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2005 Chinese zodiac: Year of the Rooster
2005 is the year of the Wood Rooster, 乙酉: from Chinese New Year on 9 February 2005 to 28 January 2006.
Observant, honest and hard-working. The Rooster announces the dawn: it is the sign of punctuality and of saying what it sees. Wood years favour growth and beginnings: planting, building, the first steps of long projects.
The Wood Rooster
Element
Wood years are associated with growth and flexibility: spring, bamboo, new shoots. In the sixty-year cycle each animal meets each element once, so the Wood Rooster came last in 1945 and returns in 2065. The year's 纳音 (the "sound" of its stem and branch in the old almanacs) is 泉中水.
Company
The Rooster shares a trine with the Ox and the Snake; its secret friend is the Dragon. Those signs are said to find a Rooster year easiest. A rooster crowing at the right hour was once how a village knew the day had begun.
Years of the Rooster
Each starts at Chinese New Year.
- 1933Water Rooster, from 26 January 1933
- 1945Wood Rooster, from 13 February 1945
- 1957Fire Rooster, from 31 January 1957
- 1969Earth Rooster, from 17 February 1969
- 1981Metal Rooster, from 5 February 1981
- 1993Water Rooster, from 23 January 1993
- 2005Wood Rooster, from 9 February 2005
- 2017Fire Rooster, from 28 January 2017
- 2029Earth Rooster, from 13 February 2029
- 2041Metal Rooster, from 1 February 2041
Born in 2005?
Between 9 February 2005 and 28 January 2006 you are a Wood Rooster.
Anyone born from 9 February 2005 to 28 January 2006 is a Wood Rooster (乙酉) and turns 21 in 2026. Observant, honest and hard-working. The Rooster announces the dawn: it is the sign of punctuality and of saying what it sees. Wood years favour growth and beginnings: planting, building, the first steps of long projects.
Born in January or early February 2005, before the 9 February 2005 new year? Then the previous animal, the Monkey, is yours: the zodiac follows the lunar calendar, not 1 January. The zodiac calculator settles it from the exact date.
Your zodiac years (本命年, when the Rooster comes round again) are 2017, 2029, 2041, 2053; the next one is 2029. Tradition has you wear something red through a 本命年 for protection. The signs said to suit a Rooster best are the Ox, the Snake and the Dragon: the compatibility table has every pair.
Questions
What is the Chinese zodiac for 2005?
2005 is the Year of the Wood Rooster. Anyone born from 9 February 2005 to 28 January 2006 is a Rooster; a birthday earlier in 2005, before Chinese New Year, belongs to the Monkey.
When does the Year of the Rooster 2005 start and end?
It starts at Chinese New Year, 9 February 2005, and ends on 28 January 2006, the day before the next new year.
What element is the Rooster in 2005?
Wood (木), from the heavenly stem 乙. Wood years are associated with growth and flexibility: spring, bamboo, new shoots.
Is a baby born in January 2005 a Rooster?
No. A baby born before 9 February 2005 belongs to the previous animal, the Monkey. The zodiac year follows the lunar calendar, not 1 January.
Which other years were Wood Rooster years?
1945. The same stem and branch return every sixty years.
Your Rooster in ink
The Rooster painted in ink wash above your name and lunar birthday.
Make the poster
Enter your birthday; we set the animal, the element, the lunar date and your name, and add a Chinese name as a seal if you have one.
Start with my birthdayMore about the animal: Year of the Rooster. All twelve: the zodiac.