So, the other day I got this idea to mess around with the Chinese calendar, you know, the one with all the animals and stuff. I wanted to see if I could whip up something that would show the zodiac animal for 2024. I figured, why not, it’s a fun little project, and I haven’t really played around with this kind of thing before. I’m not a programmer or anything, just a regular dude who likes to tinker with stuff.
First thing I did was a quick search online. It’s obvious that 2024 is the Year of the Dragon. I figured there had to be tons of pages out there that explained the whole zodiac system. I found a few that were pretty helpful, especially with getting the order of the animals right. I also needed to know how the years are associated with each animal.
Then came the hard part, well, not really hard, but the part where I had to actually do something. I decided to try and build this thing using a simple spreadsheet. I’ve used them before for budgeting and keeping track of random stuff, so I know my way around a little. I started by listing the 12 animals of the zodiac in one column: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.
Next, I had to figure out the cycle of years. I learned that the whole thing repeats every 12 years, so that made it easier. I started with the year 1900, which was a Rat year, and just worked my way up, assigning each animal to the corresponding years. It was a bit tedious, typing in all those years, but it wasn’t rocket science. I just kept adding 12 to each year to get the next one in that animal’s cycle.
Getting to 2024
- Year 1900: Rat
- Year 1912: Rat
- Year 1924: Rat
- Year 1936: Rat
- Year 1948: Rat
- Year 1960: Rat
- Year 1972: Rat
- Year 1984: Rat
- Year 1996: Rat
- Year 2008: Rat
- Year 2020: Rat
I kept going like this until I got to 2024. And guess what? Just like the internet said, it was indeed a Dragon year!
- Year 1904: Dragon
- Year 1916: Dragon
- Year 1928: Dragon
- Year 1940: Dragon
- Year 1952: Dragon
- Year 1964: Dragon
- Year 1976: Dragon
- Year 1988: Dragon
- Year 2000: Dragon
- Year 2012: Dragon
- Year 2024: Dragon
It was kind of cool to see it all laid out like that. I felt like I’d cracked some ancient code or something, even though it was just a simple spreadsheet. I even highlighted the 2024 row in a different color to make it stand out.
This little experiment made me think about how people have been using these kinds of systems for centuries to track time and understand the world around them. It’s pretty amazing when you think about it. And hey, now I have a handy little tool to figure out the zodiac animal for any year. Not that I’ll need it every day, but it’s there if I ever do. Maybe I’ll add some colors and make it look nicer later on. Or maybe I’ll just leave it as is, a simple reminder of a fun little afternoon project.
