What Does “Fire Rooster” Year Mean?

It's that time again: Chinese New Year 2017 is set to take place on Saturday, Jan. 28, meaning we're about to enter a new year in the Chinese lunar calendar. This Chinese New Year is the year of the "Fire Rooster" — and the last time it was the year of the Fire Rooster was actually 60 years ago. So, what exactly does year of the "Fire Rooster" mean?

Here’s how it works — there are 12 different animals in the Chinese zodiac cycle: Rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. Every Chinese New Year the cycle continues, and this year the rooster is on cycle number 10.

However, what is incredibly unique about the Chinese zodiac signs is the fact that each animal is paired with an element: earth, gold, water, wood, and fire. The cycle starts with earth, which means after all of that calculating, the same element and animal will only occur every 60 years. The last time a Fire Rooster year occurred was 1957.

What’s incredibly interesting about the whole Chinese zodiac animal and element cycle are the characteristics that make that unique zodiac sign. For example, anyone who is a Rooster (anyone born in 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005) will have characteristics such as being observant, hardworking, courageous, talented, and resourceful. However, what makes the Fire Rooster unique is adding characteristics such as being trustworthy and having a strong sense of timekeeping. To compare, anyone born in 1993 is a Water Rooster — which means along with being hardworking, courageous, talented, and resourceful, they have other characteristics including being quick witted, smart, tenderhearted, and compassionate. So for those of you born in 1993 (cough, me, cough)… don’t feel so guilty if you have a hard time keeping up with your schedule! I guess it’s just not in our nature.

Now since the Chinese New Year staring dates ranges between January 21 and February 15, you’ll have to double check what your zodiac sign may be. For example, if you were born as early as Jan. 6 of 1993, you were actually born within the year of the monkey. You can figure out your exact zodiac sign with this handy-dandy website right here. It also allows you to figure out if you and a partner are compatible based on birth year. (this actually made me laugh when I found out that my husband and I are only 40 percent compatible. All good.)

So, be aware, everyone — the babies that will be born in 2017 are going to be the most hard working, determined, and rigid people that will basically change the world. Thank heavens for the 2017 Fire Roosters who will soon run the world.

Image: Getty Images