Korean Zodiac Animals and Saju: Why Your Chart Year Can Differ
korean zodiac · Education
In Korea, people often ask each other's tti (띠), the zodiac animal of the birth year, as a quick way to work out age. The twelve animals are the same ones used across East Asia: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. On a saju chart, that animal is the branch in the year column. Most of the time the two agree. For births in January and early February, they can disagree, and this guide explains why and how to check yours.
Check your year column (free, no account): run the Saju calculator and look at the lower character in the year pillar.
The twelve animals and their years
The cycle repeats every twelve years. Use this table for a first look, and read the next section if you were born in January or February.
| Animal | Korean | Branch | Recent years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rat | 쥐 | 子 | 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020 |
| Ox | 소 | 丑 | 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021 |
| Tiger | 호랑이 | 寅 | 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022 |
| Rabbit | 토끼 | 卯 | 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023 |
| Dragon | 용 | 辰 | 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012, 2024 |
| Snake | 뱀 | 巳 | 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025 |
| Horse | 말 | 午 | 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014, 2026 |
| Goat | 양 | 未 | 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015, 2027 |
| Monkey | 원숭이 | 申 | 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016, 2028 |
| Rooster | 닭 | 酉 | 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017, 2029 |
| Dog | 개 | 戌 | 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030 |
| Pig | 돼지 | 亥 | 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019, 2031 |
The animal is only half of the year pillar. The upper character, the stem, changes every year too, which is why 2026 is often called the year of the red horse: its year pillar is 丙午, and 丙 is a fire stem. Stems and branches together repeat every sixty years. Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches: A Saju Chart Reference lists all twenty-two characters.
When does the zodiac year start?
This is where everyday usage and saju often part ways.
- In everyday Korean usage, many people switch animals at Seollal (설날), the Lunar New Year, which falls between 21 January and 20 February.
- In saju and BaZi, the year pillar usually switches at Ipchun (입춘, 立春), the solar term known as the start of spring, which falls on 3, 4 or 5 February.
The PillarAtlas calculator follows the saju convention: the year pillar changes at the moment of Ipchun. So if your birthday falls between the two dates, your chart's year animal can differ from the one your family uses.
Three real calendar cases
| Birth date | Seollal that year | Ipchun that year | Animal by Seollal | Year pillar on the chart |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 January 2023 | 22 January | 4 February | Rabbit | 壬寅, Tiger |
| 7 February 2024 | 10 February | 4 February | Rabbit | 甲辰, Dragon |
| 10 February 2026 | 17 February | 4 February | Snake | 丙午, Horse |
In the first case, Seollal came early, so the family may already call the child a Rabbit while the chart still shows the Tiger year. In the other two, Seollal came late, so the chart has already moved on to the new year. Neither answer is wrong; they follow different calendars. What matters on a chart is that you know which convention it uses.
How to check your own year column
- Enter your birth date in the Saju calculator. Choose Lunar only if your date is a lunar date; Lunar Birthday for Saju explains how to tell.
- Add your birth time if you know it. Ipchun happens at a specific moment, so a birth on the day itself depends on the time.
- Read the lower character of the year pillar and find it in the table above.
- If you were born on 3, 4 or 5 February, treat the year column with care. The calculator compares your entered clock time with that moment without any time-zone adjustment, so a birth within a few hours of the change can tip either way.
The month pillar follows the same kind of rule. It changes at solar terms through the year, not on the first day of a lunar month, which is why What Is Saju? mentions boundary caveats near solar terms.
What your animal does and does not say
- It is one character out of eight. The year branch gives you a familiar label, but your chart is read from the day column outward. The reference point is the Day Master, not the animal; see How to Find Your Day Master.
- Everyone born that year shares it. Millions of people have the same tti. The month, day and hour columns are where charts start to separate.
- Animal compatibility charts are folk shorthand. Lists of which animals "get along" are popular in Korea and elsewhere. They are not the same as a full chart comparison. Two-person compatibility readings are not available on PillarAtlas yet, and we will not pretend otherwise.
Tti, age and everyday conversation
Asking someone's tti is a polite way to place their age without asking directly, since it narrows the birth year to a twelve-year cycle. It is a social habit as much as a belief. For the wider landscape of Korean readings, from saju cafés to new-year fortunes, see Korean Fortune Telling: Saju, Gunghap and Where a Chart Fits.
The four-pillar chart is free on PillarAtlas, as described in Free Saju Reading: What You Get Without Paying. Purchases are not open, so nothing on the site charges a card.
CTA: Find your year pillar and animal with the Saju calculator
Entertainment-only disclaimer
PillarAtlas charts and guides are for learning and entertainment. They are not medical, psychological, financial or legal advice, and no outcome is guaranteed.