1933 Chinese Zodiac: The Year of the Water Rooster

Detail	1933
Animal	Rooster (鸡)
Element	Water, yin
Stem and branch	Gui You (癸酉)
Year starts	January 26, 1933
Year ends	February 13, 1934
Year before	1932, Water Monkey
Year after	1934, Wood Dog

Born in January or February 1933?

The Chinese year does not start on January 1. It starts at Chinese New Year, which follows the Moon and usually falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice, somewhere between January 21 and February 20. In 1933 it fell on January 26 (China time), so the Rooster starts with births on that day and everyone born before it in 1933 is still a Water Monkey. If your birthday sits close to the line, the Chinese zodiac calculator checks the exact date for you.

The Rooster in Chinese astrology

Precision and pride mark the Rooster in the tradition: observant, hardworking and attentive to detail. Rooster people are described as organized, candid and confident, with a clear sense of how things should be done and the discipline to do them. The sign is linked to the dawn and to punctuality, and Roosters are read as people who show up early and prepared. Others experience a Rooster as reliable, articulate and a little formal at first.

The classical reading adds the cautions. A Rooster can be critical, fond of being right, and uncomfortable with improvisation. Blunt honesty may come across as a lecture, and high standards can leave little room for a relaxed afternoon. Pride sometimes keeps a Rooster from asking for help. If you are a Rooster, tradition suggests that warmth lands better when it arrives before the correction, and that rest is part of the work. Close friends often describe Roosters as loyal, funny in a dry way, and the first to turn up when something practical needs doing.

The Water Rooster

Water is the element of depth, adaptability and intuition in Chinese astrology. Tradition links it to winter, to flowing streams and still pools, and reads a Water year as making the animal more perceptive, flexible and communicative. Water people are described as thoughtful listeners who find the way around an obstacle. The classical shadow is a tendency to absorb other people's moods, to worry, or to drift without a clear direction. Water gives the animal reach and sensitivity.

A perfectionist with a better ear: that describes the Water Rooster. Water softens the Rooster's sharpness, so tradition pictures someone still organized and observant, but more sensitive to how others feel about the plan. It communicates and edits kindly, and is often read as the writer or the diplomat of the sign. It listens longer than most Roosters before offering an opinion, and the opinion is usually better for the wait. Anxiety about errors is the shadow, a worry that a small mistake will be seen. Accepting good enough, and voicing feelings as readily as corrections, is the traditional advice.

The same pairing of element and animal returns every sixty years, so 1993 is Water Rooster years as well. The other water year next to 1933 is 1932, a Water Monkey, because each element lasts two years, one yang and one yin.

Rooster compatibility

Tradition groups the twelve animals into four trines of three. The Rooster shares its trine with the Ox and the Snake, the pairings read as the easiest. Its secret friend, a second close match, is the Dragon, while the Rabbit, six places away on the wheel, is read as its clash. These are tendencies of the tradition, not verdicts on any couple.

Loyal, direct and caring in practical ways, the Rooster plans the dinner, notices the details and expects honesty in return. Roosters can be shy about open sentiment and may speak more easily about plans than feelings. Criticism, even meant kindly, is the classic friction. A Rooster does best with a partner who appreciates effort and feels free to relax the household standards now and then.

The Rooster at work

Hardworking, organized and exacting, the Rooster is a good fit for roles that reward accuracy, such as accounting, editing, medicine or management. Roosters are credited with discipline and a careful relationship with money, usually saving with a clear purpose. They like clear processes and are happy to show a team how it is done. Perfectionism is the snag, along with a habit of correcting colleagues who work differently.

Other Rooster years

The Rooster comes back every twelve years, each time with the next element: 1933 Water Rooster (this page), 1945 Wood Rooster, 1957 Fire Rooster, 1969 Earth Rooster, 1981 Metal Rooster, 1993 Water Rooster, 2005 Wood Rooster, 2017 Fire Rooster, 2029 Earth Rooster.

Your Western sign

Your Chinese sign comes from your birth year. Western astrology works from the sky on the day you were born instead: your Sun sign follows the date, and your Moon sign and rising sign also need the time and place. Two people born in 1933 share the Rooster and can still have any of the twelve Western Sun signs. Draw your free birth chart to see your Sun, Moon and rising sign together, or look up your Sun sign by date with the zodiac sign dates calculator.

All twelve animals, the five elements and every year from 1930 to 2030 are listed in Chinese zodiac years.