The journal · The systems
Chinese zodiac
The twelve animals, the sixty-year cycle, and the year boundary nobody agrees on.
16 articles.
How the Chinese zodiac differs across Vietnam, Korea and Japan
The same twelve branches, adapted by every culture that took them up, and one famous substitution. The animals are labels; the branches are the thing.
4 min read
Dragon babies: the real demographics behind the belief
The effect is real and shows up in national statistics, and what it does is more interesting than a spike. I was a maternity-ward statistic myself.
4 min read
2027, Year of the Goat: what it means for every sign
丁未, Yin Fire Goat, turning on 4 February 2027, and what a year forecast can and cannot say. Read it as almanac weather.
4 min read
Inner, outer and secret animals: the Four Pillars connection
Four animals, not one, and three of them come from information most people never enter. The labels are Western; the pillars underneath are real.
4 min read
Why your Chinese sign might be wrong
Three year boundaries are in use, and if you were born in January nobody agrees which animal you are. Here is how to settle it.
4 min read
Your animal plus your element: the 60-year cycle
Twelve animals, five elements, and a cycle that only closes after sixty years. Your stem matters more than your animal.
4 min read
Compatibility triangles: the four trines explained
Four groups of three, evenly spaced round the circle, and a compatibility claim with a geometric basis and nothing more.
4 min read
The 12 animals and how the race story goes
Twelve animals, one river, and a rat who got a lift. A nursery story attached to a working calendar.
4 min read
Zodiac clashes and the ben ming nian year
Your own year is the difficult one, which surprises almost everybody who asks me. Wear the red if you like it.
5 min read
Chinese zodiac hours and your birth hour animal
Twelve animals, twenty-four hours, and a second animal almost nobody knows they have. The Rat hour is where readings go wrong.
4 min read
The twelve Day Officers, and how Chinese date selection works
A twelve-day cycle that decides whether today suits starting something, finishing it, or getting rid of it. The most usable page in the almanac.
4 min read
What is feng shui?
It is not about tidying, and the version sold in the West is roughly one per cent of it. Form school is the part I would keep.
4 min read
Flying Star feng shui: the one that changes with time
The school of feng shui that adds time, and the reason every consultant in Hong Kong talked about 2024. Its advice comes with an expiry date.
4 min read
Your Kua number, and why it splits households
Four good directions, four bad ones, and a real problem when two people in one bed disagree.
2 min read
The Lo Shu square: the oldest magic square there is
Three thousand years old, load-bearing in Chinese metaphysics. The birthday version is the new part.
2 min read
Yin and yang: the idea underneath everything else
The most misunderstood idea in Chinese thought, and the characters mean the two sides of a hill.
2 min read
More in the systems
Western zodiac · 11BaZi · 12Vedic astrology · 12Numerology · 12Tarot · 10All sections