1981: Year of the Metal Rooster (辛酉 xīnyǒu)
People born in 1981 belong to the year of the Metal Rooster - the 辛酉 year of the traditional sixty-year cycle. This exact combination returns only once every 60 years.
> Born in January or early February 1981? In the classical reckoning the zodiac year begins at Li Chun (立春 lichun), February 4, 1981 - not on January 1. If you were born before that date, you belong to the previous year: the Metal Monkey of 1980. (Folk usage often counts from Chinese New Year instead, February 5, 1981 that year - both conventions are real; the BaZi tradition uses Li Chun. Our calculator handles this for you.)
The Rooster in the Metal year
The tradition reads the Rooster as the precise one: candid, observant, keeping the standard even when nobody is checking. Folk tellings give the Rooster pride in presentation; it believes things worth doing are worth doing visibly well. The classical sketch adds industry: the Rooster is up first, and it noticed what you missed.
The Metal Rooster is sketched as the exacting one: candor and craft honed to their cleanest line.
Who the tradition pairs you with
The Rooster's natural allies are its trine partners, Snake, Ox, and its quiet ally (六合 liuhe) is the Dragon. The tradition treats the Rabbit as the Rooster's opposite - the clash pair (相沖 xiangchong). The full picture: Chinese zodiac compatibility.
Other Rooster years
1933 (Water Rooster), 1945 (Wood Rooster), 1957 (Fire Rooster), 1969 (Earth Rooster), 1993 (Water Rooster), 2005 (Wood Rooster), 2017 (Fire Rooster), 2029 (Earth Rooster). Same animal, different element - the tradition reads each differently.
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Your year animal is one-twelfth of one pillar - the birth year is a quarter of the picture, and the full chart reads the day you were born, down to the hour. What is BaZi explains the rest, or find your full sign.
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