Pig personality
Tradition sees the Pig as the zodiac's most generous soul: warm, sincere and easygoing, with a big appetite for life and a talent for enjoying it. People born in Pig years are read as honest and kind, loyal friends and gracious hosts who would rather share than compete. In Chinese culture the plump pig stands for plenty and good fortune, and the reading gives the Pig a knack for comfort and abundance.
The shadow side is trust. Pigs are read as naive at times, easily taken advantage of, and inclined to indulge themselves or avoid hard work they don't enjoy. Tradition's advice to the Pig is to keep its generosity for people who return it, and to finish the chores before the feast.
The Pig in love and friendship
A Pig is read as an affectionate, devoted partner who gives wholeheartedly and forgives easily. Tradition's best matches are the Rabbit and the Goat, the Pig's partners in the trio of animals four years apart: the Rabbit shares its love of a peaceful home, and the Goat its gentleness and warmth. The Tiger is the Pig's secret friend, one of the six harmonious pairs, read as the bold partner who protects a trusting Pig.
The Snake sits opposite the Pig, six years away, and the pair is read as the classic clash: the Pig's open heart meets the Snake's guarded one. The Monkey, one of the six harming pairs, is read as too cunning for a Pig. These readings go by animal alone. Tradition also weighs each person's element, and the grid further down links to every other animal's page.
The Pig at work
Tradition expects Pigs to do well in work that brings people comfort and pleasure: hospitality and food, healthcare, charity and social work, entertainment and the arts. They are read as patient, good-humored colleagues who make any team happier. Ruthless competition and jobs that reward cutting corners are what tradition expects a Pig to find hardest.
When is the next Year of the Pig?
The next Year of the Pig begins on January 23, 2031 and runs until February 10, 2032. It will be a Metal Pig year, 辛亥 xīnhài, the forty-eighth year of the sixty-year cycle; tradition reads Metal as feeding the Pig's own Water, making the Metal Pig the most determined and outgoing Pig. The last Year of the Pig was an Earth Pig year, from February 5, 2019 to January 24, 2020.
The Pig closes the cycle. After it the Rat begins the next twelve years, and the Pig's own hours, 9 pm to 11 pm, are the last of the day before the Rat's hours begin at 11 pm.
The Pig in the Great Race
In the best-known story of how the zodiac got its order, the Jade Emperor held a race across a wide river, and the animals took their places in the order they finished. The Pig set out with the rest, but it grew hungry along the way, stopped to eat and then lay down for a nap. It woke and trotted in last, taking twelfth place.
When does the Year of the Pig begin?
Each Year of the Pig starts at the Lunar New Year, the new moon that begins the first month of the Chinese calendar, which falls between January 21 and February 20. So Pig years don't line up with calendar years: someone born on February 10, 2007 is a Fire Dog, because the Fire Pig year began eight days later, on February 18. The checker at the top of this page and the Chinese zodiac calculator both allow for this, and the table above gives the first and last day of every Pig year since 1911.
Four Pillars astrology (BaZi) counts the year differently, from Lichun, the start of spring in the solar calendar, around February 4. Its Pig years begin on that day instead, so for a few days either side of the Lunar New Year the two systems can disagree.