1928 Chinese zodiac sign: Earth Dragon

Chinese year 1928 begins on Monday, January 23, 1928, and ends on Saturday, February 9, 1929, the day before the Year of the Earth Snake begins. It has a full 384 days, because it is a leap year with 13 lunar months; the next one comes in 1930. The Chinese calendar adds the extra month roughly every two or three years so that it doesn't drift away from the seasons.

The year opens with the new moon on Sunday, January 22, 1928 at 3:19 p.m. ET. In Beijing it is already January 23, 4:04 a.m. Beijing local mean time, and the Beijing date sets New Year's Day, so the new year begins on January 23.

The Lantern Festival, which closes the New Year celebrations, comes on the fifteenth day of the first month, so on Monday, February 6, 1928. The year's first full moon falls on Sunday, February 5, 1928 at 3:11 p.m. ET.

It is year 5 of the sixty-year cycle that began in 1924 with the Wood Rat. In Chinese this year is called 戊辰 (wùchén): the heavenly stem 戊 gives the element and the earthly branch 辰 the animal.

In Ba Zi astrology, the Four Pillars of Destiny, the year 1928 begins not at the lunar New Year but at the moment of lìchūn (立春, “start of spring”), when the Sun reaches 315° of ecliptic longitude: on Saturday, February 4, 1928 at 8:16 p.m. Eastern Time. That is 12 days after Chinese New Year, so anyone born between January 23 and that moment already has the Earth Dragon sign in the lunar calendar but still the Fire Rabbit sign in Ba Zi.

This page and the calculator give your sign by the lunar calendar.

The Dragon is the only mythical creature in the Chinese zodiac and a symbol of imperial power, which is why in China a Dragon year is considered the best time to have a baby. The sign carries energy, confidence and big ambitions.

Stability, common sense and care for the people close to you. Earth steadies every sign and makes it more realistic.

The Earth element covers two years in a row, 1928 (yang) and 1929 (yin), and comes back every ten years: before that in 1918–1919, next in 1938–1939.

Earth is the Dragon's fixed element, and the Earth Dragon combines big ambitions with realism. It is composed, manages people and money well, and inspires trust and respect. Instead of promising miracles, it plans them step by step. It demands a lot of itself and others, and accepts other people's ideas only after long discussions.

In 2026, people born in 1928 turn 98 years old. The Year of the Fire Horse is running now, which tradition counts as a year with no special tie for the Dragon. People born in 1928 reach their next běnmìngnián, the year of their own sign, in 2036, when they turn 108 years old.

The Dragon comes back every 12 years, each time with a different element. The exact combination of 1928, the Earth Dragon, returns every 60 years: in 1868, 1928 and 1988.