Snake in the Chinese Zodiac
A sourced guide to the Snake’s sixth place in the Chinese zodiac, its 巳 branch, and the separate histories of living snakes, zodiac figures, and serpent-bodied mythic figures.
Reviewed
- Cycle position
- 6 of 12
- Earthly branch
- 巳 Sì
- Sequence
- Sixth of twelve · after Dragon, before Horse
Snake is sixth in the zodiac, yet snake and serpent forms also occur in ritual vessels, tomb art, folktales, and representations of mythic figures. Those contexts do not collapse into one occult symbol: a living animal, a zodiac figure, and a serpent-bodied deity each ask different questions.
Historical context
A living animal in many material forms
蛇 (shé) ordinarily names a real animal; “snake” is the direct English translation, while “serpent” may appear in art-historical or literary writing. Snake forms occur in Chinese material culture well beyond the zodiac. The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Year of the Snake exhibition ranged from a three-thousand-year-old ritual bronze with joined snake heads to pottery, porcelain, and a scene from the Legend of the White Snake.
Zodiac figures form a more specific history. An eleventh-century Met sculpture identifies the animal on the hat of a human figure, reflecting a Song-dynasty way of representing the cycle. A thirteenth-century tomb figure instead presents a coiled animal with exaggerated features. Differences in period, material, and burial or domestic setting are more informative than treating both as one permanent “snake meaning.”
Traditional interpretation
Sixth in the race, distinct from other serpent stories
In the British Council’s adapted race story, listeners hear Horse approaching before Snake is announced in sixth place. This small surprise makes the adjacent positions memorable. The stable calendar facts are Snake’s sixth position and its pairing with the earthly branch 巳 (Sì).
Serpent-bodied figures such as Nüwa and Fuxi belong to separate mythic and visual traditions, not to the zodiac race. The White Snake story is separate again, with many retellings about transformation, love, religious power, and social boundaries. Sharing a bodily form does not make these figures interchangeable with the zodiac animal.
Modern practice
From museum cases to new zodiac images
During a Snake year, exhibitions and public programs often place early bronzes, tomb figures, folktale scenes, and contemporary art in conversation. This can reveal how often artists returned to the animal while still allowing each object to retain its date and purpose.
Modern descriptions sometimes connect snakes with renewal because they shed their skin, or with danger, intelligence, secrecy, or healing. Those readings may be meaningful in a particular work or community, but they are not a single Chinese code. Ai Weiwei’s monumental Snake zodiac head, for instance, also participates in a contemporary project about reconstructed objects and cultural memory.
A cultural reference, not a personality profile
The race character, living animal, White Snake, and serpent-bodied mythic figures are related through language and imagery, not identical in meaning. None supplies a reliable personality or fortune profile for a Snake-year birth.
Sources & further reading
- Celebrating the Year of the SnakeThe Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Chinese zodiac figure of a snakeThe Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads — SnakeHirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution
- The great race: story transcript, adapted by Sue ClarkeBritish Council · LearnEnglish KidsAccessed Find an archived copy
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