1964 Chinese zodiac sign: Wood Dragon

Chinese year 1964 begins on Thursday, February 13, 1964, and ends on Monday, February 1, 1965, the day before the Year of the Wood Snake 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 1966.

The year opens with the new moon on Thursday, February 13, 1964 at 8:01 a.m. ET, which is 9:01 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 27, 1964. The year's first full moon falls on Thursday, February 27, 1964 at 7:39 a.m. ET.

It is year 41 of the sixty-year cycle that began in 1924 with the Wood Rat. In Chinese this year is called 甲辰 (jiǎchén): the heavenly stem 甲 gives the element and the earthly branch 辰 the animal.

In Ba Zi astrology, the Four Pillars of Destiny, the year 1964 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, 1964 at 2:04 p.m. Eastern Time. That is 9 days before Chinese New Year, so anyone born between that moment and February 12 still has the Water Rabbit sign in the lunar calendar but already the Wood Dragon sign in Ba Zi.

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

The Dragon is the only mythical creature in the Chinese zodiac and a symbol of imperial power, which is why in China a Dragon year is considered the best time to have a baby. The sign carries energy, confidence and big ambitions.

Growth, curiosity and cooperation. Wood brings a gardener's patience: it builds slowly, with an eye on what will grow in the years ahead.

The Wood element covers two years in a row, 1964 (yang) and 1965 (yin), and comes back every ten years: before that in 1954–1955, next in 1974–1975.

Wood gives the Dragon imagination and openness. The Wood Dragon is creative, curious about the world and glad to share its ideas, and it cooperates better than other Dragons. It cares less about power and more about building something. Details and small tasks bore it quickly, though.

In 2026, people born in 1964 turn 62 years old. The Year of the Fire Horse is running now, which tradition counts as a year with no special tie for the Dragon. People born in 1964 reach their next běnmìngnián, the year of their own sign, in 2036, when they turn 72 years old.

The Dragon comes back every 12 years, each time with a different element. The exact combination of 1964, the Wood Dragon, returns every 60 years: in 1904, 1964 and 2024.