1938 Chinese zodiac sign: Earth Tiger

Chinese year 1938 begins on Monday, January 31, 1938, and ends on Saturday, February 18, 1939, the day before the Year of the Earth Rabbit begins. It has a full 384 days, because it is a leap year with 13 lunar months; the next one comes in 1941. 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 Monday, January 31, 1938 at 8:35 a.m. ET, which is 9:35 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 Monday, February 14, 1938. The year's first full moon falls on Monday, February 14, 1938 at 12:14 p.m. ET.

It is year 15 of the sixty-year cycle that began in 1924 with the Wood Rat. In Chinese this year is called 戊寅 (wùyín): the heavenly stem 戊 gives the element and the earthly branch 寅 the animal.

In Ba Zi astrology, the Four Pillars of Destiny, the year 1938 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 Friday, February 4, 1938 at 6:14 a.m. Eastern Time. That is 4 days after Chinese New Year, so anyone born between January 31 and that moment already has the Earth Tiger sign in the lunar calendar but still the Fire Ox sign in Ba Zi.

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

The Tiger is the sign of courage and energy. It loves a challenge, has a strong sense of justice and stands up for the underdog, even when it costs it.

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, 1938 (yang) and 1939 (yin), and comes back every ten years: before that in 1928–1929, next in 1948–1949.

Earth reins in the Tiger's impulsiveness and adds realism. The Earth Tiger checks where it will land before it leaps, which makes it a leader people trust. It is responsible and fair. Once it has made up its mind, though, it is hard to talk it into changing course, even when the facts have changed.

In 2026, people born in 1938 turn 88 years old. The Year of the Fire Horse is running now, which tradition counts as an ally's year from the same trine for the Tiger. People born in 1938 reach their next běnmìngnián, the year of their own sign, in 2034, when they turn 96 years old.

The Tiger comes back every 12 years, each time with a different element. The exact combination of 1938, the Earth Tiger, returns every 60 years: in 1878, 1938 and 1998.