Take 2027, subtract 4, and divide the result by 10 and by 12. The remainders are 3 and 7, and those two numbers give the year its name. This piece starts from that small calculation and works through the vocabulary of a Korean New Year fortune: the sign that changes in February, the relationships between the twelve animals, and samjae, the three difficult years.
Why 2027 is jeongmi
East Asian calendars name each year by pairing one of ten heavenly stems with one of twelve earthly branches. The stems run gap, eul, byeong, jeong, mu, gi, gyeong, sin, im, gye; the branches run ja, chuk, in, myo, jin, sa, o, mi, sin, yu, sul, hae. Both cycles move forward by one each year, and because 60 is the smallest number divisible by both 10 and 12, the same name comes back every 60 years. Counting from zero, remainder 3 is the fourth stem, jeong (丁), and remainder 7 is the eighth branch, mi (未). So 2027 is jeongmi (丁未). So were 1967 and 1907, which is why Korean history books speak of the Jeongmi Treaty and the Jeongmi righteous armies of 1907.
Why the goat is red
The animal attached to mi is the goat (the Korean word yang also covers sheep), so 2027 is a Goat year. Each stem also belongs to one of the five elements, and byeong and jeong belong to fire, whose color is red. That gives jeongmi its nickname, the year of the red goat, for the same reason 2026, byeongo, is the year of the red horse. The branch mi itself belongs to earth, so many New Year readings describe 2027 as a year when fire feeds earth.
When your sign changes
Your sign follows the year you were born, but the year does not turn over on January 1. Everyday Korean practice uses the Lunar New Year, which falls on February 6 in 2027. Saju, the Four Pillars system, uses the start of spring (ipchun), around February 4. A baby born in January 2027 is therefore still read as a Horse. If your birthday falls in January or early February, it's worth reading both neighboring signs.
The goat year and the twelve signs
New Year fortunes are built on traditional relationships between your sign and the branch of the year. Measured against mi:
- Samhap (three-way harmony): hae, myo and mi form a trio, so Pig and Rabbit share in the goat year's momentum.
- Yukhap (pair harmony): o and mi make a pair, which is why Horse readings for 2027 lean toward luck with people.
- Chung (clash): chuk sits opposite mi, so Ox readings talk about change and movement.
- Hae (harm): ja and mi tend to misread each other, so Rat readings warn about small misunderstandings.
- Bonmyeongnyeon (your own year): for Goats, 2027 is the year their sign comes back. In China, wearing something red during your own year is a well-known custom.
Tiger, Dragon, Snake, Monkey, Rooster and Dog have none of these links with mi and are read as steady years. The tradition has further relationships, such as hyeong (punishment), pa (break) and wonjin (resentment). The readings on FaceTest use only the four above.
Samjae in 2027: Rabbit, Goat and Pig
Samjae is a Korean folk belief that hardships gather for three years in every twelve. The three signs of a samhap trio go through the same three years together, and the hae, myo and mi trio meets samjae in the sa, o and mi years. That made 2025 (eulsa) their entering year, 2026 (byeongo) the pressing year and 2027 (jeongmi) the leaving year, called nal-samjae. Next in line are Tiger, Horse and Dog, whose samjae runs through the sin, yu and sul years starting with 2028 (musin). Readings for a leaving year usually suggest finishing what you've started and keeping an eye on your health before taking on anything new.
How the month by month flow is worked out
The monthly flow on each sign's page matches each calendar month to the solar-term month that covers most of it. Solar-term months begin a few days into each month: the chuk month at sohan (around January 6), the in month at ipchun, and so on. So January is read as chuk, February as in, and December as ja. The relationship between that branch and your sign sets the stars: five for samhap, four for yukhap, three for a steady month, two for chung or hae. Solar terms move by a day or so from year to year, so near a boundary, read both months.
Reading it for fun
Everyone with the same sign gets the same reading. A sign reading looks only at your birth year, while a full saju also uses the month, day and hour, so treat the yearly reading as a set of light prompts: is there a message you've been putting off, have you planned the big expenses? You can pick your sign on the 2027 New Year fortune page, and if you'd like to see how two signs get along, zodiac compatibility uses the same table of relationships.