2004: Year of the Wood Monkey (甲申 jiǎshēn)
People born in 2004 belong to the year of the Wood Monkey - the 甲申 year of the traditional sixty-year cycle. This exact combination returns only once every 60 years.
> Born in January or early February 2004? In the classical reckoning the zodiac year begins at Li Chun (立春 lichun), February 4, 2004 - not on January 1. If you were born before that date, you belong to the previous year: the Water Goat of 2003. (Folk usage often counts from Chinese New Year instead, January 22, 2004 that year - both conventions are real; the BaZi tradition uses Li Chun. Our calculator handles this for you.)
The Monkey in the Wood year
The tradition reads the Monkey as the inventive one: solves the puzzle, then improves it. Folk tellings give the Monkey wit and play in equal measure; boredom is the only thing it truly fears. The classical sketch adds adaptability: drop the Monkey anywhere and it lands mid-idea.
The tradition reads the Wood Monkey as the constructive trickster: invention that leaves something standing.
Who the tradition pairs you with
The Monkey's natural allies are its trine partners, Rat, Dragon, and its quiet ally (六合 liuhe) is the Snake. The tradition treats the Tiger as the Monkey's opposite - the clash pair (相沖 xiangchong). The full picture: Chinese zodiac compatibility.
Other Monkey years
1932 (Water Monkey), 1944 (Wood Monkey), 1956 (Fire Monkey), 1968 (Earth Monkey), 1980 (Metal Monkey), 1992 (Water Monkey), 2016 (Fire Monkey), 2028 (Earth Monkey). 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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