1988 Chinese zodiac sign: Earth Dragon

Chinese year 1988 begins on Wednesday, February 17, 1988, and ends on Sunday, February 5, 1989, the day before the Year of the Earth 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 1990.

The year opens with the new moon on Wednesday, February 17, 1988 at 10:54 a.m. ET, which is 11:54 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 Wednesday, March 2, 1988. The year's first full moon falls on Thursday, March 3, 1988 at 11:01 a.m. ET. The partial lunar eclipse takes place at this same full moon.

It is year 5 of the sixty-year cycle that began in 1984 with the Wood Rat. In Chinese this year is called 戊辰 (wùchén): the heavenly stem 戊 gives the element and the earthly branch 辰 the animal.

In Ba Zi astrology, the Four Pillars of Destiny, the year 1988 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 4, 1988 at 9:43 a.m. Eastern Time. That is 13 days before Chinese New Year, so anyone born between that moment and February 16 still has the Fire Rabbit sign in the lunar calendar but already the Earth 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.

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, 1988 (yang) and 1989 (yin), and comes back every ten years: before that in 1978–1979, next in 1998–1999.

Earth is the Dragon's fixed element, and the Earth Dragon combines big ambitions with realism. It is composed, manages people and money well, and inspires trust and respect. Instead of promising miracles, it plans them step by step. It demands a lot of itself and others, and accepts other people's ideas only after long discussions.

In 2026, people born in 1988 turn 38 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 1988 reach their next běnmìngnián, the year of their own sign, in 2036, when they turn 48 years old.

The Dragon comes back every 12 years, each time with a different element. The exact combination of 1988, the Earth Dragon, returns every 60 years: in 1928, 1988 and 2048.