1977 Chinese zodiac sign: Fire Snake

Chinese year 1977 begins on Friday, February 18, 1977, and ends on Monday, February 6, 1978, the day before the Year of the Earth Horse 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 1979.

The year opens with the new moon on Thursday, February 17, 1977 at 10:37 p.m. ET. In Beijing it is already February 18, 11:37 a.m. China Standard Time, and the Beijing date sets New Year's Day, so the new year begins on February 18.

The Lantern Festival, which closes the New Year celebrations, comes on the fifteenth day of the first month, so on Friday, March 4, 1977. The year's first full moon falls on Saturday, March 5, 1977 at 12:13 p.m. ET.

It is year 54 of the sixty-year cycle that began in 1924 with the Wood Rat. In Chinese this year is called 丁巳 (dīngsì): the heavenly stem 丁 gives the element and the earthly branch 巳 the animal.

In Ba Zi astrology, the Four Pillars of Destiny, the year 1977 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 Thursday, February 3, 1977 at 5:33 p.m. Eastern Time. That is 15 days before Chinese New Year, so anyone born between that moment and February 17 still has the Fire Dragon sign in the lunar calendar but already the Fire Snake sign in Ba Zi.

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

The Snake is the sign of wisdom and intuition. It observes quietly, analyzes and acts only once it understands the situation well, and then it is rarely wrong.

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, 1976 (yang) and 1977 (yin), and comes back every ten years: before that in 1966–1967, next in 1986–1987.

Fire is the Snake's fixed element, and the Fire Snake is self-assured, ambitious and charismatic. Its intuition works in a flash, and its gift for persuasion helps it win influence and people. It likes power and is comfortable with it. It can also be suspicious and possessive, and it remembers a slight for years.

In 2026, people born in 1977 turn 49 years old. The Year of the Fire Horse is running now, which tradition counts as a year with no special tie for the Snake. People born in 1977 reach their next běnmìngnián, the year of their own sign, in 2037, when they turn 60 years old.

The Snake comes back every 12 years, each time with a different element. The exact combination of 1977, the Fire Snake, returns every 60 years: in 1917, 1977 and 2037.