1940 Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Metal Dragon (庚辰)
庚辰 Geng Chen · Yang Metal over the Dragon's Earth branch · number 17 of 60
1940 was a 庚辰 (Geng Chen) year — the 17th of the sixty stem-and-branch combinations, and in everyday English a Metal Dragon year. The element in that name comes from the heavenly stem 庚 (Yang Metal); the branch 辰, the Dragon itself, carries Earth whatever the stem above it says. Its na yin, the older sixty-part scheme, reads 白蜡金 — a Metal na yin.
The 1940 zodiac year did not start on 1 January. It started at Lichun (立春), 5 Feb 1940, 07:07 (Beijing time, UTC+8), and ran until the instant before Lichun 1941, 4 Feb 1941, 12:49 (Beijing time, UTC+8). Chinese New Year 1940 fell on 8 February 1940, a separate boundary that festivals use; between the two dates the popular and the classical conventions disagree. Anyone born in January or early February 1940 should check the table below before claiming a sign.
1940 is one of 9 Dragon years between 1924 and 2027, and one of 2 Metal Dragon years in that span (1940 and 2000), because stem and branch only line up again after sixty years: the same 庚辰 pillar last stood in 1880 and returns in 2000.
Which sign a 1940 birthday belongs to
| Born between (Beijing time) | Stem and branch | Sign | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January 1940, 00:00 → 5 February 1940, 07:07 | 己卯 | Earth Rabbit | Still the Rabbit year that opened in 1939. |
| 5 February 1940, 07:07 → 31 December 1940, 23:59 | 庚辰 | Metal Dragon | The Dragon year proper; it runs on past 31 December until Lichun 1941. |
Born on 1 January 1940? That is a Rabbit, not a Dragon: the Earth Rabbit year 己卯 ran on until 5 February 1940 at 07:07 Beijing time.
Lichun is an astronomical instant, not a date: in 1940 it fell at 07:07 Beijing time (UTC+8). The instant itself starts the Dragon year, so a birth at 07:07 on that day is already a Dragon. 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 庚辰 pillar
| 1940 | |
|---|---|
| Stem and branch | 庚辰 (Geng Chen) |
| Place in the sixty-year cycle | 17 of 60 |
| Heavenly stem | 庚 — Yang Metal 金 |
| Earthly branch | 辰 — the Dragon 龙, fixed element Earth 土 |
| Na yin (纳音) | 白蜡金 — a Metal na yin |
| Lichun (start of the zodiac year) | 5 Feb 1940, 07:07 (Beijing time, UTC+8) |
| Chinese New Year | 8 February 1940 |
| Same pillar last seen / next seen | 1880 / 2000 |
Ten stems and twelve branches only return to the same pairing after sixty years, so 庚辰 belongs to 1880, 1940 and 2000 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 Metal Dragon
Metal Dragon (Geng Chen) has Metal producing Water, so the stem replenishes what the branch stores. The reading is command: decisive, structural, comfortable with hierarchy and with hard decisions about people. Geng Chen appears in the texts as the variant most likely to hold formal authority, with the matching caution that the self-punishment turns into perfectionism about other people's work.
| Variant | Stem and branch | Dragon years 1924–2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Wood Dragon | 甲辰 | 1964, 2024 |
| Fire Dragon | 丙辰 | 1976 |
| Earth Dragon | 戊辰 | 1928, 1988 |
| Metal Dragon | 庚辰 | 1940, 2000 |
| Water Dragon | 壬辰 | 1952, 2012 |
Every Dragon year from 1924 to 2027
- 1928Earth Dragon
- 1940Metal Dragon · this page
- 1952Water Dragon
- 1964Wood Dragon
- 1976Fire Dragon
- 1988Earth Dragon
- 2000Metal Dragon
- 2012Water Dragon
- 2024Wood Dragon
Born in 1940: the 2027 Goat year
| Dragon born 1940 | |
|---|---|
| Age at Lichun 2027 | 86–87 |
| Nominal age 虚岁 | 88 |
| 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 | Water · black, blue · 1, 6 · North |
At Lichun 2027 someone born in 1940 is 86 if their birthday has not yet come round and 87 if it has. The nominal age (虚岁), counted as one at birth and raised at each Chinese New Year, is 88 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 Dragon in 2027. For the part of the sign that does not move with the year, see the Dragon profile.
Frequently asked questions
- Someone born in January 1940 — Rabbit or Dragon?
- Rabbit. The Dragon year did not begin until Lichun (立春), 5 Feb 1940, 07:07 (Beijing time, UTC+8), so every birthday from 1 January up to that instant still belongs to the Earth Rabbit year 己卯. Chinese New Year 1940 fell on 8 February 1940, 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 1940 a Metal Dragon or an Earth Dragon?
- Metal Dragon, and both labels are describing something real. The element in the popular name comes from the year's heavenly stem, which for 1940 is 庚 — Yang Metal. The Earth belongs to the branch 辰, the Dragon's own fixed element, and it does not change from one Dragon year to the next. So 1940 is a Metal stem sitting over an earth branch; its na yin, a third system again, is 白蜡金.
- How old is someone born in 1940 in 2027?
- 86–87 by the ordinary count at Lichun 2027, and 88 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. 1940 is one of 9 Dragon 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.