While the emperor ruled the country with the help of astronomers/astrologers, there was no official way for the Chinese people to ask the stars for advice. Most probably Buddhist monks, who came from India and studied Chinese astrology, came up with an idea to make their living creating horoscopes without violating the imperial rules. They developed the method of the 12 animal signs. Every animal was thoughtfully picked by its characteristics to match the interpretations of the 5 elements. The method of the animal signs was easy to understand and became a very popular way throughout Asia in a short time.

While western astrology determines the zodiac signs by looking at the month, the Chinese calculate their zodiac by years. Now we use a 12 years cycle with a dedicated animal sign for each year.

The following table shows the years and the hours for the 12 Chinese animal signs. Bare in mind that the Chinese solar year starts around the February 4. If your birthday is in January or at the beginning of February your Chinese animal sign belongs to the year before.
Example: 27.1. 1967 belongs still to the year of the horse.