1938 Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Earth Tiger (戊寅)

1938 was a 戊寅 (Wu Yin) year — the 15th of the sixty stem-and-branch combinations, and in everyday English a Earth Tiger year. The element in that name comes from the heavenly stem 戊 (Yang Earth); the branch 寅, the Tiger itself, carries Wood whatever the stem above it says. Its na yin, the older sixty-part scheme, reads 城头土 — an Earth na yin.

The 1938 zodiac year did not start on 1 January. It started at Lichun (立春), 4 Feb 1938, 19:14 (Beijing time, UTC+8), and ran until the instant before Lichun 1939, 5 Feb 1939, 01:10 (Beijing time, UTC+8). Chinese New Year 1938 fell on 31 January 1938, a separate boundary that festivals use; between the two dates the popular and the classical conventions disagree. Anyone born in January or early February 1938 should check the table below before claiming a sign.

1938 is one of 9 Tiger years between 1924 and 2027, and one of 2 Earth Tiger years in that span (1938 and 1998), because stem and branch only line up again after sixty years: the same 戊寅 pillar last stood in 1878 and returns in 1998.

Born on 1 January 1938? That is a Ox, not a Tiger: the Fire Ox year 丁丑 ran on until 4 February 1938 at 19:14 Beijing time.

Lichun is an astronomical instant, not a date: in 1938 it fell at 19:14 Beijing time (UTC+8). The instant itself starts the Tiger year, so a birth at 19:14 on that day is already a Tiger. 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.

Ten stems and twelve branches only return to the same pairing after sixty years, so 戊寅 belongs to 1878, 1938 and 1998 and to no year in between. That is why a sixtieth birthday is traditionally marked: it is the year the whole pillar comes back.

Earth Tiger (Wu Yin) puts Earth under Wood, the element the branch controls, which the texts read as a Tiger with ground to stand on. It is the practical variant: the same nerve applied to property, logistics or institutions, and a better record of finishing. The caution is that the combination can turn into stubborn pragmatism, courage narrowed to whatever can be measured.

At Lichun 2027 someone born in 1938 is 88 if their birthday has not yet come round and 89 if it has. The nominal age (虚岁), counted as one at birth and raised at each Chinese New Year, is 90 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 Tiger in 2027. For the part of the sign that does not move with the year, see the Tiger profile.