Zodiac animal & branch context
Learn AstroOne’s supported Chinese Zodiac scope, with calculation boundaries kept separate from interpretation.
The 12 animals correspond to the 12 Earthly Branches
The Hong Kong Observatory describes the 12-year animal cycle as corresponding to the 12 Earthly Branches. AstroOne uses the same mapping: Rat→Zi, Ox→Chou, Tiger→Yin … Pig→Hai.
- Rat 子 · Ox 丑 · Tiger 寅 · Rabbit 卯 · Dragon 辰 · Snake 巳
- Horse 午 · Goat 未 · Monkey 申 · Rooster 酉 · Dog 戌 · Pig 亥
AstroOne keeps more than the animal label
The Chinese compatibility profile stores the animal together with its branch, yin/yang polarity, branch element and birth-year element. These are explainable year-animal metadata, not a full set of BaZi pillars.
The animal is a branch marker, not a complete person
Animal symbolism may be used as a shorthand in interpretation, but it is not a fixed verdict that every Tiger or every Rabbit must behave the same way. Academy treats the year-animal layer as context, not a complete personality model.
Do not confuse this with full BaZi
The current simple Chinese Zodiac track does not calculate month, day or hour pillars, hidden stems, Ten Gods, luck pillars or a Day Master. Those concepts are not taught as if they were outputs of the current year-animal engine.
Breaking Fire Horse into animal, branch and year element
- Input
Birth date: 2026-03-01
- Calculation
The date is after Chinese New Year 2026, so the Chinese year is 2026. In the engine mapping Horse → Wǔ (午), polarity = Yang, branch element = Fire; the 2026 year element is also Fire.
- Factors to inspect
Keep the animal label, branch code, branch element and year element distinct before interpreting them.
- Reasoning
“Horse has a Fire branch” and “2026 has a Fire year element” are two metadata layers that happen to agree; that is not a calculation rule saying fortune is doubled.
- Synthesis
Later lessons can add branch relationships and Five-Phase relationships while preserving which layer each signal came from.
“Fire Horse” is shorthand that combines a year animal/branch with a year element; it is not a complete natal chart.
Methodology sources
These are the main technical, historical or interpretive references used to verify the lesson. AstroOne behavior is cross-checked separately against the current implementation and verification checks.
- Hong Kong Observatory — The 12-Year Animal Cycle — 12 animals and 12 Earthly Branches
- Hong Kong Observatory — Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches — Gan-Zhi cycle and branch sequence