3 September 2026

12 Chinese Zodiac Signs

jīn · 金 · one of the Five Phases

Metal in the Chinese Zodiac

Metal follows Earth in the generating cycle. It feeds Water, regulates Wood, and appears in zodiac year names through the Geng and Xin heavenly stems.

金

One element, several result coordinates

Metal at a glance

In a complete zodiac result, Metal may belong to the year's heavenly stem, the animal's fixed earthly-branch coordinate, the day master, or the separate Na Yin association. The label should always be read with that position.

Chinese
金
Pinyin
jīn
Generates
Water
Controls
Wood

Its place in both cycles

How Metal moves

Generating and controlling are directional relationships. Neither one is a compatibility score by itself.

The year-name coordinate

The two Metal heavenly stems

A year-stem element always has a Yin or Yang form. These are the two stems that make Metal appear in a complete year name.

A separate branch coordinate

Animals with fixed Metal

These animal branches carry Metal in every occurrence. Their year-stem element still changes through all five phases.

Monkey申Autumn · WSWRooster酉Autumn · W

The element across all twelve animals

Every Metal animal year type

The stem element repeats for two consecutive years, then moves on. Across sixty years, Metal meets every animal exactly once.

  1. 庚子Metal RatYang · Geng Zi
  2. 辛丑Metal OxYin · Xin Chou
  3. 庚寅Metal TigerYang · Geng Yin
  4. 辛卯Metal RabbitYin · Xin Mao
  5. 庚辰Metal DragonYang · Geng Chen
  6. 辛巳Metal SnakeYin · Xin Si
  7. 庚午Metal HorseYang · Geng Wu
  8. 辛未Metal GoatYin · Xin Wei
  9. 庚申Metal MonkeyYang · Geng Shen
  10. 辛酉Metal RoosterYin · Xin You
  11. 庚戌Metal DogYang · Geng Xu
  12. 辛亥Metal PigYin · Xin Hai

Exact calendar records

Recent and upcoming Metal years

Each year opens at Chinese New Year, not 1 January.