Monkey (zodiac)

"Year of the monkey" redirects here. For other uses, see Year of the monkey (disambiguation).

The monkey (猴) is the ninth animal in the 12-year cycle of Chinese zodiac, which is part of the traditional Chinese calendar. The year of the monkey is associated with the Earthly Branch symbol 申.

Monkey
"Monkey" in regular Chinese characters
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin hóu Wade–Giles hou2 IPA [xǒʊ] Hakka Romanization hèu Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization hàuh Jyutping hau4 IPA [hɐw˩] Southern Min Hokkien POJ kâu Old Chinese Baxter–Sagart (2014) *mə-ɡˤ(r)o

Zodiac monkey, showing the hóu (猴) character for monkey

Years and the five elements

The three wise monkeys over the Tōshō-gū shrine in Nikkō, Japan

The monkey statue at the Shinto shrine in Tokyo

People born within these date ranges can be said to have been born in the "year of the monkey", while bearing the following elemental sign:^[1][2]

Start date	End date	Heavenly branch
6 February 1932	25 January 1933	Water Monkey
25 January 1944	12 February 1945	Wood Monkey
12 February 1956	30 January 1957	Fire Monkey
30 January 1968	16 February 1969	Earth Monkey
16 February 1980	4 February 1981	Metal Monkey
4 February 1992	22 January 1993	Water Monkey
22 January 2004	8 February 2005	Wood Monkey
8 February 2016	27 January 2017	Fire Monkey
26 January 2028	12 February 2029	Earth Monkey
12 February 2040	31 January 2041	Metal Monkey
1 February 2052	18 February 2053	Water Monkey
17 February 2064	4 February 2065	Wood Monkey
5 February 2076	23 January 2077	Fire Monkey
24 January 2088	9 February 2089	Earth Monkey
9 February 2100	28 January 2101	Metal Monkey

Basic astrology elements

Earthly Branches:	Shen
The Five Elements:	Metal
Yin Yang:	Yang
Lunar Month:	Seventh
Lucky Numbers:	1, 3, 4, 7, 8; Avoid: 2, 5, 9
Lucky Colors:	white, blue; Avoid: red, black, grey
Season:	Autumn