Does Jupiter determine the Chinese year?

Jupiter passes through the zodiac every twelve years. I just looked at a Chinese astrology book that lists the analogies between the animals in the Chinese zodiac and the Western zodiac. Rabbit is the equivalent of Pisces. I was born in the year of the Rabbit, and in my Western birth chart, Jupiter is in Aries. But that's tropical astrology. In a sidereal chart, my natal Jupiter would most likely be in Pisces. So that matches up. But is it a perfect match?

Is the Chinese astrological year determined by where Jupiter is in its passage through the zodiac? Or is it something else? If something else, what is it?

Is the Chinese astrological year determined by where Jupiter is in its passage through the zodiac? Or is it something else? If something else, what is it?

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Not really. While the Jupiter cycle is the likely culprit for the assignment of the twelve animals (thought it equally could have been from the same reason that 12 was utilized in the Western tradition), the Chinese animals are not drawn from any celestial indicators, so Jupiter's position is irrelevant. The Four Branches are more closely related to numerology than what we in the West would consider astrology.

The Chinese calendar, though, is luni-solar, so we can trace some of its holidays to Sun/Moon relationships. Chinese New Year, for instance, occurs the day after the New Moon occurs in Aquarius, as this marks the first appearance of the Moon.

Also, the four pillars and the Chinese animals is not the system of astrology that was utilized in China in ancient times. Their system revolved mostly around the position of planets in the lunar mansions. Derek Walters wrote a great book about it, and while I disagree with some of his conclusions (most notably that the lunar mansions were not read as being equal measures of the sky) it is very informative. It won't teach you how to do it though.