1956 Chinese zodiac sign: Fire Monkey

Chinese year 1956 begins on Sunday, February 12, 1956, and ends on Wednesday, January 30, 1957, the day before the Year of the Fire Rooster 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 1957.

The year opens with the new moon on Saturday, February 11, 1956 at 4:38 p.m. ET. In Beijing it is already February 12, 5:38 a.m. China Standard Time, and the Beijing date sets New Year's Day, so the new year begins on February 12.

The Lantern Festival, which closes the New Year celebrations, comes on the fifteenth day of the first month, so on Sunday, February 26, 1956. The year's first full moon falls on Saturday, February 25, 1956 at 8:42 p.m. ET.

It is year 33 of the sixty-year cycle that began in 1924 with the Wood Rat. In Chinese this year is called 丙申 (bǐngshēn): the heavenly stem 丙 gives the element and the earthly branch 申 the animal.

In Ba Zi astrology, the Four Pillars of Destiny, the year 1956 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, 1956 at 3:12 p.m. Eastern Time. That is 8 days before Chinese New Year, so anyone born between that moment and February 11 still has the Wood Goat sign in the lunar calendar but already the Fire Monkey sign in Ba Zi.

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

The Monkey is the sign of intelligence and inventiveness. It is brilliant, curious about the world and quick to learn, and it solves problems in unconventional ways.

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, 1956 (yang) and 1957 (yin), and comes back every ten years: before that in 1946–1947, next in 1966–1967.

The Fire Monkey loves to win. Fire gives it confidence, charisma and ambition, so it enjoys competition and feels great in the spotlight. It has tons of ideas and plenty of drive. When it wants something badly, it can bend the rules and play on other people's emotions.

In 2026, people born in 1956 turn 70 years old. The Year of the Fire Horse is running now, which tradition counts as a year with no special tie for the Monkey. People born in 1956 reach their next běnmìngnián, the year of their own sign, in 2028, when they turn 72 years old.

The Monkey comes back every 12 years, each time with a different element. The exact combination of 1956, the Fire Monkey, returns every 60 years: in 1896, 1956 and 2016.