2006 Chinese zodiac sign: Fire Dog

Chinese year 2006 begins on Sunday, January 29, 2006, and ends on Saturday, February 17, 2007, the day before the Year of the Fire Pig begins. It has a full 385 days, because it is a leap year with 13 lunar months; the next one comes in 2009. The Chinese calendar adds the extra month roughly every two or three years so that it doesn't drift away from the seasons.

The year opens with the new moon on Sunday, January 29, 2006 at 9:15 a.m. ET, which is 10:15 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 Sunday, February 12, 2006. The year's first full moon falls on Sunday, February 12, 2006 at 11:45 p.m. ET.

It is year 23 of the sixty-year cycle that began in 1984 with the Wood Rat. In Chinese this year is called 丙戌 (bǐngxū): the heavenly stem 丙 gives the element and the earthly branch 戌 the animal.

In Ba Zi astrology, the Four Pillars of Destiny, the year 2006 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, 2006 at 6:27 p.m. Eastern Time. That is 5 days after Chinese New Year, so anyone born between January 29 and that moment already has the Fire Dog sign in the lunar calendar but still the Wood Rooster 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.

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, 2006 (yang) and 2007 (yin), and comes back every ten years: before that in 1996–1997, next in 2016–2017.

The Fire Dog fights for justice out loud. Fire adds courage, energy and charisma, so it readily takes the lead and defends those who are being wronged. It is honest and faithful. When it senses injustice, though, it reacts more forcefully than the situation calls for.

In 2026, people born in 2006 turn 20 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 2006 reach their next běnmìngnián, the year of their own sign, in 2030, when they turn 24 years old.

The Dog comes back every 12 years, each time with a different element. The exact combination of 2006, the Fire Dog, returns every 60 years: in 1946, 2006 and 2066.