1956 Chinese Zodiac: The Year of the Fire Monkey

Detail	1956
Animal	Monkey (猴)
Element	Fire, yang
Stem and branch	Bing Shen (丙申)
Year starts	February 12, 1956
Year ends	January 30, 1957
Year before	1955, Wood Goat
Year after	1957, Fire Rooster

Born in January or February 1956?

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 1956 it fell on February 12 (China time), so the Monkey starts with births on that day and everyone born before it in 1956 is still a Wood Goat. If your birthday sits close to the line, the Chinese zodiac calculator checks the exact date for you.

The Monkey in Chinese astrology

Quick, curious and playful, the Monkey is the clever one of the twelve in Chinese astrology. Monkey people are described as inventive, witty and flexible, able to learn fast, solve a puzzle sideways and talk their way through an awkward moment. They are read as sociable and entertaining, with a knack for noticing how things work. Others experience a Monkey as lively company, quick with a joke and just as quick with a workaround.

The shadow lies in the same agility. A Monkey may get bored once the challenge is solved, take shortcuts, or use cleverness where plain honesty would serve better. The tradition also notes a tendency to scatter attention across too many interests and to resist being pinned down. If you are a Monkey, the old reading suggests your curiosity works best when it is anchored by one or two long projects and a few people who can tell you the truth. Friends often value a Monkey's generosity of spirit, and the way it can lift a heavy afternoon with a single remark.

The Fire Monkey

Fire is the element of passion, drive and visibility in Chinese astrology. Tradition links it to summer, to heat and light, and reads a Fire year as adding enthusiasm, courage and a taste for leadership to the animal it colors. Fire people are described as expressive, warm and quick to act. The classical shadow is impatience and a short temper, along with a habit of burning through energy faster than it returns. Fire turns up the volume on whatever the animal already is.

Speed is Fire's gift to the Monkey. The old texts describe the most daring and entertaining of the Monkeys: quick, witty, competitive and unafraid of the stage. It is bold and likes to win. Ideas arrive in a rush, and so does enthusiasm for the next one. It improvises where others rehearse. Overconfidence and thin patience for detail are the usual risks. A partner who enjoys the details, and a habit of testing the plan before announcing it, give the energy somewhere to land. Audiences remember the performance, and the Fire Monkey is happiest when something it built is still working a year later.

The same pairing of element and animal returns every sixty years, so 2016 is Fire Monkey years as well. The other fire year next to 1956 is 1957, a Fire Rooster, because each element lasts two years, one yang and one yin.

Monkey compatibility

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

Playful, witty and unconventional, the Monkey keeps romance lively with jokes, ideas and new plans. Monkeys love mental connection and are quickly bored by predictability. They charm easily and may be slow to settle. Teasing that stings and a wandering attention are the classic trouble spots. A Monkey does well with a partner who matches their curiosity and is secure enough to enjoy the humor without taking every barb to heart.

The Monkey at work

Inventive, versatile and quick at problem-solving, the Monkey is read as strong in fields such as technology, sales, media or consulting. The sign is credited with a good head for numbers and a talent for finding the unexpected route. Thin patience for long, repetitive tasks is the usual weakness, along with a temptation to use cleverness where hard work would be more reliable.

Other Monkey years

The Monkey comes back every twelve years, each time with the next element: 1932 Water Monkey, 1944 Wood Monkey, 1956 Fire Monkey (this page), 1968 Earth Monkey, 1980 Metal Monkey, 1992 Water Monkey, 2004 Wood Monkey, 2016 Fire Monkey, 2028 Earth Monkey.

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 1956 share the Monkey 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.