1958 Chinese zodiac sign: Earth Dog

Chinese year 1958 begins on Tuesday, February 18, 1958, and ends on Saturday, February 7, 1959, the day before the Year of the Earth Pig begins. It has 355 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 1960.

The year opens with the new moon on Tuesday, February 18, 1958 at 10:38 a.m. ET, which is 11:38 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 Tuesday, March 4, 1958. The year's first full moon falls on Wednesday, March 5, 1958 at 1:28 p.m. ET.

It is year 35 of the sixty-year cycle that began in 1924 with the Wood Rat. In Chinese this year is called 戊戌 (wùxū): the heavenly stem 戊 gives the element and the earthly branch 戌 the animal.

In Ba Zi astrology, the Four Pillars of Destiny, the year 1958 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 Tuesday, February 4, 1958 at 2:49 a.m. Eastern Time. That is 14 days before Chinese New Year, so anyone born between that moment and February 17 still has the Fire Rooster sign in the lunar calendar but already the Earth Dog sign in Ba Zi.

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

The Dog is the sign of loyalty and honesty. It is faithful to the people close to it, has a strong sense of justice and stands up for anyone who is being wronged.

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, 1958 (yang) and 1959 (yin), and comes back every ten years: before that in 1948–1949, next in 1968–1969.

Earth is the Dog's fixed element, and the Earth Dog is exceptionally reliable, calm and responsible. Family and friends can count on it in any situation, and in a crisis it keeps a cool head. It inspires trust without a word. Its weaker side is a caution that borders on pessimism.

In 2026, people born in 1958 turn 68 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 Dog. People born in 1958 reach their next běnmìngnián, the year of their own sign, in 2030, when they turn 72 years old.

The Dog comes back every 12 years, each time with a different element. The exact combination of 1958, the Earth Dog, returns every 60 years: in 1898, 1958 and 2018.