The rooster's crow ends the night, and in Korean folk belief it sent spirits of the dark back where they came from. Silla's founding story places a white rooster crowing in the forest where a golden box held the infant ancestor of the Gyeongju Kim clan. The Rooster is read as alert, precise and proud.
In Saju the Rooster is the branch 酉 Yu. It is pure metal, the middle of autumn, and the hours from 17:00 to 19:00, dusk. It is read as refined metal: the harvest sickle, the jewel, the clean line.
Your animal is your year branch and one of eight characters. The Rooster also appears as a month branch (early September to early October) and in day and hour pillars. The Rooster year begins at Ipchun, around 4 February.
- Precise
- Confident
- Hardworking
- Honest
The five Roosters of the sixty year cycle
Every twelve years is a Rooster year, and each one wears the colour of its heavenly stem. The same colour comes back every sixty years. Each card opens the day pillar with the same two characters.
Harmonies
The Rooster's six harmony partner is the Dragon 辰, read as turning toward metal. Its three harmony partners are the Snake 巳 and the Ox 丑, the metal trine.
Clash and wonjin
The Rooster clashes with the Rabbit 卯. It is a self punishment branch. Its wonjin is the Tiger 寅. The tradition reads these as sources of friction to understand.
- Six harmony: Dragon
- Three harmony: Snake and Ox
- Clash: Rabbit
- Wonjin: Tiger
The Rooster with each animal
How the tradition reads the Rooster branch meeting each of the twelve, as it would in gunghap between two year or day branches. One pair of branches is a small part of two charts; compare the full charts for the whole picture.
| Rat 子 No named pattern A neutral pairing: nothing in the tradition pulls these two branches together or apart. | |
| Ox 丑 Three harmony Two branches from the same trine, read as shared purpose and working well as a team. | |
| Tiger 寅 Wonjin 원진 The resentment pair of Korean gunghap: read as irritation without an obvious cause, eased by talking it through. | |
| Rabbit 卯 Clash Branches from opposite points of the year, read as movement and contrast that ask for give and take. | |
| Dragon 辰 Six harmony A pair of branches that bond easily, read as comfort and a natural fit. | |
| Snake 巳 Three harmony Two branches from the same trine, read as shared purpose and working well as a team. | |
| Horse 午 No named pattern A neutral pairing: nothing in the tradition pulls these two branches together or apart. | |
| Goat 未 No named pattern A neutral pairing: nothing in the tradition pulls these two branches together or apart. | |
| Monkey 申 No named pattern A neutral pairing: nothing in the tradition pulls these two branches together or apart. | |
| Rooster 酉 Self punishment The same branch twice, read as two people with the same tender spot. | |
| Dog 戌 Harm A subtle mismatch, read as small misunderstandings that grow if nobody names them. | |
| Pig 亥 No named pattern A neutral pairing: nothing in the tradition pulls these two branches together or apart. |
Rooster years and when they start
Each Rooster year begins at Ipchun, shown here in Korea Standard Time. If you were born before the start time, your year pillar belongs to the previous animal.
| Year | Pillar | Color animal | Starts (KST) | Ends (KST) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1933 | 癸酉 Gye-yu | Black Rooster | 4 Feb 1933, 15:09 | 4 Feb 1934, 21:03 |
| 1945 | 乙酉 Eul-yu | Blue Rooster | 4 Feb 1945, 13:19 | 4 Feb 1946, 19:03 |
| 1957 | 丁酉 Jeong-yu | Red Rooster | 4 Feb 1957, 10:24 | 4 Feb 1958, 16:19 |
| 1969 | 己酉 Gi-yu | Yellow Rooster | 4 Feb 1969, 08:59 | 4 Feb 1970, 14:45 |
| 1981 | 辛酉 Sin-yu | White Rooster | 4 Feb 1981, 06:55 | 4 Feb 1982, 12:45 |
| 1993 | 癸酉 Gye-yu | Black Rooster | 4 Feb 1993, 04:37 | 4 Feb 1994, 10:30 |
| 2005 | 乙酉 Eul-yu | Blue Rooster | 4 Feb 2005, 02:43 | 4 Feb 2006, 08:27 |
| 2017 | 丁酉 Jeong-yu | Red Rooster | 4 Feb 2017, 00:34 | 4 Feb 2018, 06:28 |
| 2029 | 己酉 Gi-yu | Yellow Rooster | 3 Feb 2029, 22:20 | 4 Feb 2030, 04:08 |