The Pig.
Sincere, generous, and easy to be around, the Pig enjoys life’s comforts and gives freely, trusting in good faith more than most. In Chinese astrology the Pig (also called the Boar) is the 亥 branch, an Water sign — one of the twelve animals that mark the years. Here are its years, its character, and who it gets along with, plus the part most zodiac pages skip: why your animal is only the beginning of your chart.
The Pig years
The Pig returns every twelve years. Recent and upcoming Pig years: 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019, 2031, 2043.
One catch: the zodiac year turns at Lunar New Year, not January 1. If you were born in January or early February, your sign may be the previous animal — and in BaZi the year pillar changes earlier still, at the Start of Spring. A computed chart settles the boundary exactly.
The Pig personality
People born under the Pig are traditionally read as:
These are broad-brush traits for the whole sign — the layer you share with everyone born in your year. The finer, more personal detail lives in the other three pillars of your chart.
Pig compatibility
See the full system on Chinese zodiac compatibility — and remember that real compatibility compares two complete charts, not two year animals.
Your animal is only the year pillar
Here is the part worth holding onto. Your zodiac animal comes from one thing only: the year you were born. It is the layer you share with everyone else born that year — real, but broad. A full BaZi chart reads four pillars, not one: year, month, day, and hour. The character that most represents you is not your animal at all but your Day Master, drawn from the day you were born. The Pig is where your story starts, not where it ends.
Go beyond your animal sign.
Bornchart computes all four pillars of your chart — your Day Master, five-element balance, and luck pillars — not just your year animal. Free, no signup, about thirty seconds.
Build my free chart →Keep going: zodiac compatibility in full, why your animal is only one pillar, your Day Master, or browse all guides.