1950 Chinese zodiac sign: Metal Tiger

Chinese year 1950 begins on Friday, February 17, 1950, and ends on Monday, February 5, 1951, the day before the Year of the Metal Rabbit 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 1952.

The year opens with the new moon on Thursday, February 16, 1950 at 5:53 p.m. ET. In Beijing it is already February 17, 6:53 a.m. China Standard Time, and the Beijing date sets New Year's Day, so the new year begins on February 17.

The Lantern Festival, which closes the New Year celebrations, comes on the fifteenth day of the first month, so on Friday, March 3, 1950. The year's first full moon falls on Saturday, March 4, 1950 at 5:34 a.m. ET.

It is year 27 of the sixty-year cycle that began in 1924 with the Wood Rat. In Chinese this year is called 庚寅 (gēngyín): the heavenly stem 庚 gives the element and the earthly branch 寅 the animal.

In Ba Zi astrology, the Four Pillars of Destiny, the year 1950 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, 1950 at 4:20 a.m. Eastern Time. That is 13 days before Chinese New Year, so anyone born between that moment and February 16 still has the Earth Ox sign in the lunar calendar but already the Metal Tiger 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.

Determination, principles and a clear goal. Metal tempers a sign: it adds willpower, but can make it unbending.

The Metal element covers two years in a row, 1950 (yang) and 1951 (yin), and comes back every ten years: before that in 1940–1941, next in 1960–1961.

The Metal Tiger combines courage with an iron will. It is ambitious, self-assured and unyielding, unafraid of confrontation and steady in going after what it wants. It has strong opinions and a strong sense of justice. Compromise doesn't come easily, and in an argument it can be domineering.

In 2026, people born in 1950 turn 76 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 1950 reach their next běnmìngnián, the year of their own sign, in 2034, when they turn 84 years old.

The Tiger comes back every 12 years, each time with a different element. The exact combination of 1950, the Metal Tiger, returns every 60 years: in 1890, 1950 and 2010.