The Earth Element in the Chinese Zodiac

Every Earth year with its exact lunar new year date, and what the tradition says about the element.

Earth is one of the five elements of the Chinese tradition, and it rules the years ending in 8 and 9. Recent and coming Earth years are 2028, 2029, 2038, 2039. In this tradition Earth stands for steadiness, nourishment and the centre that holds the other four in balance. This page lists every Earth year with its exact start date and sets out what the element is traditionally taken to mean.

The idea of Earth here is symbolic, and it cannot tell anyone what they are like or what will happen. To learn whether your own birth year is a Earth year, use the Chinese zodiac calculator.

What Earth stands for

The five elements, or five phases (wu xing), are not materials so much as kinds of change, and each carries a set of associations. Those for Earth are:

  • Direction: centre
  • Season: the turn between seasons, with some writers pairing it with late summer
  • Colour: yellow
  • Planet: Saturn, which Chinese astronomy calls the Earth star
  • Heavenly stems: Wu (Yang) and Ji (Yin), the two stems that carry Earth in the sixty-year cycle
  • Animals whose fixed element it is: Ox, Dragon, Goat and Dog

Earth sits in the middle of the scheme, so it is often described as the balancing element, the one that mediates between the others. The general scheme is explained on the Chinese zodiac hub.

Character in the tradition

People born in an Earth year are traditionally described as patient, practical and loyal, with a settled manner and a talent for looking after others. The tradition links Earth with reliability, caution and a gift for making a home.

  • Stability. Staying calm and dependable under pressure.
  • Practicality. Turning ideas into workable steps.
  • Loyalty. Standing by commitments and people.
  • Care. Noticing what others need and providing it.

Growth edges

The shadow side described is over-caution and worry: sticking with what is known, resisting change, and carrying other people’s burdens. The suggested practice is to try one small change a month and to let others carry their own load.

Earth in the cycles

In the cycle of generation Fire makes Earth and Earth bears Metal, as ore forms in the ground. In the cycle of control Wood checks Earth, as roots hold soil, and Earth checks Water, as banks channel a river. Writers use these relations to describe how Earth and its neighbours support or steady each other, and the compatibility overview shows how the year elements of two people are read together. Treat them as images to think with, and not as rules.

Every Earth year from 1948 to 2047

A Earth year is Yang when its stem is Wu and Yin when it is Ji. Yang Earth pairs with the Yang animals (Rat, Tiger, Dragon, Horse, Monkey, Dog), and Yin Earth with the Yin animals (Ox, Rabbit, Snake, Goat, Rooster, Pig). Dates are from the Hong Kong Observatory’s table, and each Earth year ends the day before the next year begins. A birth before a start date belongs to the previous Chinese year.

Chinese yearYear ofBeginsEndsStem and branch
1948Yang Earth Rat10 February 194828 January 1949Wu-zi
1949Yin Earth Ox29 January 194916 February 1950Ji-chou
1958Yang Earth Dog18 February 19587 February 1959Wu-xu
1959Yin Earth Pig8 February 195927 January 1960Ji-hai
1968Yang Earth Monkey30 January 196816 February 1969Wu-shen
1969Yin Earth Rooster17 February 19695 February 1970Ji-you
1978Yang Earth Horse7 February 197827 January 1979Wu-wu
1979Yin Earth Goat28 January 197915 February 1980Ji-wei
1988Yang Earth Dragon17 February 19885 February 1989Wu-chen
1989Yin Earth Snake6 February 198926 January 1990Ji-si
1998Yang Earth Tiger28 January 199815 February 1999Wu-yin
1999Yin Earth Rabbit16 February 19994 February 2000Ji-mao
2008Yang Earth Rat7 February 200825 January 2009Wu-zi
2009Yin Earth Ox26 January 200913 February 2010Ji-chou
2018Yang Earth Dog16 February 20184 February 2019Wu-xu
2019Yin Earth Pig5 February 201924 January 2020Ji-hai
2028Yang Earth Monkey26 January 202812 February 2029Wu-shen
2029Yin Earth Rooster13 February 20292 February 2030Ji-you
2038Yang Earth Horse4 February 203823 January 2039Wu-wu
2039Yin Earth Goat24 January 203911 February 2040Ji-wei

Earth with each animal

Each animal takes Earth either once or twice in these hundred years, always with the matching Yang or Yin polarity. The years fall as follows.

Frequently asked questions

↳ Which years are Earth years?

Any year whose last digit is 8 or 9 is a Earth year. The next one is 2028, a Yang Earth Monkey year, beginning on 26 January 2028. The Earth year starts at the lunar new year and not on 1 January.

↳ Is the Earth element the same as the animal's element?

Not always. Each animal has a fixed element of its own in the older tradition, and Earth is the fixed element of Ox and Dragon and Goat and Dog. Each year also carries a year element, and for this page it is Earth. A Earth Monkey year therefore blends the two readings.

↳ What does the Earth element mean for me?

If you were born in a Earth year, the tradition describes you as patient, practical and loyal. That Earth description is cultural, for reflection, and it does not predict character or events. Treat it as a talking point.

↳ How is Earth linked to Saturn?

In the Chinese tradition each of the five visible planets is named for an element, and Saturn is the Earth star. That Earth link is a naming convention, separate from Western or Vedic astrology.

Return to the Chinese zodiac hub, or read about the other elements: Wood, Fire, Metal, Water.