1978 Chinese zodiac sign: Earth Horse

Chinese year 1978 begins on Tuesday, February 7, 1978, and ends on Saturday, January 27, 1979, the day before the Year of the Earth Goat 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 1979.

The year opens with the new moon on Tuesday, February 7, 1978 at 9:54 a.m. ET, which is 10:54 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, February 21, 1978. The year's first full moon falls on Wednesday, February 22, 1978 at 8:27 p.m. ET.

It is year 55 of the sixty-year cycle that began in 1924 with the Wood Rat. In Chinese this year is called 戊午 (wùwǔ): the heavenly stem 戊 gives the element and the earthly branch 午 the animal.

In Ba Zi astrology, the Four Pillars of Destiny, the year 1978 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 Friday, February 3, 1978 at 11:26 p.m. Eastern Time. That is 4 days before Chinese New Year, so anyone born between that moment and February 6 still has the Fire Snake sign in the lunar calendar but already the Earth Horse sign in Ba Zi.

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

The Horse is the sign of freedom and energy. It is sociable, honest and enthusiastic, and it loves movement, travel and new experiences.

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, 1978 (yang) and 1979 (yin), and comes back every ten years: before that in 1968–1969, next in 1988–1989.

Earth cools the Horse's impulsiveness. The Earth Horse checks the map before it sets off, which makes it the most thoughtful of its family. It works steadily and handles money sensibly, while keeping the Horse's cheerful spirit. When it comes to truly important decisions, though, it can hesitate for a long time.

In 2026, people born in 1978 turn 48 years old. The Year of the Fire Horse is running now, so for people born in the Year of the Earth Horse it is their fourth běnmìngnián, the year of their own sign. Tradition sees it as a time of tests and change, and a touch of red in what you wear is meant to keep bad luck away.

The Horse comes back every 12 years, each time with a different element. The exact combination of 1978, the Earth Horse, returns every 60 years: in 1918, 1978 and 2038.