January 1st is New Year Day in most Western cultures. In Chinese culture, however, New Year festivities take place between January 21st and February 20th. The Chinese New Year Day this year (2018) is on February 16th and marks the start of the year of the dog.
Check out traditions and dates of Chinese New Year.
What does 2018 have in store for us according to the Chinese zodiac signs? Let’s find out!
2018 – Year Of The Dog
In Chinese astrology, there is a 12-year cycle that assigns each year in the cycle to one of the Chinese zodiac signs. With Chinese New Year and the start of the first Chinese lunar month, a new zodiac year begins. February 16th, 2018 marks the beginning of the earth dog or brown dog.
How Does This Work
The Chinese calendar incorporates a distinct counting system. This system makes use of the five Yin Yang elements (metal, water, wood, fire, and earth), as well as the 12 zodiac animals. The elements are also represented by different colors:
| Element | Color |
| Metal | White or Silver |
| Water | Black |
| Wood | Green or Blue |
| Fire | Red |
| Earth | Yellow or Brown |
This information is used to count the years in a Chinese calendar. Years thus cycle through the elements and zodiacs, creating a 60-year cycle. Currently, we are in the earth cycle and the year of the dog marks the second to last year of this cycle.
2018 marks the year of the Yang Earth Dog and is thus also known as the Brown Dog Year. It was preceded by the year of the Brown Rooster (2017) and will be followed by the last year of the earth cycle, the year of the Brown Pig (2019).
Are You A Dog?
Depending on when in the year your birthday is, you are assigned a Chinese zodiac sign. When your birthday is between January 21st and February 20th, you might want to check a Chinese Zodiac Calculator.
When your birthday is after February 20th, however, it’s safe to say that you are a dog when you were born in one of the following years. If you were born before January 21st, however, it’s safe to assume that your zodiac sign is rather associated with the previous year.
If you were born in one of the following years, your Chinese zodiac is the dog: 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006
What’s There To Know About The Dog Zodiac Sign?
Like with our Western zodiac signs, there are different attributes linked to the Chinese zodiac signs. Whether you believe in them or not, let’s have a look what’s there to know about dogs.
Depending on the kind of dog you are (remember the elements and colors from above?), there are different traits assigned to you. Generally, dogs have a few “lucky” items though:
| Lucky | |
| Color | Green, Purple, Red |
| Flower | Orchid, Rose |
| Number | 3, 4, 9 |
The supposed characteristics of the different element dogs differ from one another. Check out the following table:
Did You Know The current president of the United States is a Fire Dog. Do the characteristics fit Donald Trump?
