2032 Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Water Rat

2032 is the year of the Water Rat (壬子 Rénzǐ), from 11 February 2032 to 30 January 2033. Anyone born in 2032 before 11 February 2032 belongs to the Metal Pig year.

• Animal: Rat
• Element: Water (Yang)
• Cycle name: 壬子 Rénzǐ, year 49 of the 60-year cycle
• Starts: 11 February 2032
• Ends: 30 January 2033

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 2032?

Anyone born from 1 January to 10 February 2032 belongs to the Metal Pig year of 2031. From 11 February 2032 the Water 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.

2031: Metal Pig · 2033: Water Ox · All Rat years · All 12 animals