Year of the Monkey (申): Personality, Compatibility & Years
Born in the Year of the Monkey? Personality, love, career, compatibility, lucky tips and a full list of years, from the Japanese and Chinese zodiac.
At a glance
- Order
- 9 / 12 · Saru (申)
- Branch element
- Metal
- Yin / Yang
- Yang
- Direction
- West-southwest
- Hours
- 15:00–17:00
Personality
The Monkey is clever and playful. The character 申 describes fruit that has ripened and hardened.
Strengths
Smart, inventive and quick to learn. You find a way through any problem.
Watch out for
You may get bored with routine, and your quick tongue can sometimes hurt.
Love
Fun and lively. You want a partner who can laugh and think with you.
Work
Technology, entertainment, sales and any work that rewards fresh ideas.
Compatibility
Based on the classical relationships between the twelve branches: the trine (three harmonies), the six harmonies and the six clashes.
Years of the Monkey
| 1932 | Yang Water Monkey (壬申) |
| 1944 | Yang Wood Monkey (甲申) |
| 1956 | Yang Fire Monkey (丙申) |
| 1968 | Yang Earth Monkey (戊申) |
| 1980 | Yang Metal Monkey (庚申) |
| 1992 | Yang Water Monkey (壬申) |
| 2004 | Yang Wood Monkey (甲申) |
| 2016 | Yang Fire Monkey (丙申) |
| 2028 | Yang Earth Monkey (戊申) |
Each year begins at Risshun (around 4 February), the start of spring in the solar calendar. In China and Korea the animal is popularly counted from Lunar New Year instead, so people born between January and mid-February may see a different animal elsewhere.
Lucky tips
In Japan the monkey is the messenger of the mountain god of Hie Shrines, and its name, saru, echoes ma-saru (魔去る), 'evil departs'.