The 12 Zodiac Hours: Which Animal Rules Each Time of Day

Twelve double hours

In traditional Chinese timekeeping the day has twelve periods of two hours each, called shichen. Each period takes the name of one of the twelve Earthly Branches, and each branch is paired with a zodiac animal. The Hong Kong Observatory's guide to the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches lists the periods with their clock times, and the Language and Culture Center at Duke Kunshan University lists the animal of each one. Put together, the twelve hours are:

• Rat (Zi): 23:00–01:00
• Ox (Chou): 01:00–03:00
• Tiger (Yin): 03:00–05:00
• Rabbit (Mao): 05:00–07:00
• Dragon (Chen): 07:00–09:00
• Snake (Si): 09:00–11:00
• Horse (Wu): 11:00–13:00
• Goat (Wei): 13:00–15:00
• Monkey (Shen): 15:00–17:00
• Rooster (You): 17:00–19:00
• Dog (Xu): 19:00–21:00
• Pig (Hai): 21:00–23:00

Why the Rat hour starts before midnight

The list does not start at midnight. The first period, the Rat hour, runs from 11 pm to 1 am, as the Duke Kunshan page puts it, so midnight falls in the middle of it. The Ox hour follows from 1 am to 3 am, and the cycle continues around the clock until the Pig hour ends at 11 pm.

This matches the order of the zodiac itself. The Rat is the first animal in the cycle of years and the first branch in the cycle of hours, so the Rat hour is the first period of the day, and the Horse, which sits opposite the Rat on the zodiac circle, rules the hours around noon.

Hours in the stem-and-branch system

The hour is one of four time units that the stem-and-branch system names. The Hong Kong Observatory explains that years, months, days and hours are all recorded with Gan-Zhi, the 60-part cycle made by pairing ten Heavenly Stems with the twelve Earthly Branches. Each hour also has a stem, which is tied to the stem of the day.

Together, the stem-branch pairs of a person's birth year, month, day and hour make up what the Observatory calls the Eight Characters. That is why some traditional readings ask for your birth time as well as your birth date: the hour adds the last two characters.

How our daily lucky time is chosen

Every daily fortune on this site gives each sign a lucky time, such as 09:00–11:00. It is always one of the twelve double hours above, chosen by a fixed rule rather than at random.

For each sign, the rule takes one of its two triangle partners as the day's helper animal: the two partners take turns from one day to the next. The lucky time is the double hour of that helper, and the lucky direction is the helper's direction. For example, the Ox's triangle partners are the Snake and the Rooster, so the Ox's lucky time is either the Snake hour (09:00–11:00) or the Rooster hour (17:00–19:00), depending on the day. Our guide to zodiac clashes explains the triangles.

Which clock to use

Our daily fortunes are written for Cambodia, so the lucky times are in Cambodian time (UTC+7). If you live in another time zone, the same rule gives you the same double hour on your own local clock: the Rat hour is still 23:00–01:00 where you are.

Traditional astrologers sometimes adjust birth times further, for example for the sun's real position rather than the clock. Those refinements are beyond this guide; for daily use, the clock times above are the standard ones.

Your birth hour animal

Many people like to know the animal of the hour they were born in, alongside the animal of their birth year. Using the list above, someone born at 08:30 was born in the Dragon hour, and someone born at 23:45 in the Rat hour. The birth hour is not the same as your zodiac sign, which comes from your birth year; it is an extra detail that traditional readings use together with the year, month and day.

Frequently asked questions

What are the 12 zodiac hours?

They are the twelve traditional two-hour periods of the Chinese day, each named after an Earthly Branch and its animal, starting with the Rat hour from 23:00 to 01:00 and ending with the Pig hour from 21:00 to 23:00.

Why does the Rat hour start at 11 pm?

The Rat hour is the first double hour of the day and runs from 11 pm to 1 am, so midnight falls in its middle.

How is the lucky time on the daily fortune chosen?

It is the double hour of the sign's helper animal for the day, one of its two triangle partners, which take turns day by day. The times are given in Cambodian time.

Is my birth hour animal my zodiac sign?

No. Your zodiac sign comes from your birth year. The birth hour animal is an extra detail used in traditional readings together with your year, month and day.

Sources and further reading

• Hong Kong Observatory: “Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches” — the 60-part Gan-Zhi cycle, its use for years, months, days and hours, and the twelve two-hour periods with their clock times.
• Duke Kunshan University Language and Culture Center: “Chinese Zodiac Time” — the twelve two-hour periods (shichen) and the animal of each; the Rat hour runs from 11 pm to 1 am.
• Chinese Idioms: “Chinese Zodiac Compatibility: The Trines, the Clashes, and Your Best Match” (15 July 2026) — lists the six clash pairs (signs six places apart on the circle) and the four trines.

Traditional Chinese zodiac reading for culture and entertainment, not a scientific prediction. Dates follow the published calendars cited above.