The Chinese calendar is based on the lunar year. 60 lunar years form a cycle. The cycle consists of a combination of celestial and terrestrial stems that together form the year in the cycle.
Celestial: Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, Kui
Terrestrial: Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, Hai
Together, these form the name of the cycle.
Each terrestrial branch was assigned an animal sign. The years for the last century and the following years are:
Zi: Mouse 1900 1912 1924 1936 1948 1960 1972 1984 1996 2008
Chou: Ox 1901 1913 1925 1937 1949 1961 1973 1985 1997 2009
Yin: Tiger 1902 1914 1926 1938 1950 1962 1974 1986 1998 2010
Mao: Rabbit 1903 1915 1927 1939 1951 1963 1975 1987 1999 2011
Chen: Dragon 1904 1916 1928 1940 1952 1964 1976 1988 2000 2012
Si: Snake 1905 1917 1929 1941 1953 1965 1977 1989 2001 2013
Wu: Horse 1906 1918 1930 1942 1954 1966 1978 1990 2002 2014
Wei: Goat 1907 1919 1931 1943 1955 1967 1979 1991 2003 2015
Shen: Monkey 1908 1920 1932 1944 1956 1968 1980 1992 2004 2016
You: Cock 1909 1921 1933 1945 1957 1969 1981 1993 2005 2017
Xu: Dog 1910 1922 1934 1946 1958 1970 1982 1994 2006 2018
Hai: Pig 1911 1923 1935 1947 1959 1971 1983 1995 2007 2019
Since the lunar year does not follow our Western calendar, the Chinese New Year occurs on different date in our calendar each year. The next Chinese New Years will be:
29 January 2006 Sunday Dog Bing-Xu
18 February 2007 Sunday Pig Ding-Hai
7 February 2008 Thursday Mouse Wu-Zi
26 January 2009 Monday Ox Ji-Chou
14 February 2010 Sunday Tiger Geng-Yin
3 February 2011 Thursday Rabbit Xin-Mao
23 January 2012 Monday Dragon Ren-Chen
10 February 2013 Sunday Snake Gui-Si
31 January 2014 Friday Horse Jia-Wu
19 February 2015 Thursday Goat Yi-Wei
8 February 2016 Monday Monkey Bing-Shen |
