Someone born in January 2005 — Monkey or Rooster?

Monkey. The Rooster year did not begin until Lichun (立春), 4 Feb 2005, 01:43 (Beijing time, UTC+8), so every birthday from 1 January up to that instant still belongs to the Wood Monkey year 甲申. Chinese New Year 2005 fell on 9 February 2005, which is a different boundary again; classical chart work uses Lichun. Convert your birth moment to Beijing time before comparing it, because the Chinese calendar is defined on that meridian.

Is 2005 a Wood Rooster or a Metal Rooster?

Wood Rooster, and both labels are describing something real. The element in the popular name comes from the year's heavenly stem, which for 2005 is 乙 — Yin Wood. The Metal belongs to the branch 酉, the Rooster's own fixed element, and it does not change from one Rooster year to the next. So 2005 is a Wood stem sitting over a metal branch; its na yin, a third system again, is 泉中水.

How old is someone born in 2005 in 2027?

21–22 by the ordinary count at Lichun 2027, and 23 by the nominal count (虚岁) that starts at one and rises at each Chinese New Year. The two answers differ because the ordinary count waits for the birthday and the nominal one does not. 2005 is one of 8 Rooster years between 1924 and 2027; in 2027 all of them stand in the same relationship to the Tai Sui — None — but each is a different age.

2005 Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Wood Rooster (乙酉)

乙酉 Yi You · Yin Wood over the Rooster's Metal branch · number 22 of 60

2005 was a 乙酉 (Yi You) year — the 22nd of the sixty stem-and-branch combinations, and in everyday English a Wood Rooster year. The element in that name comes from the heavenly stem 乙 (Yin Wood); the branch 酉, the Rooster itself, carries Metal whatever the stem above it says. Its na yin, the older sixty-part scheme, reads 泉中水 — a Water na yin.

The 2005 zodiac year did not start on 1 January. It started at Lichun (立春), 4 Feb 2005, 01:43 (Beijing time, UTC+8), and ran until the instant before Lichun 2006, 4 Feb 2006, 07:27 (Beijing time, UTC+8). Chinese New Year 2005 fell on 9 February 2005, a separate boundary that festivals use; between the two dates the popular and the classical conventions disagree. Anyone born in January or early February 2005 should check the table below before claiming a sign.

2005 is one of 8 Rooster years between 1924 and 2027, and one of 2 Wood Rooster years in that span (1945 and 2005), because stem and branch only line up again after sixty years: the same 乙酉 pillar last stood in 1945 and returns in 2065.

Which sign a 2005 birthday belongs to

Two rows, one boundary: the zodiac year turns at Lichun, not at midnight on 1 January and not at Chinese New Year.
Born between (Beijing time)	Stem and branch	Sign	Why
1 January 2005, 00:00 → 4 February 2005, 01:43	甲申	Wood Monkey	Still the Monkey year that opened in 2004.
4 February 2005, 01:43 → 31 December 2005, 23:59	乙酉	Wood Rooster	The Rooster year proper; it runs on past 31 December until Lichun 2006.

Born on 1 January 2005? That is a Monkey, not a Rooster: the Wood Monkey year 甲申 ran on until 4 February 2005 at 01:43 Beijing time.

Lichun is an astronomical instant, not a date: in 2005 it fell at 01:43 Beijing time (UTC+8). The instant itself starts the Rooster year, so a birth at 01:43 on that day is already a Rooster. Convert your own birth moment to Beijing time first — a birth in the Americas on the previous evening can already be past Lichun in Beijing. Check an exact birth date and time.

The 乙酉 pillar

Every row is computed: the stem and branch from the Lichun boundary, the na yin from the sixty-cycle table, both dates from the Chinese calendar itself.
	2005
Stem and branch	乙酉 (Yi You)
Place in the sixty-year cycle	22 of 60
Heavenly stem	乙 — Yin Wood 木
Earthly branch	酉 — the Rooster 鸡, fixed element Metal 金
Na yin (纳音)	泉中水 — a Water na yin
Lichun (start of the zodiac year)	4 Feb 2005, 01:43 (Beijing time, UTC+8)
Chinese New Year	9 February 2005
Same pillar last seen / next seen	1945 / 2065

Ten stems and twelve branches only return to the same pairing after sixty years, so 乙酉 belongs to 1945, 2005 and 2065 and to no year in between. That is why a sixtieth birthday is traditionally marked: it is the year the whole pillar comes back.

The Wood Rooster

Wood Rooster (Yi You) puts yin Wood over a Metal branch, so the branch cuts the stem — the tradition's image of pruning. The reading is exactness applied to growing things: editing, cultivation, teaching, the patient improvement of someone else's work. Yi You is described as the most tactful of the five, with a caution that the tact hides how much correction is going on.

Five stems above one branch: the animal returns every twelve years, the exact pillar only every sixty, so the five variants are not evenly spread across any span shorter than that.
Variant	Stem and branch	Rooster years 1924–2027
Wood Rooster	乙酉	1945, 2005
Fire Rooster	丁酉	1957, 2017
Earth Rooster	己酉	1969
Metal Rooster	辛酉	1981
Water Rooster	癸酉	1933, 1993

Every Rooster year from 1924 to 2027

Born in 2005: the 2027 Goat year

The Tai Sui relationship and the lucky element belong to the sign, not to the birth year, so every Goat year on this site reads the same here; the ages do not.
	Rooster born 2005
Age at Lichun 2027	21–22
Nominal age 虚岁	23
Relationship with the 2027 Tai Sui	None
Traditional reading	Steady — no direct relationship with the Tai Sui
Ben Ming Nian 本命年	No — 2027 is a Goat year
Lucky element for the year	Water · black, blue · 1, 6 · North

At Lichun 2027 someone born in 2005 is 21 if their birthday has not yet come round and 22 if it has. The nominal age (虚岁), counted as one at birth and raised at each Chinese New Year, is 23 once New Year 2027 has passed.

The full reading — the month-by-month table, the five-element relationship with the year stem and the traditional remedies — is on Rooster in 2027. For the part of the sign that does not move with the year, see the Rooster profile.

Frequently asked questions

Someone born in January 2005 — Monkey or Rooster?: Monkey. The Rooster year did not begin until Lichun (立春), 4 Feb 2005, 01:43 (Beijing time, UTC+8), so every birthday from 1 January up to that instant still belongs to the Wood Monkey year 甲申. Chinese New Year 2005 fell on 9 February 2005, which is a different boundary again; classical chart work uses Lichun. Convert your birth moment to Beijing time before comparing it, because the Chinese calendar is defined on that meridian.
Is 2005 a Wood Rooster or a Metal Rooster?: Wood Rooster, and both labels are describing something real. The element in the popular name comes from the year's heavenly stem, which for 2005 is 乙 — Yin Wood. The Metal belongs to the branch 酉, the Rooster's own fixed element, and it does not change from one Rooster year to the next. So 2005 is a Wood stem sitting over a metal branch; its na yin, a third system again, is 泉中水.
How old is someone born in 2005 in 2027?: 21–22 by the ordinary count at Lichun 2027, and 23 by the nominal count (虚岁) that starts at one and rises at each Chinese New Year. The two answers differ because the ordinary count waits for the birthday and the nominal one does not. 2005 is one of 8 Rooster years between 1924 and 2027; in 2027 all of them stand in the same relationship to the Tai Sui — None — but each is a different age.