1929 Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Earth Snake (己巳)
己巳 Ji Si · Yin Earth over the Snake's Fire branch · number 6 of 60
1929 was a 己巳 (Ji Si) year — the 6th of the sixty stem-and-branch combinations, and in everyday English a Earth Snake year. The element in that name comes from the heavenly stem 己 (Yin Earth); the branch 巳, the Snake itself, carries Fire whatever the stem above it says. Its na yin, the older sixty-part scheme, reads 大林木 — a Wood na yin.
The 1929 zodiac year did not start on 1 January. It started at Lichun (立春), 4 Feb 1929, 15:08 (Beijing time, UTC+8), and ran until the instant before Lichun 1930, 4 Feb 1930, 20:51 (Beijing time, UTC+8). Chinese New Year 1929 fell on 10 February 1929, a separate boundary that festivals use; between the two dates the popular and the classical conventions disagree. Anyone born in January or early February 1929 should check the table below before claiming a sign.
1929 is one of 9 Snake years between 1924 and 2027, and one of 2 Earth Snake years in that span (1929 and 1989), because stem and branch only line up again after sixty years: the same 己巳 pillar last stood in 1869 and returns in 1989.
Which sign a 1929 birthday belongs to
| Born between (Beijing time) | Stem and branch | Sign | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January 1929, 00:00 → 4 February 1929, 15:08 | 戊辰 | Earth Dragon | Still the Dragon year that opened in 1928. |
| 4 February 1929, 15:08 → 31 December 1929, 23:59 | 己巳 | Earth Snake | The Snake year proper; it runs on past 31 December until Lichun 1930. |
Born on 1 January 1929? That is a Dragon, not a Snake: the Earth Dragon year 戊辰 ran on until 4 February 1929 at 15:08 Beijing time.
Lichun is an astronomical instant, not a date: in 1929 it fell at 15:08 Beijing time (UTC+8). The instant itself starts the Snake year, so a birth at 15:08 on that day is already a Snake. Convert your own birth moment to Beijing time first — a birth in the Americas on the previous evening can already be past Lichun in Beijing. Check an exact birth date and time.
The 己巳 pillar
| 1929 | |
|---|---|
| Stem and branch | 己巳 (Ji Si) |
| Place in the sixty-year cycle | 6 of 60 |
| Heavenly stem | 己 — Yin Earth 土 |
| Earthly branch | 巳 — the Snake 蛇, fixed element Fire 火 |
| Na yin (纳音) | 大林木 — a Wood na yin |
| Lichun (start of the zodiac year) | 4 Feb 1929, 15:08 (Beijing time, UTC+8) |
| Chinese New Year | 10 February 1929 |
| Same pillar last seen / next seen | 1869 / 1989 |
Ten stems and twelve branches only return to the same pairing after sixty years, so 己巳 belongs to 1869, 1929 and 1989 and to no year in between. That is why a sixtieth birthday is traditionally marked: it is the year the whole pillar comes back.
The Earth Snake
Earth Snake (Ji Si) draws out the branch's hidden Earth, since Si already stores Wu. Fire producing Earth gives a settled, practical Snake — the variant associated with land, institutions and slow accumulation, and the one most likely to build something conventional and hold it. The caution is caution itself: analysis used to justify staying put.
| Variant | Stem and branch | Snake years 1924–2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Wood Snake | 乙巳 | 1965, 2025 |
| Fire Snake | 丁巳 | 1977 |
| Earth Snake | 己巳 | 1929, 1989 |
| Metal Snake | 辛巳 | 1941, 2001 |
| Water Snake | 癸巳 | 1953, 2013 |
Every Snake year from 1924 to 2027
- 1929Earth Snake · this page
- 1941Metal Snake
- 1953Water Snake
- 1965Wood Snake
- 1977Fire Snake
- 1989Earth Snake
- 2001Metal Snake
- 2013Water Snake
- 2025Wood Snake
Born in 1929: the 2027 Goat year
| Snake born 1929 | |
|---|---|
| Age at Lichun 2027 | 97–98 |
| Nominal age 虚岁 | 99 |
| Relationship with the 2027 Tai Sui | None |
| Traditional reading | Steady — no direct relationship with the Tai Sui |
| Ben Ming Nian 本命年 | No — 2027 is a Goat year |
| Lucky element for the year | Wood · green, teal · 3, 8 · East |
At Lichun 2027 someone born in 1929 is 97 if their birthday has not yet come round and 98 if it has. The nominal age (虚岁), counted as one at birth and raised at each Chinese New Year, is 99 once New Year 2027 has passed.
The full reading — the month-by-month table, the five-element relationship with the year stem and the traditional remedies — is on Snake in 2027. For the part of the sign that does not move with the year, see the Snake profile.
Frequently asked questions
- Someone born in January 1929 — Dragon or Snake?
- Dragon. The Snake year did not begin until Lichun (立春), 4 Feb 1929, 15:08 (Beijing time, UTC+8), so every birthday from 1 January up to that instant still belongs to the Earth Dragon year 戊辰. Chinese New Year 1929 fell on 10 February 1929, which is a different boundary again; classical chart work uses Lichun. Convert your birth moment to Beijing time before comparing it, because the Chinese calendar is defined on that meridian.
- Is 1929 an Earth Snake or a Fire Snake?
- Earth Snake, and both labels are describing something real. The element in the popular name comes from the year's heavenly stem, which for 1929 is 己 — Yin Earth. The Fire belongs to the branch 巳, the Snake's own fixed element, and it does not change from one Snake year to the next. So 1929 is an Earth stem sitting over a fire branch; its na yin, a third system again, is 大林木.
- How old is someone born in 1929 in 2027?
- 97–98 by the ordinary count at Lichun 2027, and 99 by the nominal count (虚岁) that starts at one and rises at each Chinese New Year. The two answers differ because the ordinary count waits for the birthday and the nominal one does not. 1929 is one of 9 Snake years between 1924 and 2027; in 2027 all of them stand in the same relationship to the Tai Sui — None — but each is a different age.