The Chinese calendar differs
significantly from the Western calendar. The primary difference is that
the months of the Chinese calendar are directly tied to the phases of
the moon. These phases, however, do not fit in with the length of the
year as measured by the Earth’s revolution around the sun. The Western
calendar is fixed in the sense that each New Year begins on
solar/Western calendar date January first. Because the Chinese New Year
must correlate with a moon phase, it falls as early as January 22nd and
as late as February 19th on the Western calendar.
This has significant implications for Chinese Astrology.
First, however, it’s important to understand the primary difference
between Chinese and Western astrology. Chinese astrology focuses on the
year sign, and Western astrology focuses on the month sign (Aquarius,
Pisces, etc.). Chinese Astrology does, however, have month signs. This
can be confusing because the month signs have the same name as the year
signs. Furthermore, when we say a Chinese sign corresponds to a Western
sign, e.g., Ox to Capricorn, we do not mean the person was born in a
Capricorn month. Rather, we mean the person’s Chinese year-sign traits
roughly correspond to the traits of that Western sign. Adding to the
confusion is the fact we can’t know a person’s Western sign simply by
knowing the person’s Chinese month sign.
For example, a person born on the first
day of the seventh month (July 1 in Western terminology) of the Chinese
calendar year 1979 was actually born on August 23rd of the Western
calendar. Since July 1st is Cancer and August 23 is Leo, it’s easy to
see the confusion. As with the months, neither do Chinese and Western
years match exactly. Thus, even though we might know a person’s Chinese
sign, we still cannot be sure of their year of birth. Conversely, if we
know a person’s year of birth, we cannot be sure of their Chinese sign.
Let’s say someone was born in 1978
(Chinese year of the Horse) on the Western calendar. They would only be
the Horse sign if born after February 6th; since, Chinese New Year was
February 7th by the Western calendar. The Chinese Horse year 1978
actually has the Western calendar dates included in the period February
7, 1978 through January 27, 1979. This is especially important when
evaluating compatibility. Signs most compatible with the Horse (Tiger
and Dog) are not nearly so compatible with the Snake, which is the sign
of people born in 1978 but earlier than February 7th on the Western
calendar.