The Fire Element in the Chinese Zodiac

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

Fire is one of the five elements of the Chinese tradition, and it rules the years ending in 6 and 7. Recent and coming Fire years are 2026, 2027, 2036, 2037. In this tradition Fire stands for warmth, light, movement and enthusiasm, the heat of high summer. This page lists every Fire year with its exact start date and sets out what the element is traditionally taken to mean.

The idea of Fire 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 Fire year, use the Chinese zodiac calculator.

What Fire 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 Fire are:

  • Direction: south
  • Season: summer
  • Colour: red
  • Planet: Mars, which Chinese astronomy calls the Fire star
  • Heavenly stems: Bing (Yang) and Ding (Yin), the two stems that carry Fire in the sixty-year cycle
  • Animals whose fixed element it is: Snake and Horse

Fire is the element of visibility, so it is often described as bold and sociable, a year of making an impression. The general scheme is explained on the Chinese zodiac hub.

Character in the tradition

People born in a Fire year are traditionally described as energetic, enthusiastic and expressive, comfortable in the spotlight and quick to light up a room. The tradition links Fire with passion, courage and a love of company.

  • Warmth. An easy enthusiasm that draws people in.
  • Courage. Readiness to speak up and to act.
  • Expressiveness. Putting ideas and feelings into words and actions.
  • Optimism. A bright outlook that lifts a group.

Growth edges

The shadow side described is burning out: starting with a blaze, then losing heat, or reacting hotly in a disagreement. The suggested practice is to pace effort, take rest as seriously as work, and to pause before replying when emotions run high.

Fire in the cycles

In the cycle of generation Wood feeds Fire and Fire makes Earth, as ash becomes soil. In the cycle of control Water checks Fire, as water quenches a flame, and Fire checks Metal, as heat melts it. Writers use these relations to describe how Fire 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 Fire year from 1948 to 2047

A Fire year is Yang when its stem is Bing and Yin when it is Ding. Yang Fire pairs with the Yang animals (Rat, Tiger, Dragon, Horse, Monkey, Dog), and Yin Fire with the Yin animals (Ox, Rabbit, Snake, Goat, Rooster, Pig). Dates are from the Hong Kong Observatory’s table, and each Fire 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
1956Yang Fire Monkey12 February 195630 January 1957Bing-shen
1957Yin Fire Rooster31 January 195717 February 1958Ding-you
1966Yang Fire Horse21 January 19668 February 1967Bing-wu
1967Yin Fire Goat9 February 196729 January 1968Ding-wei
1976Yang Fire Dragon31 January 197617 February 1977Bing-chen
1977Yin Fire Snake18 February 19776 February 1978Ding-si
1986Yang Fire Tiger9 February 198628 January 1987Bing-yin
1987Yin Fire Rabbit29 January 198716 February 1988Ding-mao
1996Yang Fire Rat19 February 19966 February 1997Bing-zi
1997Yin Fire Ox7 February 199727 January 1998Ding-chou
2006Yang Fire Dog29 January 200617 February 2007Bing-xu
2007Yin Fire Pig18 February 20076 February 2008Ding-hai
2016Yang Fire Monkey8 February 201627 January 2017Bing-shen
2017Yin Fire Rooster28 January 201715 February 2018Ding-you
2026Yang Fire Horse17 February 20265 February 2027Bing-wu
2027Yin Fire Goat6 February 202725 January 2028Ding-wei
2036Yang Fire Dragon28 January 203614 February 2037Bing-chen
2037Yin Fire Snake15 February 20373 February 2038Ding-si
2046Yang Fire Tiger6 February 204625 January 2047Bing-yin
2047Yin Fire Rabbit26 January 204713 February 2048Ding-mao

Fire with each animal

Each animal takes Fire 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 Fire years?

Any year whose last digit is 6 or 7 is a Fire year. The next one is 2026, a Yang Fire Horse year, beginning on 17 February 2026. The Fire year starts at the lunar new year and not on 1 January.

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

Not always. Each animal has a fixed element of its own in the older tradition, and Fire is the fixed element of Snake and Horse. Each year also carries a year element, and for this page it is Fire. A Fire Horse year therefore blends the two readings.

↳ What does the Fire element mean for me?

If you were born in a Fire year, the tradition describes you as energetic, enthusiastic and expressive. That Fire description is cultural, for reflection, and it does not predict character or events. Treat it as a talking point.

↳ How is Fire linked to Mars?

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

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