1937 Chinese zodiac sign: Fire Ox

Chinese year 1937 begins on Thursday, February 11, 1937, and ends on Sunday, January 30, 1938, the day before the Year of the Earth Tiger begins. It has 354 days, or 12 lunar months: each month starts on a new moon, so it is 29 or 30 days long. The next leap year, with a thirteenth month, comes in 1938.

The year opens with the new moon on Thursday, February 11, 1937 at 2:34 a.m. ET, which is 3:34 p.m. China Standard Time, so the date is the same in New York and in Beijing.

The Lantern Festival, which closes the New Year celebrations, comes on the fifteenth day of the first month, so on Thursday, February 25, 1937. The year's first full moon falls on Thursday, February 25, 1937 at 2:43 a.m. ET.

It is year 14 of the sixty-year cycle that began in 1924 with the Wood Rat. In Chinese this year is called 丁丑 (dīngchǒu): the heavenly stem 丁 gives the element and the earthly branch 丑 the animal.

In Ba Zi astrology, the Four Pillars of Destiny, the year 1937 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 Thursday, February 4, 1937 at 12:25 a.m. Eastern Time. That is 7 days before Chinese New Year, so anyone born between that moment and February 10 still has the Fire Rat sign in the lunar calendar but already the Fire Ox sign in Ba Zi.

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

The Ox, called the Buffalo in some sources, is the sign of perseverance. It works patiently, keeps its word and doesn't quit halfway, even when everyone else gave up long ago.

Passion, courage and a need for action. Fire adds temperament and charisma, along with a tendency to flare up.

The Fire element covers two years in a row, 1936 (yang) and 1937 (yin), and comes back every ten years: before that in 1926–1927, next in 1946–1947.

Fire gives the Ox the assertiveness it usually lacks. The Fire Ox is self-assured, has a talent for leadership and readily takes responsibility for others. It works with zeal but can be hot-tempered and proud. Admitting someone else is right costs it more effort than the whole project.

In 2026, people born in 1937 turn 89 years old. The Year of the Fire Horse is running now, which tradition counts as a year with no special tie for the Ox. People born in 1937 reach their next běnmìngnián, the year of their own sign, in 2033, when they turn 96 years old.

The Ox comes back every 12 years, each time with a different element. The exact combination of 1937, the Fire Ox, returns every 60 years: in 1877, 1937 and 1997.