The Chinese birth chart was found in a tomb in Beijing, China, and had been in the tomb. The famous chart is now at Beijing University and is quite an interesting artifact. Based on a mother's age and the month a baby is born, the chart predicts whether the baby will be a boy or a girl, apparently with 93% accuracy. The Chinese have known for centuries what we can only figure out in the modern age with ultrasound (and even then, ultrasound is not foolproof).

But since women find out the gender of their baby through routine ultrasound, what is the use of the Chinese birth chart in this day and age? First of all, not everyone has routine ultrasound. Because of purported risks and for religious reasons, many mothers will only do an ultrasound exam if there seems to be a problem, and will not go through ultrasound as a matter of course. These women will not find out in advance the gender of their baby, and may use the Chinese birth chart to predict whether they will give birth to a boy or a girl. Since ultrasound may not always be accurate for predicting gender, it may be that the Chinese birth chart is right at least as often as ultrasound. The Chinese birth chart will tell you whether it is a boy or a girl before an ultrasound will predict it, and couples who especially want a boy or a girl can plant to conceive a child accordingly by looking at the Chinese birth chart.

Is the Chinese birth chart accurate? Many people feel that the chart is correct, although there is not a 100% success rate. Certainly, no one should start making major purchases of all blue clothes or all pink pajamas based on the results from the chart, however, it is possible that radical moves should not be based on ultrasound results either. Those who do not want to know the gender of their baby ahead of time must practice restraint and avoid the temptation of looking at the Chinese birth chart.