When does the Chinese zodiac year start?

Chinese New Year and Lichun

In the Chinese calendar, the zodiac year changes at Chinese New Year, the first day of the first lunar month. Some astrological traditions use Lichun, or Beginning of Spring, instead. A birth between those two boundaries can therefore have two different year labels, depending on the convention being used.

These boundaries mark different events. A lunar month begins on the calendar day containing the astronomical new moon. The month starts at midnight in the calendar's reference time, not at the moment of the new moon itself. Lichun, by contrast, is a solar term: it occurs when the Sun's apparent ecliptic longitude reaches 315°, a specific position along its annual path. Its timing does not depend on which lunar day contains it.

The Chinese calendar is lunisolar, so it brings together lunar months and solar terms that follow different astronomical cycles. Chinese New Year can therefore fall before or after Lichun, depending on the year. Neither January 1 nor a fixed date in February is a universal zodiac boundary.

The 2027 zodiac boundary: Horse or Goat?

In 2027, Lichun falls on February 4, while Chinese New Year is not until February 6. The year changes from Bing-Wu, Horse, to Ding-Wei, Goat. Using UTC+8 dates, someone born on February 5, 2027 is in the Horse year under the Chinese New Year convention but in the Goat year under a Lichun-based convention.

February 4 is left out of the table because it is the Lichun boundary day. To classify a birth on that date, you need to know whether the chosen rule uses the start of the day or the astronomical instant; the latter may also require the birth time. A list that assigns one animal to each Gregorian year cannot reliably classify January and early-February birthdays.

The 2018 boundary

The gap was longer in 2018: Lichun fell on February 4 and Chinese New Year on February 16. The year changed from Ding-You, Rooster, to Wu-Xu, Dog. Someone born on February 10 was therefore still in the Rooster year under the Chinese calendar, but already in the Dog year under a Lichun-based rule.

Chinese New Year can also come first. In 1984, it fell on February 2, followed by Lichun on February 4. A February 3 birth was in Jia-Zi, Rat, under the New Year convention but still in Gui-Hai, Pig, under a Lichun convention. What matters is which boundary the system uses, not which event comes first.

The exact Lichun time

A Lichun-based rule also needs to specify when the switch takes place. Under a date-based convention, the year changes at midnight at the start of the date containing Lichun. Under an instant-based convention, it changes at the astronomical event itself, leaving the earlier part of that day in the preceding year.

In 2018, Lichun occurred on February 4 at approximately 05:28, UTC+8. At 03:00 that morning, a date-based year had already changed, while an instant-based year had not. The table compares both rules with the Chinese New Year boundary. All times are UTC+8.

A record that gives only the date—February 4, 2018—cannot settle the instant-based classification without a birth time.

Reading a year label

For an ordinary birth-year zodiac or festival calendar, use the Chinese calendar year and the twelve-animal sequence. For a Bazi chart, follow the chart's stated annual boundary. When the rule uses the exact Lichun instant, express the birth time and solar-term time on a common time basis. Check the date as well: a time-zone conversion may cross midnight.

Choosing a different boundary can change the year label, but not the birthday's lunar month and day. It also does not move the date of Chinese New Year.