1972 Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Water Rat

1972 is the year of the Water Rat (壬子 Rénzǐ), from 15 February 1972 to 2 February 1973. Anyone born in 1972 before 15 February 1972 belongs to the Metal Pig year.

• Animal: Rat
• Element: Water (Yang)
• Cycle name: 壬子 Rénzǐ, year 49 of the 60-year cycle
• Starts: 15 February 1972
• Ends: 2 February 1973

The Water Rat

Water years are traditionally linked with adaptability, perception and communication: the element that finds a way around any obstacle. 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 1972?

Anyone born from 1 January to 14 February 1972 belongs to the Metal Pig year of 1971. From 15 February 1972 the Water Rat year begins.

Famous people born in the Water Rat year

• Shaquille O'Neal, born 6 March 1972
• Dwayne Johnson, born 2 May 1972
• Zinedine Zidane, born 23 June 1972
• Cameron Diaz, born 30 August 1972
• Idris Elba, born 6 September 1972
• Gwyneth Paltrow, born 27 September 1972
• Eminem, born 17 October 1972
• Jude Law, born 29 December 1972

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.

1971: Metal Pig · 1973: Water Ox · All Rat years · All 12 animals