenever that animal returns, whatever the year’s stem.
• The named sixty-pair classification. The long table of named stem-branch pairs on this page belongs to a separate traditional system, known in Vietnamese as nạp âm. It gives each pair of years a poetic name and an element of its own.

The year 2026 shows how these fit together. Its zodiac year is Bính Ngọ. Its stem, Bính, makes it a Fire Horse year. The branch table also associates Ngọ with Fire. Yet the named pair table on this page lists Bính Ngọ under Thiên Hà Thủy, a Water classification. The same year can carry Fire in one layer and Water in another because each layer is a separate traditional way of describing it. These names are part of a cultural system, not measurements of energy or frequency.

The cycles also explain why the tables repeat as they do. Ten stems and twelve branches combine into sixty distinct pairs. An animal therefore returns every twelve years, but a specific element-animal pairing, such as Fire Horse, returns only once every sixty.

Read your animal’s full guide

Each article explores one sign in depth. The traits described in them are traditional symbolic readings, not assessments of any individual person.

• Rat: resourcefulness, and knowing when planning should stop
• Ox (Buffalo): reliability and patient strength
• Tiger: courage, considered rather than impulsive
• Cat: diplomacy and tact
• Dragon: aspiration without the pressure to impress
• Snake: observation and thoughtful privacy
• Horse: independence with follow-through
• Goat: care, creativity and healthy boundaries
• Monkey: curiosity that finishes what it starts
• Rooster: precision balanced with tact
• Dog: loyalty and caring without overload
• Pig: generosity and hospitality

Frequently asked questions

I was born in January or February. Which year do I use?

Check the Tet date for your birth year. If you were born before Tet, use the previous year’s animal and the previous year’s label for stems and elements. If you were born on or after Tet, use your birth year as normal.

What are the twelve Vietnamese zodiac animals called?

In order, they are Tý (Rat), Sửu (Buffalo), Dần (Tiger), Mão (Cat), Thìn (Dragon), Tỵ (Snake), Ngọ (Horse), Mùi (Goat), Thân (Monkey), Dậu (Rooster), Tuất (Dog) and Hợi (Pig). Each returns once every twelve years.

What is the difference between the 12-year and 60-year cycles?

The animal repeats every twelve years. Combined with the ten stems, the full cycle of named pairs repeats every sixty years. A 2026 Fire Horse, for example, last appeared in 1966.

What do compatible and opposite signs mean?

Traditions group some animals together and place others opposite each other. These associations are part of the culture and often come up playfully at weddings or around Tet. They are not a verdict on any real relationship.

Can the zodiac predict health or wealth?

No. The zodiac is a cultural calendar with a rich set of symbolic associations. It does not determine anyone’s health, finances or future.

12 Zodiac Animal Signs