The Chinese Shēngxiào (生肖) spans more than three millennia. Its 12‑year animal cycle, combined with the Ten Heavenly Stems and the Five Elements, has shaped calendars, politics and pop culture—from Shang oracle bones to the modern baby boom in Dragon years.
Oracle bones from the late Shang dynasty (c. 1200 BCE) already record the sexagenary cycle of Ten Stems and Twelve Branches, though without animal names.[1]
Around 300 BCE the cycle began to designate years as well as days; its 12‑step rhythm mirrors the almost twelve‑year orbit of Jupiter (歲星, suìxīng).[2]
Archaeological finds show zodiac animal figures as early as the Warring States period (475–221 BCE); by the Eastern Han (25–220 CE) the canonical order Rat, Ox … Pig was fixed.[3]
Han astrologers fused Yin–Yang theory, the Five Elements (五行) and the Stem‑Branch cycle into a 60‑year calendar that remained official into the 20th century.[4]
Popular tales recount that the Jade Emperor held a race or banquet; the first twelve animals earned calendar slots—hence the Rat’s trick on the Ox and the Dragon’s pause to bring rain.[5]
These stories are later folk explanations of an already established sequence.
In the 8th–9th centuries Tang court astrologers adopted Iranian and Hellenistic horoscopy (natal charts based on solar longitude) and wove them into the existing system. Simultaneously the zodiac spread to Korea, Japan and Vietnam, where some animals were replaced (e.g. the Cat in Vietnamese tradition).[6]
From Song to Qing times, calendar bureaux issued annual Tongshu almanacs prescribing auspicious dates for state, farming and private rituals. Zodiac motifs adorned ceramics, textiles and temples, while one’s own animal year (Běnmìng Nián, 本命年) was considered especially fateful.[7]
Since the 20th century, overseas Chinese communities, glossy calendars and mass media have popularised the zodiac worldwide. Birth rates often spike in Dragon years: in 2024 Chinese hospitals reported up to 72 % more newborns than in 2023, even as the overall population declines.[8]
Western outlets ask whether this myth can persist amid high living costs and changing family values.[9]
The Chinese horoscope combines astronomical precision, cosmological philosophy, and vibrant mythology. Its longevity is explained by its ability to adapt to political dynasties, religious movements, and global media—from the Imperial Calendar Office to social media memes in the Year of the Dragon.