Jade
Observatory
16 September 2026
Rooster is number 10 in the 12-sign cycle. Rooster years in 1924–2035 are 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017, 2029. Its most recent return is 2017; the next is 2029. Each begins at Chinese New Year, not 1 January.
The Rooster is traditionally described as precise, candid and hard-working, attentive to whether a statement or arrangement holds up in practice. Its strength is making things explicit: identifying what needs attention, setting a clear standard and following a task through rather than leaving the final details for someone else. Bluntness and excessive criticism are the associated challenges, particularly when an accurate observation is delivered without considering its timing or when noticing what is missing overshadows acknowledging what has already been done well.
The year stem changes on each twelve-year return; the Rooster branch stays Metal. An identical animal-and-element name returns after sixty years.
Wood turns the Rooster's eye for improvement toward development rather than correction alone. A clear standard becomes something to help another person reach, with cooperation giving candour a more encouraging tone. The challenge is assuming that helpful attention is always welcome, especially when a companion wanted space to experiment before receiving a detailed account of what could be better.
Fire gives the Rooster's candid voice greater warmth and visibility, placing enthusiasm beside its concern for accuracy. This portrait is ready to stand behind a carefully formed opinion and make its reasoning heard. Its tension is forcefulness: the wish to communicate clearly can become a performance of certainty when a quieter question would invite a more useful reply.
Earth anchors the Rooster's precision in practical usefulness, favouring consistent care over an impressive but difficult ideal. Attention to detail is directed toward arrangements that people can rely on day after day. The challenge is allowing a method to evolve, because a routine that has been maintained conscientiously may feel harder to question than one that was adopted casually.
Metal repeats the Rooster branch's fixed element, making definition, discernment and clear boundaries central to the reading. Its strength is a concentrated ability to distinguish what is essential from what is merely decorative. The difficult edge is severity, where a demanding standard needs the balance of recognising effort and allowing an unfinished idea to develop before judging its final shape.
Water adds responsiveness to the Rooster's exacting style, suggesting someone who notices not only a detail but also how best to raise it. Candour becomes more conversational when listening helps shape the delivery. The challenge is over-editing a response, with so much attention paid to possible reactions that a useful and timely observation is never actually voiced.
All eleven pairings retain every named layer. Mixed means both support and tension; neutral means no named relation, not incompatibility.
Six Harmonies (secret friend)
The Dragon supplies an expansive direction while the Rooster notices the details needed to make it convincing. This secret-friend pairing joins visible confidence with precise attention, provided correction is heard as a contribution rather than a challenge to authority.
Three Harmonies
The Ox supplies continuity and the Rooster supplies a precise standard within the Metal trine. Their traditional affinity rests on taking an undertaking seriously, combining sustained effort with a willingness to notice and complete the final details.
Three Harmonies
The Snake's private discernment and the Rooster's explicit observations meet in the Metal trine. One looks beneath the first impression while the other makes a conclusion clear, creating a traditional pairing of depth with careful articulation.
Seasonal meeting
酉 You and 申 Shen meet through the relationships shown above.
No named branch relation
酉 You and 寅 Yin are not joined by a named harmony or tension in these branch sets.
No named branch relation
酉 You and 午 Wu are not joined by a named harmony or tension in these branch sets.
No named branch relation
酉 You and 未 Wei are not joined by a named harmony or tension in these branch sets.
Seasonal meeting · Harm
The Rooster's focus on exactness and the Dog's concern for fairness can turn into mutual scrutiny. Their harm relation points to the strain of repeatedly correcting or questioning one another even when both animals believe they are protecting something important.
No named branch relation
酉 You and 亥 Hai are not joined by a named harmony or tension in these branch sets.
Destruction
酉 You and 子 Zi meet through the relationships shown above.
Clash
The Rabbit's concern for tact contrasts with the Rooster's preference for an exact, candid answer. Their clash highlights delivery as much as content: a correction may seem unnecessarily sharp to one animal and evasively avoided by the other.
Compare full birth dates to add both year elements and Na Yin.
These popular traditional associations belong to the Rooster portrait, regardless of the birth year's stem element.
These 6 full birthdays resolve to Rooster at the Chinese New Year boundary. Each person's year-stem element identifies the variant.
The running Yang Fire Horse year lasts from 17 February 2026 to 5 February 2027.Rooster last returned in 2017; its next animal year is 2029. The comparison for this year is between the Rooster and Horse branches.
These two branches have no named relation in the sets shown here; that absence is neutral, not a negative verdict.
The animal's fixed coordinates
These coordinates belong to the branch, not the changing year stem.
Open a five-element chapter for exact New Year boundaries and year names.
