2016 / Chinese zodiac
2016 Chinese Zodiac: Fire Monkey
2016 is the Year of the Fire Monkey. It begins on February 8, 2016 and ends on January 27, 2017. If you were born before February 8, 2016, your sign is the Wood Goat.
01 / Check the boundary
What is my Chinese zodiac if I was born in 2016?
Two zodiac signs fall within the Gregorian year 2016. Choose the row containing your birthday. These dates include both the first and last day; the animal changes at Chinese New Year, not on January 1.
| Gregorian birthday | Animal & year element |
|---|---|
| – | Wood Goat 羊 |
| – | Fire Monkey 猴 |
The full 2016 lunar year continues into 2017, through January 27, 2017. A birthday on February 7, 2016 belongs to the Goat; a birthday one day later, on February 8, 2016, belongs to the Monkey.
YOUR STORY STARTS HERE
When were you born?
YOUR RESULT
02 / The story of the year
What kind of Monkey is 2016?
2016 is a Fire Monkey year. Its stem-branch name is 丙申 (bǐng-shēn): the heavenly stem 丙 carries yang fire, and the earthly branch 申 corresponds to the Monkey.
- Zodiac animal
- Monkey · 猴
- Year element
- Fire
- Stem & branch
- 丙申 · bǐng-shēn
- Lunar year length
- 355 days
Monkey personality in tradition
The Monkey is often associated with cleverness and playfulness, familiar qualities in Chinese storytelling.
The phrase “curious & inventive” describes a traditional association with this animal, rather than a rule about everyone born in 2016. The year element is one part of the calendar; it does not establish a person's complete five-elements or Bāzì chart.
我属猴。
Wǒ shǔ hóu. “I was born in the Year of the Monkey.”
Monkey compatibility in folklore
Monkey, Rat and Dragon form a traditional harmony group of three. Tiger sits opposite Monkey, six places away in the twelve-animal cycle. These describe symbolic positions, not evidence of who will make a good partner.
Explore traditional pairings →03 / A closer look at the dates
2016 lunar calendar at a glance
This Monkey year contains 12 lunar months and 355 days. There is no leap lunar month in this year. A leap month keeps the same animal and year element. The table follows the full lunar year, so its final months extend into 2017.
| Lunar month | Begins | Ends | Days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | 30 | ||
| Month 2 | 29 | ||
| Month 3 | 30 | ||
| Month 4 | 29 | ||
| Month 5 | 29 | ||
| Month 6 | 30 | ||
| Month 7 | 29 | ||
| Month 8 | 30 | ||
| Month 9 | 30 | ||
| Month 10 | 29 | ||
| Month 11 | 30 | ||
| Month 12 | 30 |
Sources & calendar convention
Dates are calculated from our local lunar-month dataset. The links below provide the Observatory’s calendar for this Gregorian year and an explanation of the stem-branch cycle. Cultural interpretations are introductory folklore, not predictions.