2018 Chinese zodiac sign: Earth Dog

Chinese year 2018 begins on Friday, February 16, 2018, and ends on Monday, February 4, 2019, the day before the Year of the Earth Pig 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 2020.

The year opens with the new moon on Thursday, February 15, 2018 at 4:05 p.m. ET. In Beijing it is already February 16, 5:05 a.m. China Standard Time, and the Beijing date sets New Year's Day, so the new year begins on February 16. The partial solar eclipse takes place at this same new moon.

The Lantern Festival, which closes the New Year celebrations, comes on the fifteenth day of the first month, so on Friday, March 2, 2018. The year's first full moon falls on Thursday, March 1, 2018 at 7:51 p.m. ET.

It is year 35 of the sixty-year cycle that began in 1984 with the Wood Rat. In Chinese this year is called 戊戌 (wùxū): the heavenly stem 戊 gives the element and the earthly branch 戌 the animal.

In Ba Zi astrology, the Four Pillars of Destiny, the year 2018 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 Saturday, February 3, 2018 at 4:28 p.m. Eastern Time. That is 13 days before Chinese New Year, so anyone born between that moment and February 15 still has the Fire Rooster sign in the lunar calendar but already the Earth Dog 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.

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, 2018 (yang) and 2019 (yin), and comes back every ten years: before that in 2008–2009, next in 2028–2029.

Earth is the Dog's fixed element, and the Earth Dog is exceptionally reliable, calm and responsible. Family and friends can count on it in any situation, and in a crisis it keeps a cool head. It inspires trust without a word. Its weaker side is a caution that borders on pessimism.

In 2026, people born in 2018 turn 8 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 2018 reach their next běnmìngnián, the year of their own sign, in 2030, when they turn 12 years old.

The Dog comes back every 12 years, each time with a different element. The exact combination of 2018, the Earth Dog, returns every 60 years: in 1958, 2018 and 2078.