Year of Yond
Meaning: horse
A short history
"Yond" (yunt) means horse in Old Turkic, especially a herd horse. As the animal at the heart of steppe life, it is linked with speed, the road and freedom.
Cultural background
The Old Turkic "yond/yunt" means horse; the Kazakh calendar holds "zhylqy" (horse, herd horse) here. The horse sits at the centre of steppe nomadism: riding, kumis (mare's milk) and herd work are built around it. That is why, in a symbolic reading, the horse year can count as the one closest to the themes of road and movement.
Symbolic qualities
- free-spirited
- energetic
- outspoken
- on the move
Yond is the symbol of energy that cannot sit still and looks to the horizon. It tries new roads and says what it thinks plainly. Its shadow side is avoiding commitment and leaving things half done.
Things you might reflect on
- Where would you like to speed up, and where would you like to rest?
- What does freedom mean for you: staying away from something, or moving towards something?
- Is there something you left half done that you would like to return to?
Years it falls on
Each year begins on 21 March and ends on 20 March of the following year.
1906 · 1918 · 1930 · 1942 · 1954 · 1966 · 1978 · 1990 · 2002 · 2014 · 2026 · 2038 · 2050 · 2062 · 2074 · 2086 · 2098
Chinese counterpart: Horse →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.