3 September 2026

12 Chinese Zodiac Signs

shuǐ · 水 · one of the Five Phases

Water in the Chinese Zodiac

Water feeds Wood and regulates Fire in the two Five Phases cycles. It appears in zodiac year names through the Ren and Gui heavenly stems.

水

One element, several result coordinates

Water at a glance

In a complete zodiac result, Water 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
水
Pinyin
shuǐ
Generates
Wood
Controls
Fire

Its place in both cycles

How Water moves

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

The year-name coordinate

The two Water heavenly stems

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

A separate branch coordinate

Animals with fixed Water

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

Rat子Winter · NPig亥Winter · NNW

The element across all twelve animals

Every Water animal year type

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

  1. 壬子Water RatYang · Ren Zi
  2. 癸丑Water OxYin · Gui Chou
  3. 壬寅Water TigerYang · Ren Yin
  4. 癸卯Water RabbitYin · Gui Mao
  5. 壬辰Water DragonYang · Ren Chen
  6. 癸巳Water SnakeYin · Gui Si
  7. 壬午Water HorseYang · Ren Wu
  8. 癸未Water GoatYin · Gui Wei
  9. 壬申Water MonkeyYang · Ren Shen
  10. 癸酉Water RoosterYin · Gui You
  11. 壬戌Water DogYang · Ren Xu
  12. 癸亥Water PigYin · Gui Hai

Exact calendar records

Recent and upcoming Water years

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