The Cat represented Vietnam’s lunar year beginning on January 22, 2023.
Vietnamese tradition calls 2023 the Year of the Cat, while the corresponding Chinese zodiac year is the Year of the Rabbit. The Vietnamese zodiac is closely related to the Chinese system but is not identical: Vietnam traditionally uses the Cat where China uses the Rabbit. This difference is one of the best-known distinctions between the two calendars.
The Vietnamese lunar new year, Tết, began on January 22 in 2023. As with other traditional zodiac systems, people born before that date belonged to the preceding Tiger year rather than the Cat year. The animal designation follows the lunisolar calendar, not the Gregorian calendar year as a whole.
The Cat is associated in Vietnamese cultural interpretation with qualities such as sensitivity, patience, and cleverness. Those descriptions are traditional beliefs and should not be treated as scientific measures of personality.