Someone born in January 1949 — Rat or Ox?

Rat. The Ox year did not begin until Lichun (立春), 4 Feb 1949, 11:22 (Beijing time, UTC+8), so every birthday from 1 January up to that instant still belongs to the Earth Rat year 戊子. Chinese New Year 1949 fell on 29 January 1949, 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.

Why is 1949 called a Earth Ox twice over?

Because both halves of the pillar carry the same element. The stem 己 is Yin Earth, and the branch 丑 — the Ox itself — is fixed as Earth in the branch tables. 1949 is one of the years where the two agree, which is why tables that read the stem and tables that read the branch both print Earth Ox. Its na yin, a third and older system, reads 霹雳火 (Fire).

How old is someone born in 1949 in 2027?

77–78 by the ordinary count at Lichun 2027, and 79 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. 1949 is one of 9 Ox years between 1924 and 2027; in 2027 all of them stand in the same relationship to the Tai Sui — Clash 冲太岁 + Punishment 刑太岁 — but each is a different age.

1949 Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Earth Ox (己丑)

己丑 Ji Chou · Yin Earth over the Ox's Earth branch · number 26 of 60

1949 was a 己丑 (Ji Chou) year — the 26th of the sixty stem-and-branch combinations, and in everyday English a Earth Ox year. The element in that name comes from the heavenly stem 己 (Yin Earth); the branch 丑, the Ox itself, carries Earth whatever the stem above it says. Its na yin, the older sixty-part scheme, reads 霹雳火 — a Fire na yin.

The 1949 zodiac year did not start on 1 January. It started at Lichun (立春), 4 Feb 1949, 11:22 (Beijing time, UTC+8), and ran until the instant before Lichun 1950, 4 Feb 1950, 17:20 (Beijing time, UTC+8). Chinese New Year 1949 fell on 29 January 1949, a separate boundary that festivals use; between the two dates the popular and the classical conventions disagree. Anyone born in January or early February 1949 should check the table below before claiming a sign.

1949 is one of 9 Ox years between 1924 and 2027, and one of 2 Earth Ox years in that span (1949 and 2009), because stem and branch only line up again after sixty years: the same 己丑 pillar last stood in 1889 and returns in 2009.

Which sign a 1949 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 1949, 00:00 → 4 February 1949, 11:22	戊子	Earth Rat	Still the Rat year that opened in 1948.
4 February 1949, 11:22 → 31 December 1949, 23:59	己丑	Earth Ox	The Ox year proper; it runs on past 31 December until Lichun 1950.

Born on 1 January 1949? That is a Rat, not a Ox: the Earth Rat year 戊子 ran on until 4 February 1949 at 11:22 Beijing time.

Lichun is an astronomical instant, not a date: in 1949 it fell at 11:22 Beijing time (UTC+8). The instant itself starts the Ox year, so a birth at 11:22 on that day is already a Ox. 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 己丑 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.
	1949
Stem and branch	己丑 (Ji Chou)
Place in the sixty-year cycle	26 of 60
Heavenly stem	己 — Yin Earth 土
Earthly branch	丑 — the Ox 牛, fixed element Earth 土
Na yin (纳音)	霹雳火 — a Fire na yin
Lichun (start of the zodiac year)	4 Feb 1949, 11:22 (Beijing time, UTC+8)
Chinese New Year	29 January 1949
Same pillar last seen / next seen	1889 / 2009

Ten stems and twelve branches only return to the same pairing after sixty years, so 己丑 belongs to 1889, 1949 and 2009 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 Ox

Earth Ox (Ji Chou) doubles the element and is the most concentrated version of the sign. Stem and branch both Earth gives the texts their image of bedrock: extreme persistence, deep conservatism with money, strong attachment to home ground. The standard caution is isolation, since an Ox with nothing to soften it is read as slow to ask for anything, including help.

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	Ox years 1924–2027
Wood Ox	乙丑	1925, 1985
Fire Ox	丁丑	1937, 1997
Earth Ox	己丑	1949, 2009
Metal Ox	辛丑	1961, 2021
Water Ox	癸丑	1973

Every Ox year from 1924 to 2027

Born in 1949: 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.
	Ox born 1949
Age at Lichun 2027	77–78
Nominal age 虚岁	79
Relationship with the 2027 Tai Sui	Clash 冲太岁 + Punishment 刑太岁
Traditional reading	Challenging — a major Tai Sui affliction
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 1949 is 77 if their birthday has not yet come round and 78 if it has. The nominal age (虚岁), counted as one at birth and raised at each Chinese New Year, is 79 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 Ox in 2027. For the part of the sign that does not move with the year, see the Ox profile.

Frequently asked questions

Someone born in January 1949 — Rat or Ox?: Rat. The Ox year did not begin until Lichun (立春), 4 Feb 1949, 11:22 (Beijing time, UTC+8), so every birthday from 1 January up to that instant still belongs to the Earth Rat year 戊子. Chinese New Year 1949 fell on 29 January 1949, 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.
Why is 1949 called a Earth Ox twice over?: Because both halves of the pillar carry the same element. The stem 己 is Yin Earth, and the branch 丑 — the Ox itself — is fixed as Earth in the branch tables. 1949 is one of the years where the two agree, which is why tables that read the stem and tables that read the branch both print Earth Ox. Its na yin, a third and older system, reads 霹雳火 (Fire).
How old is someone born in 1949 in 2027?: 77–78 by the ordinary count at Lichun 2027, and 79 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. 1949 is one of 9 Ox years between 1924 and 2027; in 2027 all of them stand in the same relationship to the Tai Sui — Clash 冲太岁 + Punishment 刑太岁 — but each is a different age.