JODIAC · GUIDE
Quick guide
Jodiac converts a Gregorian (solar) date to four calendar layers: the lunar (Chinese) calendar, the Chinese zodiac animal, the Western sun-sign and the 24 solar terms. Below is a plain-language primer.
1. Chinese zodiac — the lunar-new-year rule
Each year is tagged with one of 12 animals (Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig). The animal flips on lunar new year — usually late January or early-to-mid February — NOT on January 1. Jodiac handles the edge by converting to the lunar year first.
2. Lunar calendar
The East Asian lunar calendar has 12 or 13 months, each 29 or 30 days long. About every 2-3 years a leap month is inserted to stay synchronised with the seasons. Our data table covers 1900-01-31 through 2100-12-31.
3. Western horoscope
Based purely on Gregorian month + day. Cut-offs follow the traditional tropical-zodiac table used by most astrology publications.
4. 24 solar terms (節氣)
The year is split into 24 equal solar-ecliptic segments such as Lichun 立春 (Start of Spring) and Dongzhi 冬至 (Winter Solstice). Knowing which term your birthday belongs to is traditional trivia in Korea, China and Japan.
5. Korean age systems
Korea historically used three parallel age counts. Jodiac shows all three: Korean age (세는 나이) counts you as 1 at birth and adds a year each Seollal; international age (만 나이) is what most of the world uses; legal-year age (연 나이) is used in selected laws — conscription, school enrolment, youth-protection statutes.
6. Zodiac compatibility — sanhe, liuhe and clashes
Traditional East Asian astrology divides 12-animal compatibility into five relationships: trinity (sanhe 三合, three animals in perfect synergy), harmony (liuhe 六合, two animals that complement), clash (chong 沖, opposite animals with friction), harm (hai 害, subtle disharmony) and punishment (xing 刑, legal-style conflict). The Jodiac 12×12 chart colour-codes all five so you can compare any pair at a glance.
7. Western compatibility — four elements
Western astrology groups the 12 signs into four elements: Fire (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius), Earth (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn), Air (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius) and Water (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces). Same-element pairs feel familiar; complementary pairs (Fire-Air, Earth-Water) energise each other; opposing pairs (Fire-Water, Earth-Air) tend to clash. Treat all of this as cultural-entertainment, not science.
8. Lunar birthday — why the solar date shifts
Converting a lunar birthday to the solar calendar each year usually shifts it forward by about 11 days, then jumps back roughly one month when a leap month is inserted. Example: Chuseok (lunar 8/15) falls on 17 Sep 2024, 6 Oct 2025 and 25 Sep 2026 on the solar calendar. Jodiac automatically displays this year's solar date for your lunar birthday.
9. Manual 'man-age' unification — June 2023
Since 28 June 2023 Korea uses international ('man') age as the default in official documents, contracts and most laws. Three exceptions remain: military service, youth-protection statutes and civil-defence law all still use legal-year age (current year − birth year). Korean (counting) age survives in everyday conversation. Knowing which age applies in which context avoids confusion.
10. Birthstones & birth flowers
Western tradition assigns each Gregorian month a birthstone and a birth flower: January garnet · carnation, February amethyst · iris, March aquamarine · daffodil, April diamond · daisy, May emerald · lily of the valley, June pearl · rose, July ruby · larkspur, August peridot · gladiolus, September sapphire · aster, October opal · cosmos, November topaz · chrysanthemum, December turquoise · poinsettia. Jodiac shows your monthly pair as a cultural-trivia bonus.
11. The 12 branches — beyond zodiac
The 12 earthly branches (子丑寅卯辰巳午未申酉戌亥) map not only to animals but also to 12 hours of the day, 12 directions, the four seasons and the five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, water). Combined with the 10 heavenly stems they generate the 60-cycle sexagenary system used across sajucalendars, feng-shui and traditional Korean medicine. Your animal is the surface; underneath sits a much larger system.
12. 24 solar terms in folk customs
Each of the 24 solar terms is tied to a folk custom. On Ipchun 立春 Koreans hang couplets like 입춘대길 (great fortune at spring) on the front door. On Dongji 冬至 (winter solstice) families eat red-bean porridge to ward off bad spirits. Qingming and Guyu mark the start of farming; Mangzhong is the rice-transplanting deadline. Knowing your birth-term ties you to a deeper layer of seasonal Korean culture.
