1941 Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Metal Snake (辛巳)
辛巳 Xin Si · Yin Metal over the Snake's Fire branch · number 18 of 60
1941 was a 辛巳 (Xin Si) year — the 18th of the sixty stem-and-branch combinations, and in everyday English a Metal Snake year. The element in that name comes from the heavenly stem 辛 (Yin Metal); the branch 巳, the Snake itself, carries Fire whatever the stem above it says. Its na yin, the older sixty-part scheme, reads 白蜡金 — a Metal na yin.
The 1941 zodiac year did not start on 1 January. It started at Lichun (立春), 4 Feb 1941, 12:49 (Beijing time, UTC+8), and ran until the instant before Lichun 1942, 4 Feb 1942, 18:48 (Beijing time, UTC+8). Chinese New Year 1941 fell on 27 January 1941, a separate boundary that festivals use; between the two dates the popular and the classical conventions disagree. Anyone born in January or early February 1941 should check the table below before claiming a sign.
1941 is one of 9 Snake years between 1924 and 2027, and one of 2 Metal Snake years in that span (1941 and 2001), because stem and branch only line up again after sixty years: the same 辛巳 pillar last stood in 1881 and returns in 2001.
Which sign a 1941 birthday belongs to
| Born between (Beijing time) | Stem and branch | Sign | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January 1941, 00:00 → 4 February 1941, 12:49 | 庚辰 | Metal Dragon | Still the Dragon year that opened in 1940. |
| 4 February 1941, 12:49 → 31 December 1941, 23:59 | 辛巳 | Metal Snake | The Snake year proper; it runs on past 31 December until Lichun 1942. |
Born on 1 January 1941? That is a Dragon, not a Snake: the Metal Dragon year 庚辰 ran on until 4 February 1941 at 12:49 Beijing time.
Lichun is an astronomical instant, not a date: in 1941 it fell at 12:49 Beijing time (UTC+8). The instant itself starts the Snake year, so a birth at 12:49 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 辛巳 pillar
| 1941 | |
|---|---|
| Stem and branch | 辛巳 (Xin Si) |
| Place in the sixty-year cycle | 18 of 60 |
| Heavenly stem | 辛 — Yin Metal 金 |
| Earthly branch | 巳 — the Snake 蛇, fixed element Fire 火 |
| Na yin (纳音) | 白蜡金 — a Metal na yin |
| Lichun (start of the zodiac year) | 4 Feb 1941, 12:49 (Beijing time, UTC+8) |
| Chinese New Year | 27 January 1941 |
| Same pillar last seen / next seen | 1881 / 2001 |
Ten stems and twelve branches only return to the same pairing after sixty years, so 辛巳 belongs to 1881, 1941 and 2001 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 Snake
Metal Snake (Xin Si) brings the branch's hidden Metal to the surface. Fire over Metal is the controlling relationship, and the tradition reads it as judgement sharpened into a working instrument: precision, elegance, an unsentimental eye for flaws in a plan or a person. The classical note is that Xin Si is the least forgiving of the five, including towards itself.
| 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
- 1941Metal Snake · this page
- 1953Water Snake
- 1965Wood Snake
- 1977Fire Snake
- 1989Earth Snake
- 2001Metal Snake
- 2013Water Snake
- 2025Wood Snake
Born in 1941: the 2027 Goat year
| Snake born 1941 | |
|---|---|
| Age at Lichun 2027 | 85–86 |
| Nominal age 虚岁 | 87 |
| 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 1941 is 85 if their birthday has not yet come round and 86 if it has. The nominal age (虚岁), counted as one at birth and raised at each Chinese New Year, is 87 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 1941 — Dragon or Snake?
- Dragon. The Snake year did not begin until Lichun (立春), 4 Feb 1941, 12:49 (Beijing time, UTC+8), so every birthday from 1 January up to that instant still belongs to the Metal Dragon year 庚辰. Chinese New Year 1941 fell on 27 January 1941, 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 1941 a Metal Snake or a Fire Snake?
- Metal Snake, and both labels are describing something real. The element in the popular name comes from the year's heavenly stem, which for 1941 is 辛 — Yin Metal. 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 1941 is a Metal stem sitting over a fire branch; its na yin, a third system again, is 白蜡金.
- How old is someone born in 1941 in 2027?
- 85–86 by the ordinary count at Lichun 2027, and 87 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. 1941 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.