Unlike the Western concept of four elements, the Chinese Zodiac recognizes five: earth, air, wind, water and metal. (Perhaps that reflects Chinese civilization's early discovery of metal work!)  These five elements are also taken into account in the Chinese concepts of Feng Shui.

The start of a Chinese zodiac sign is usually defined as the lìchūn of a year ("start of spring", or the first solar term), not the first day of a Chinese new year as shown. Each Chinese Zodiac sign is linked to both a month and a season, and a different animal rules each day.

The Chinese Zodiac is calculated in sixty year cycles:

The table above has some misunderstanding of concepts in Chinese Astrology,~ There are different sets of calendars, which is used together in China. Chinese New Year is start of Lunar calendar, not the division of Chinese Sign, Feb 4 or 5 of each year, spring begins 立春 is the division of Chinese Sign. And the element in the table above is the Heaven Element of the year in fact, for example 1960 庚子 庚 Geng is the heaven Element Gold, and 子 Zi is the earth element Water and Earth is the combination element of 庚子. Element is a very complex concept. Combination Element is the result of the Elements movement.

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