13. Frequently asked questions
Q1. Born in late lunar December, registered in solar January — which zodiac? — A. If you were born before lunar new year, the zodiac belongs to the PREVIOUS year. Jodiac handles this automatically. Q2. How do leap-month birthdays celebrate yearly? — A. Most families use the same day of the following regular month in non-leap years. Q3. Is zodiac the same as saju (four pillars)? — A. No. Saju uses four full 60-cycle pillars (year, month, day, hour). Zodiac is only the year-pillar branch — a simplified version. Q4. Why are there two zodiac systems in Western astrology? — A. Tropical (most Western publications) vs sidereal (Vedic) differ by about 23 degrees. Jodiac follows the more common tropical cut-offs. Q5. Are all Jodiac calculations accurate? — A. They are accurate to the day from 1900-01-31 through 2100-12-31, cross-validated against the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute data.
14. Seollal & Chuseok — solar dates 2026-2030
Korean lunar holidays land on different solar dates each year. 2026: Seollal Feb 17 (Tue), Chuseok Sep 25 (Fri). 2027: Seollal Feb 6 (Sat), Chuseok Sep 14 (Tue). 2028: Seollal Jan 26 (Wed), Chuseok Oct 2 (Mon). 2029: Seollal Feb 13 (Tue), Chuseok Sep 21 (Fri). 2030: Seollal Feb 3 (Sun), Chuseok Sep 11 (Wed). Lunar dates drift forward roughly 11 solar days per year, then jump back about a month when a leap month is inserted. Jodiac auto-calculates these through 2030 using public Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute data.
15. Sajuintroduction — why your zodiac is just the entry
In East Asian metaphysics, fate analysis (myeong) starts from the 60-cycle sexagenary (60 갑자), formed by pairing 10 heavenly stems with 12 earthly branches. Your zodiac is only the BRANCH of the YEAR pillar — a simplified one-twelfth of the full year pillar. Full sajucomputation adds month, day and hour pillars for a total of 8 characters (四柱八字). Treat your zodiac as a doorway rather than a verdict. For deeper analysis our sister tool saju.bal.pe.kr offers a free saju engine.
16. Feng shui — directions & colours by zodiac
Traditional feng-shui assigns each zodiac an auspicious direction and colour palette. Rat: north, black/white. Ox: northeast, yellow/brown. Tiger: east, teal/blue. Rabbit: east, light-green. Dragon: southeast, gold/silver. Snake: south, red/orange. Horse: south, red/pink. Goat: southwest, yellow/brown. Monkey: west, white/silver. Rooster: west, white/gold. Dog: northwest, brown/gold. Pig: north, black/blue. Use these for cultural-entertainment cues when arranging a room or planning a colour scheme.
17. How to use Jodiac — 5 steps
1) On the main page, type your Gregorian birth date (year-month-day dropdowns). 2) Click 'Convert' to see your zodiac animal, Western sign, lunar birthday, solar term and three Korean ages at once. 3) Use the '12×12 compatibility' menu to compare your zodiac with another and view sanhe/liuhe/chong/hai/xing relationships in colour. 4) Use the 'Seollal & Chuseok' menu for 2026-2030 holiday dates. 5) Use 'Copy link' on the result page to share with family or friends. All calculations happen locally in your browser; nothing is sent to any server.
18. Zodiac personality traits — traditional notes
Traditional descriptions assign each zodiac signature traits: Rat — clever, resourceful, diligent. Ox — patient, dependable, hardworking. Tiger — brave, charismatic, passionate. Rabbit — gentle, artistic, sensitive. Dragon — magnetic, ambitious, idealistic. Snake — wise, intuitive, mysterious. Horse — free-spirited, energetic, optimistic. Goat — gentle, creative, peaceful. Monkey — clever, witty, playful. Rooster — honest, meticulous, diligent. Dog — loyal, just, trustworthy. Pig — generous, prosperous, easy-going. These are cultural symbols, not statistics — use them as conversation starters.
19. Zodiac year reference 2026-2030
Lunar year 2026 = 丙午 (Horse), 2027 = 丁未 (Goat), 2028 = 戊申 (Monkey), 2029 = 己酉 (Rooster), 2030 = 庚戌 (Dog). People born in January or early February (before that year's lunar new year) belong to the PREVIOUS year. Example: a baby born on Feb 10, 2026 is still in 乙巳 (Snake) lunar year; only those born on or after Feb 17, 2026 (Seollal) are 丙午 Horse.