---
title: "Chinese zodiac animal for a birth date (public, no key)"
method: POST
path: "/public/chinese/zodiac/animal"
tags: ["Public"]
---

# Chinese zodiac animal for a birth date (public, no key)

`POST /public/chinese/zodiac/animal`

The same answer as POST /chinese/zodiac/animal, served anonymously: animal, stem, branch and element of the solar year the date falls in. The year turns at Li Chun (around 4 February), not on 1 January, so send `time` and `timezoneOffset` for a birth near that boundary. `animalName`, `fixedName` and `cyclingName` follow `?lang=`; the English identifiers stay as they are. Costs 1 unit of the public bucket. Pair it with GET /public/chinese/zodiac/texts for the reading.

## Query parameters

- `lang` string
- `fields` string
- `precision` integer

## Headers

- `Accept-Language` string

## Request body

- ChineseDateTimeInput
  - `date` string, required
  - `time` string
  - `timezoneOffset` number, nullable — Hours from UTC at the given moment, not minutes. Fractional zones are hours too: 5.5 for India, 5.75 for Nepal, -3.5 for Newfoundland. Defaults to 0, meaning UTC. Ignored when timezone is sent.
  - `timezone` string — IANA zone name such as Europe/Kyiv, or auto to look the zone up from latitude and longitude. The server takes the offset that zone kept at this local date and time, summer time included, and uses it in place of timezoneOffset. A clock time that happened twice takes the first occurrence; one skipped when clocks went forward takes the offset from before the change. Abbreviations such as EST are refused. Before 1970 the tz database is not reliable for every place, so send timezoneOffset when the local clock is known.
  - `solarYear` integer
  - `language` string

## Response `200`

OK

- object
  - `ok` boolean
  - `data` object
    - `solarYear` number, nullable
    - `animal` string, nullable
    - `animalName` string, nullable
    - `glyph` string, nullable
    - `branch` string, nullable
    - `stem` string, nullable
    - `element` object, nullable
      - `fixed` string, nullable
      - `fixedName` string, nullable
      - `cycling` string, nullable
      - `cyclingName` string, nullable
      - `yin` boolean, nullable
    - `pillar` string, nullable
  - `_footer` string — Free-tier watermark, present on every public response. Keys on a paid plan do not receive it.

## Other responses

- `400` — Invalid input

## Changes

- **2026-10-04** `aa473bce3f00` — 1 info
  - endpoint added

[Change history](https://skmtc.dev/astroway/apis/astroway-calculation-api/changes/public/chinese/zodiac/animal/post.md)

---

[API](https://skmtc.dev/astroway/apis/astroway-calculation-api.md) · [All operations](https://skmtc.dev/astroway/apis/astroway-calculation-api/llms.txt) · [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc.dev/astroway/apis/astroway-calculation-api/revisions/aa473bce3f00?raw)