Rooster — Chinese Zodiac Sign

You Were Born a Rooster

The 10th sign in the Chinese zodiac cycle — a Metal animal with Yin (receptive) polarity, traditionally ruling the hours of 5 PM – 7 PM.

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The Rooster at a Glance

Your Earthly Branch is Yǒu (酉), carrying the fixed element Metal and Yin (receptive) polarity — both fixed for life, unlike the rotating element below. In the 12-animal cycle the Rooster sits 10th of 12, trine-linked to Ox and Snake, and in direct clash with the Rabbit straight across the wheel. Traditionally, the Rooster hour runs 5 PM – 7 PM. None of that is typed in by hand — it comes straight from the Rooster's 10th-of-12 position in the cycle, computed the same way for all 12 signs.

Earthly Branch
Yǒu (酉)
Fixed Element
Metal
Polarity
Yin (receptive)
Archetype
The Precise Observer
Ruling Hours
5 PM – 7 PM
Cycle Position
10th of 12
Trine Allies
Ox & Snake
Direct Clash
Rabbit
Next Rooster Year
2029 (Earth)
The Rooster recurs every 12 years; the element paired with it only repeats every 60. Nearest real occurrence of each:
Rooster years by element, with their Chinese New Year boundary
ElementYearOpensCloses
Water Rooster 1993 January 23, 1993 February 9, 1994
Wood Rooster 2005 February 9, 2005 January 28, 2006
Fire Rooster 2017 January 28, 2017 February 15, 2018
Earth Rooster 2029 February 13, 2029 February 2, 2030
Metal Rooster 2041 February 1, 2041 January 21, 2042

Your nearest Water Rooster year is 1993, opening January 23, 1993 and closing February 9, 1994.

Metal · Yin

The Rooster: The Precise Observer

Everything below is true of every Rooster, in any year. What makes it yours is the chart above — your Yǒu (酉) branch, your Yin (receptive) polarity, and the 10th-of-12 seat in the cycle a full BaZi reading builds on. Your fixed element, Metal, colors how that 10th-of-12 personality actually shows up day to day.

You notice everything, and you can't switch it off. You read people, rooms, and systems with a precision most save for things they're deliberately studying, while for you it's just the default setting. You're always clocking the gap between what's being presented and what's actually true, and you usually spot it before anyone else even senses there's a gap. The polished surface never fully fools you.

You hold a high bar and you're quietly proud of your work, and underneath your manner is an expectation that other people will meet you there. When they don't, the frustration is real, not for show but genuine bafflement that someone would do a thing halfway when finished was right there. That confusion can sting people who simply care about different things than you do, even though it isn't meant to.

Here's the catch in your great strength. Your eye for what's wrong is exceptional, but it runs with no filter, and not everything you accurately notice needs to leave your mouth. Half of what you'd call a standard is really just a preference wearing a standard's clothes, and the people around you can't always tell which one they're getting.

When the sharp thing you said lands and you watch their face change, that's the whole lesson arriving. The skill that changes your life isn't seeing more clearly, you already do that. It's choosing which true observations to offer and which to simply file away, knowing the difference before you speak instead of after.

That's the Rooster in general. Born under a Metal branch at the 10th seat of the cycle, with Yin (receptive) polarity running underneath it, is what a full chart uses to make it specific to you.

Where it goes from here

Reading a Rooster Chart

  1. Confirm your exact year

    The Rooster covers a birth year, but the Chinese zodiac year opens at Chinese New Year, not January 1 — check your exact boundary before you assume. 1993, 2005 are Rooster years on this site.

  2. See your rotating element

    Rooster is fixed for life, but its paired element rotates. Your next Rooster year is 2029, a Earth Rooster, opening February 13, 2029.

  3. Read the rest of the chart

    Your Year Animal is the public layer. A full BaZi reading also weighs your Day Master and the balance of the five elements, plus how your chart sits against the Rooster's own 10th-of-12 cycle position and its 5 PM – 7 PM hour branch.

The Rooster pairs well with

And hits friction with

Your next step

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  • What a Metal Rooster means for how you're read by others
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Before you go

Rooster — Questions People Ask

What years are the Chinese zodiac Rooster?

Rooster years repeat every twelve years, each one paired with a different element. On this site, 1993, 2005 are Rooster years — your next one lands in 2029, opening February 13, 2029. That's a Earth Rooster year, 10th in line since the last full rotation.

What element is the Rooster?

The Rooster's fixed branch element is Metal, but the Heavenly Stem paired with it rotates through all five elements across the 60-year cycle — Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water each take a turn. The nearest Water Rooster year is 1993; the full rotation is in the table above.

What hours does the Rooster rule?

In traditional BaZi, each of the 12 animals also rules a two-hour block of the day. The Rooster's hours are 5 PM – 7 PM — the same branch, Yǒu (酉), that gives the Rooster its year also governs an Hour Pillar for anyone born in that window.

Which signs is the Rooster most compatible with?

Ox and Snake and Dragon sit closest to the Rooster — Ox and Snake share its 10th-of-12 trine position, one of the three harmonious groupings the 12-animal cycle forms every 4 positions. Rooster tends to hit more friction with Rabbit, Dog, Rooster — and its direct clash, straight across the cycle, is the Rabbit.

Is the Rooster the same every year?

The animal itself never changes — anyone born in a Rooster year is a Rooster for life. What changes is the element: Rooster sits 10th of 12 in the cycle, and each time it comes back around (every 12 years) it's paired with the next element in the 60-year rotation, which is why 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020 and 2032 are all Rooster years with five different elemental characters.

Where does the Rooster sit in the 12-year cycle?

10th of 12. The cycle runs Rat through Pig in a fixed order, and the Rooster's position sets both its trine allies — Ox and Snake — and its direct clash, the Rabbit, which always sits exactly 6 positions around the wheel.

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