1924 Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Wood Rat
The short answer
1924 is the year of the Wood Rat (甲子 Jiǎzǐ), from 5 February 1924 to 23 January 1925. Anyone born in 1924 before 5 February 1924 belongs to the Water Pig year.
1924 is the year of the Wood Rat (甲子 Jiǎzǐ), from 5 February 1924 to 23 January 1925. Anyone born in 1924 before 5 February 1924 belongs to the Water Pig year.
- Animal: Rat
- Element: Wood (Yang)
- Cycle name: 甲子 Jiǎzǐ, year 1 of the 60-year cycle
- Starts: 5 February 1924
- Ends: 23 January 1925
The Wood Rat
Wood years are traditionally linked with growth, generosity and cooperation: the element of things that grow towards the light and make room for others. The Rat opens the twelve-year cycle, and tradition gives it the quickest mind of the twelve. Rat people are described as resourceful, sociable and alert to an opening before anyone else has noticed it. They save for a rainy day, read a room fast and like to have a plan and a spare plan.
Born in January or February 1924?
From 5 February 1924 the Wood Rat year begins.
How the dates are worked out
Each Chinese New Year here is worked out from the sky, not copied from a list. A lunar month starts on the day of a New Moon in China Standard Time (UTC+8, or Beijing local time before 1929). The month holding the December solstice is the 11th month. When 13 New Moons fall between two of those months, the first month with no principal solar term (the Sun reaching a multiple of 30 degrees) is a leap month. New Year is the first day of the 1st month, which is why it moves between 21 January and 20 February. New Moons and solar terms follow Jean Meeus's Astronomical Algorithms. The rules follow the Chinese calendar.