The Ox is associated with the twelfth lunar month in traditional Chinese zodiac symbolism.
The Chinese zodiac animals can be assigned not only to years but also to months, days, and double-hours. In the traditional month system, Rat is linked with the eleventh lunar month, Ox with the twelfth, and Tiger with the first month. This month sequence follows the earthly branches rather than the modern Gregorian calendar.
The twelfth lunar month is called La month in traditional Chinese calendrical usage and leads into Lunar New Year. Because lunar months begin on different Gregorian dates each year, the Ox’s month does not correspond to one fixed range in the Western calendar.
This monthly association should not be confused with a person’s birth-year animal. A person born in an Ox year has a year sign, while the month association describes a separate layer of the traditional calendar.