Vietnamese zodiac

What it is

The Vietnamese zodiac is a traditional Vietnamese classification scheme for years. It rests on the lunar calendar, so its years follow the moon rather than starting on the first of January. Each year of the round is given an animal, and each animal carries qualities that people repute to that year. In Vietnamese the zodiac is called Mười hai con giáp. Twelve animal years follow one another, then the sequence starts again, so the same animal returns every twelve years. Five of these twelve-year rounds together make a longer cycle of sixty years, which the sources call a hồi.

Where it comes from

The sources describe the Vietnamese zodiac as originating from the Chinese zodiac. It keeps the same animals in the same arrangement and uses them in the same way, so the two systems are close relatives. Vietnam's version differs on two signs. Where the Chinese cycle has an ox, the Vietnamese has a water buffalo. Where the Chinese has a rabbit, the Vietnamese has a cat. Those two changes are the clearest mark of a Vietnamese version, and the sources give a reason for one of them.

Cats and water buffalo

One of the two differences has an explanation in the sources, and it is a matter of sound. The Chinese character for the rabbit sign, 卯, is pronounced in a way that is very close to mèo, the Vietnamese word for cat. According to the source, that likeness in pronunciation is why the Vietnamese zodiac put a cat where the Chinese zodiac has a rabbit. The other change is not explained in the same way: the water buffalo simply stands in the place of the ox. Together the cat and the water buffalo are the two animals that set the Vietnamese cycle apart.

Counting the cycles

The zodiac does not stand alone. The sources describe the Vietnamese lunar calendar as divided into sixty-year cycles, each one known as a hồi, and each hồi holds five of the twelve-year animal cycles. The animal years therefore sit inside a larger way of reckoning time. Counting in twelve is the short view; counting in sixty is the long one. Five rounds of twelve animal years fill one hồi. The article lists three related subjects: Tết, the Vietnamese calendar, and the Vietnamese dragon.

How Vietnamese zodiac is kept

The zodiac works as a way of counting rather than a ceremony with steps. Each lunar year is named for one animal, and the qualities people repute to that animal are tied to the year. A person is linked to the animal of the year they were born in, and that animal comes round again for them every twelve years. Twelve animal years make a round; five rounds make the sixty-year hồi into which the sources say the Vietnamese lunar calendar is divided. The zodiac therefore runs quietly in the background of daily life, marking years, not days.

When and where

The zodiac runs on the lunar calendar, so its years turn with the lunar year rather than on the first of January. Each year carries one animal, and twelve years make a round. Five rounds make the sixty-year hồi that the sources give as the frame of the Vietnamese lunar calendar. The sources name no festival day for the zodiac itself.

The sources place the Vietnamese zodiac in Vietnam, where they describe it as the traditional Vietnamese classification of years. It is the Vietnamese form of the animal zodiac that the Chinese system shares with it, with the water buffalo and the cat marking out the Vietnamese version. The sources do not describe the zodiac as an established tradition in any other country.

What Vietnamese zodiac means

The zodiac gives years a character. An animal stands for qualities that people repute to a year and, by extension, to those born in it, so the scheme is a way of speaking about time and about people at once. Vietnam keeps two animals in places the Chinese zodiac fills differently, the water buffalo and the cat, and those two signs are the clearest mark of a Vietnamese version of a shared idea.

Questions people ask about Vietnamese zodiac

See also

Moon rabbitA hare seen in the Moon's dark patches, pounding rice cakes or the elixir of lifeWater lanternSmall lamps floated on water to honour the dead and ask for good fortuneCeladonGreen-glazed pottery first made in China, valued for colours that echo jadeFaceThe shared social etiquette of honour, dignity and mutual respect across cultures

Good reading and sources

• Vietnamese zodiac on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-09.