Our answer
Year of the Snake 属蛇
Sixth of the 12 zodiac animals
The short answer
The Snake (蛇, shé) is the sixth of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals. Snake years include 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025 and 2037, each starting at Lunar New Year. Tradition calls Snake people wise, calm and private, and pairs them best with the Rooster and Ox.
| In Chinese | 蛇 (shé); earthly branch 巳 |
|---|---|
| Place in the cycle | Sixth of 12 |
| Recent Snake years | 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025 |
| Next Year of the Snake | 2037, from 15 Feb 2037 |
| Best matches | Rooster, Ox, Monkey; clashes with the Pig |
Year of the Snake: all the years and exact dates
Each Year of the Snake starts at Lunar New Year, so people born in January or early February belong to the previous animal. Check a birth date with our Chinese zodiac calculator.[1]
| Year | Element and animal | Starts | Ends |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | Water Snake (水蛇) | 14 Feb 1953 | 2 Feb 1954 |
| 1965 | Wood Snake (木蛇) | 2 Feb 1965 | 20 Jan 1966 |
| 1977 | Fire Snake (火蛇) | 18 Feb 1977 | 6 Feb 1978 |
| 1989 | Earth Snake (土蛇) | 6 Feb 1989 | 26 Jan 1990 |
| 2001 | Metal Snake (金蛇) | 24 Jan 2001 | 11 Feb 2002 |
| 2013 | Water Snake (水蛇) | 10 Feb 2013 | 30 Jan 2014 |
| 2025 | Wood Snake (木蛇) | 29 Jan 2025 | 16 Feb 2026 |
Snake personality: traits tradition gives Snake people
Folk tradition says people born in a Snake year are wise, calm and private, though sometimes intuitive. The lists differ from source to source, and there is no scientific evidence that birth year shapes personality.[2][3][4]
Snake compatibility: best and worst matches
Traditional matching, which some couples in China still take into account, uses three rules.[2][3][5][6]
| Rule | Match for the Snake | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 三合 (sānhé), trio | Rooster and Ox | Animals four years apart; the most harmonious |
| 六合 (liùhé), pair | Monkey | A secret friend; a good match |
| 六冲 (liùchōng), clash | Pig | Six years apart, opposite on the wheel; traditionally avoided |
What the Snake means in Chinese culture
The Snake is nicknamed the “little dragon” (小龙). Its image is mixed: idioms such as 画蛇添足 (adding feet to a drawn snake, spoiling something by overdoing it) are not flattering, but the Legend of the White Snake, about a snake spirit who falls in love with a human, is a much-loved story, and the creator goddess Nüwa has a snake’s body.
In the oldest surviving list of the zodiac, on Qin-dynasty bamboo slips from Shuihudi in Hubei, the 巳 position is written 虫, an old word for snake.[7][8][9]
How many babies are born in Snake years in China?
| Snake year | Births in China | Year before | Year after |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 17.02 million | not published (2000) | 16.47 million (2002) |
| 2013 | 16.40 million | 16.35 million (2012) | 16.87 million (2014) |
| 2025 | 7.92 million | 9.54 million (2024) | — |
Calendar-year births from China’s National Bureau of Statistics, as first published. A zodiac year starts at Lunar New Year, so it overlaps two calendar years.
Questions readers ask
What years are the Year of the Snake?
Recent Snake years are 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025; the next is 2037, starting on 15 Feb 2037. Each year starts at Lunar New Year, not 1 January.
What is the Snake compatible with?
Traditionally the Rooster and Ox (its 三合 trio) and the Monkey (its 六合 pair). Its clash animal is the Pig.
Sources
- Hong Kong Observatory, Gregorian-Lunar calendar conversion tables, 1901–2100 · accessed 31 Oct 2026
- China Daily, The 12 Chinese zodiac animals and their best matches (2016), part 2 · accessed 31 Oct 2026
- China Daily, The 12 Chinese zodiac animals and their best matches (2016), part 3 · accessed 31 Oct 2026
- The Met, Celebrating the Year of the Snake · accessed 31 Oct 2026
- Wikipedia, Chinese zodiac (six harmonies and clashes) · accessed 31 Oct 2026
- Duke Kunshan University, Lingwei Wu (Fudan): zodiac compatibility and marriage matching in China · accessed 31 Oct 2026
- China Daily, Snake idioms and legends (8 February 2013) · accessed 31 Oct 2026
- CGTN, The 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac: Snake (January 2020) · accessed 31 Oct 2026
- Beijing News, Prof. Wang Juan on the origins of the zodiac (19 February 2026, in Chinese) · accessed 31 Oct 2026
- National Bureau of Statistics of China, statistical release for 2001 (births) · accessed 31 Oct 2026
- National Bureau of Statistics of China, statistical release for 2002 (births) · accessed 31 Oct 2026
- National Bureau of Statistics of China, statistical release for 2012 (births) · accessed 31 Oct 2026
- National Bureau of Statistics of China, statistical release for 2013 (births) · accessed 31 Oct 2026
- National Bureau of Statistics of China, statistical release for 2014 (births) · accessed 31 Oct 2026
- National Bureau of Statistics of China, statistical release for 2024 (births) · accessed 31 Oct 2026
- National Bureau of Statistics of China, statistical release for 2025 (births) · accessed 31 Oct 2026
Update log. 31 October 2026 — reviewed. Next review due 15 January 2027. Suggest a correction