Year of Ud
Meaning: ox, cattle
A short history
In Old Turkic "ud" means cattle. As the animal that carried loads and ploughed the land, it came to stand for patience and labour.
Cultural background
The Old Turkic "ud" means cattle or ox; it is also the second year in Kashgari's list, and the same slot in the Kazakh calendar holds "siyr" (cattle, cow). Among communities living with herds and crops, cattle stand for labour, milk and security; this symbolic reading brings the theme of endurance forward.
Symbolic qualities
- patient
- enduring
- dependable
- steady
Ud describes strength that moves forward without hurry. It stays with a task until it is done and keeps its word. Its shadow side is that resisting change can slide into stubbornness.
Things you might reflect on
- Is there a project or relationship you are growing patiently? What could you add to it today?
- How do you balance carrying a load with sharing it?
- Which habit carries you, and which one only adds weight?
Years it falls on
Each year begins on 21 March and ends on 20 March of the following year.
1901 · 1913 · 1925 · 1937 · 1949 · 1961 · 1973 · 1985 · 1997 · 2009 · 2021 · 2033 · 2045 · 2057 · 2069 · 2081 · 2093
Chinese counterpart: Ox →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.