Someone born in January 1943 — Horse or Goat?

Horse. The Goat year did not begin until Lichun (立春), 5 Feb 1943, 00:40 (Beijing time, UTC+8), so every birthday from 1 January up to that instant still belongs to the Water Horse year 壬午. Chinese New Year 1943 fell on 5 February 1943, 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 1943 a Water Goat or an Earth Goat?

Water Goat, and both labels are describing something real. The element in the popular name comes from the year's heavenly stem, which for 1943 is 癸 — Yin Water. The Earth belongs to the branch 未, the Goat's own fixed element, and it does not change from one Goat year to the next. So 1943 is a Water stem sitting over an earth branch; its na yin, a third system again, is 杨柳木.

How old is someone born in 1943 in 2027?

83–84 by the ordinary count at Lichun 2027, and 85 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. 1943 is one of 9 Goat years between 1924 and 2027; in 2027 all of them stand in the same relationship to the Tai Sui — Presiding (Ben Ming Nian) 值太岁 — but each is a different age.

1943 Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Water Goat (癸未)

癸未 Gui Wei · Yin Water over the Goat's Earth branch · number 20 of 60

1943 was a 癸未 (Gui Wei) year — the 20th of the sixty stem-and-branch combinations, and in everyday English a Water Goat year. The element in that name comes from the heavenly stem 癸 (Yin Water); the branch 未, the Goat itself, carries Earth whatever the stem above it says. Its na yin, the older sixty-part scheme, reads 杨柳木 — a Wood na yin.

The 1943 zodiac year did not start on 1 January. It started at Lichun (立春), 5 Feb 1943, 00:40 (Beijing time, UTC+8), and ran until the instant before Lichun 1944, 5 Feb 1944, 06:22 (Beijing time, UTC+8). Chinese New Year 1943 fell on 5 February 1943, a separate boundary that festivals use; between the two dates the popular and the classical conventions disagree. Anyone born in January or early February 1943 should check the table below before claiming a sign.

1943 is one of 9 Goat years between 1924 and 2027, and one of 2 Water Goat years in that span (1943 and 2003), because stem and branch only line up again after sixty years: the same 癸未 pillar last stood in 1883 and returns in 2003.

Which sign a 1943 birthday belongs to

Two rows, one boundary: the zodiac year turns at Lichun, not at midnight on 1 January and not at Chinese New Year.
Born between (Beijing time)	Stem and branch	Sign	Why
1 January 1943, 00:00 → 5 February 1943, 00:40	壬午	Water Horse	Still the Horse year that opened in 1942.
5 February 1943, 00:40 → 31 December 1943, 23:59	癸未	Water Goat	The Goat year proper; it runs on past 31 December until Lichun 1944.

Born on 1 January 1943? That is a Horse, not a Goat: the Water Horse year 壬午 ran on until 5 February 1943 at 00:40 Beijing time.

Lichun is an astronomical instant, not a date: in 1943 it fell at 00:40 Beijing time (UTC+8). The instant itself starts the Goat year, so a birth at 00:40 on that day is already a Goat. 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 癸未 pillar

Every row is computed: the stem and branch from the Lichun boundary, the na yin from the sixty-cycle table, both dates from the Chinese calendar itself.
	1943
Stem and branch	癸未 (Gui Wei)
Place in the sixty-year cycle	20 of 60
Heavenly stem	癸 — Yin Water 水
Earthly branch	未 — the Goat 羊, fixed element Earth 土
Na yin (纳音)	杨柳木 — a Wood na yin
Lichun (start of the zodiac year)	5 Feb 1943, 00:40 (Beijing time, UTC+8)
Chinese New Year	5 February 1943
Same pillar last seen / next seen	1883 / 2003

Ten stems and twelve branches only return to the same pairing after sixty years, so 癸未 belongs to 1883, 1943 and 2003 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 Water Goat

Water Goat (Gui Wei) has Earth controlling Water, so the branch works on the stem, and the tradition reads it as feeling managed rather than expressed. It is the most sensitive and most private variant, associated with counselling, care and the arts, with a caution about carrying other people's difficulties home and keeping them there.

Five stems above one branch: the animal returns every twelve years, the exact pillar only every sixty, so the five variants are not evenly spread across any span shorter than that.
Variant	Stem and branch	Goat years 1924–2027
Wood Goat	乙未	1955, 2015
Fire Goat	丁未	1967, 2027
Earth Goat	己未	1979
Metal Goat	辛未	1931, 1991
Water Goat	癸未	1943, 2003

Every Goat year from 1924 to 2027

Born in 1943: the 2027 Goat year

The Tai Sui relationship and the lucky element belong to the sign, not to the birth year, so every Goat year on this site reads the same here; the ages do not.
	Goat born 1943
Age at Lichun 2027	83–84
Nominal age 虚岁	85
Relationship with the 2027 Tai Sui	Presiding (Ben Ming Nian) 值太岁
Traditional reading	Challenging — a major Tai Sui affliction
Ben Ming Nian 本命年	Yes — 2027 is a Goat year
Lucky element for the year	Water · black, blue · 1, 6 · North

At Lichun 2027 someone born in 1943 is 83 if their birthday has not yet come round and 84 if it has. The nominal age (虚岁), counted as one at birth and raised at each Chinese New Year, is 85 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 Goat in 2027. For the part of the sign that does not move with the year, see the Goat profile.

Frequently asked questions

Someone born in January 1943 — Horse or Goat?: Horse. The Goat year did not begin until Lichun (立春), 5 Feb 1943, 00:40 (Beijing time, UTC+8), so every birthday from 1 January up to that instant still belongs to the Water Horse year 壬午. Chinese New Year 1943 fell on 5 February 1943, 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 1943 a Water Goat or an Earth Goat?: Water Goat, and both labels are describing something real. The element in the popular name comes from the year's heavenly stem, which for 1943 is 癸 — Yin Water. The Earth belongs to the branch 未, the Goat's own fixed element, and it does not change from one Goat year to the next. So 1943 is a Water stem sitting over an earth branch; its na yin, a third system again, is 杨柳木.
How old is someone born in 1943 in 2027?: 83–84 by the ordinary count at Lichun 2027, and 85 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. 1943 is one of 9 Goat years between 1924 and 2027; in 2027 all of them stand in the same relationship to the Tai Sui — Presiding (Ben Ming Nian) 值太岁 — but each is a different age.