Year of Taguk
Meaning: hen, rooster
A short history
"Taguk" (takagu) is the older form of today's Turkish word for chicken. As the animal that announces the morning, it is a symbol of order and wakefulness.
Cultural background
The name Kashgari writes as "takagu" became today's Turkish "tavuk"; in Kazakh it is "tauyq". In a symbolic reading the hen-and-rooster pair can be tied to the themes of morning, order and wakefulness; the year's name recalls the rhythm of the day more than the sex of the bird.
Symbolic qualities
- orderly
- hard-working
- honest
- observant
Taguk is the symbol of the order that sets the rhythm of the day. It sees details and says what it thinks openly. Its shadow side is turning criticism too harshly on itself and others.
Things you might reflect on
- What small routine in your day keeps you going?
- How would you say your self-criticism to a friend?
- How do you balance honesty and tact?
Years it falls on
Each year begins on 21 March and ends on 20 March of the following year.
1909 · 1921 · 1933 · 1945 · 1957 · 1969 · 1981 · 1993 · 2005 · 2017 · 2029 · 2041 · 2053 · 2065 · 2077 · 2089
Chinese counterpart: Rooster →Where does the Turkic 12-animal calendar come from?
In the Divanu Lugati't-Türk, written in the 11th century, Mahmud of Kashgar explains that the Turks counted years by the names of twelve animals and lists them in order. The work also tells a story about the origin of the cycle: of the animals driven into the Ila (Ili) river before a ruler, the names of the twelve that crossed were given to the years.
An older witness is the Orkhon inscriptions (8th century). The Kül Tegin inscription dates his death to the "koń yıl" (year of the sheep, 731) and the Bilge Kagan inscription dates the kagan's death to the "it yıl" (year of the dog, 734). So animal year names were already used to give dates in that period.
The cycle follows the same order as the Chinese calendar and is a heritage shared with neighbouring cultures. Sources reckon the start of the year differently; this page takes Nevruz (21 March) as the start of the year.
- Kaşgarlı Mahmud, Divanu Lugati't-Türk (1072–1077).
- Kül Tegin yazıtı (732) ve Bilge Kağan yazıtı (735), Orhun Vadisi.
- Erkoç, H. İ., Divanü Lugati't-Türk'te Vahşi Hayvanlarla İlgili Kelimeler ve Terimler, Hacettepe Üniversitesi Türkiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi 23 (2015), 177-208.
- Karimova, G. ve Türkmen, F., Kazakistan'da Hayvan Kültü ve 12 Hayvanlı Halk Takvimi (2022).
The twelve animals
For entertainment and self-reflection. Year animals are presented as cultural history and character symbolism; they do not tell you what a year holds.
The images on this page were generated with AI.