1980 Chinese Zodiac: The Year of the Metal Monkey

Detail	1980
Animal	Monkey (猴)
Element	Metal, yang
Stem and branch	Geng Shen (庚申)
Year starts	February 16, 1980
Year ends	February 4, 1981
Year before	1979, Earth Goat
Year after	1981, Metal Rooster

Born in January or February 1980?

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 1980 it fell on February 16 (China time), so the Monkey starts with births on that day and everyone born before it in 1980 is still an Earth 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 Metal Monkey

In Chinese astrology Metal is the element of clarity, discipline and resolve. Tradition links it to autumn, to the blade and the bell, and reads a Metal year as adding firmness and a taste for precision to the animal it touches. Metal people are described as determined, principled and economical with words. The classical shadow is rigidity: a tendency to hold a position after the situation has changed, and to keep feelings polished and out of view. Metal asks the animal to be exact.

Method is what Metal gives the Monkey. Tradition pictures the most disciplined of the Monkeys, one that finishes the invention and checks that it works. It wants a system and a measurable result, and it enjoys proving that the clever shortcut also holds up under load. Metal is also the Monkey's own element in the five-phase scheme, so the pairing reads as the sign at full strength. Humor runs dry and quick. A sharp mind with high standards can run short of patience with slower thinkers, and cynicism is the usual risk. Trusting colleagues with half-finished ideas is the suggested counterweight.

The same pairing of element and animal returns every sixty years, so 1920 and 2040 are Metal Monkey years as well. The other metal year next to 1980 is 1981, a Metal 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, 1968 Earth Monkey, 1980 Metal Monkey (this page), 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 1980 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.