Someone born in January 1956 — Goat or Monkey?

Goat. The Monkey year did not begin until Lichun (立春), 5 Feb 1956, 04:11 (Beijing time, UTC+8), so every birthday from 1 January up to that instant still belongs to the Wood Goat year 乙未. Chinese New Year 1956 fell on 12 February 1956, 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 1956 a Fire Monkey or a Metal Monkey?

Fire Monkey, and both labels are describing something real. The element in the popular name comes from the year's heavenly stem, which for 1956 is 丙 — Yang Fire. The Metal belongs to the branch 申, the Monkey's own fixed element, and it does not change from one Monkey year to the next. So 1956 is a Fire stem sitting over a metal branch; its na yin, a third system again, is 山下火.

How old is someone born in 1956 in 2027?

70–71 by the ordinary count at Lichun 2027, and 72 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. 1956 is one of 8 Monkey 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.

1956 Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Fire Monkey (丙申)

丙申 Bing Shen · Yang Fire over the Monkey's Metal branch · number 33 of 60

1956 was a 丙申 (Bing Shen) year — the 33rd of the sixty stem-and-branch combinations, and in everyday English a Fire Monkey year. The element in that name comes from the heavenly stem 丙 (Yang Fire); the branch 申, the Monkey itself, carries Metal whatever the stem above it says. Its na yin, the older sixty-part scheme, reads 山下火 — a Fire na yin.

The 1956 zodiac year did not start on 1 January. It started at Lichun (立春), 5 Feb 1956, 04:11 (Beijing time, UTC+8), and ran until the instant before Lichun 1957, 4 Feb 1957, 09:54 (Beijing time, UTC+8). Chinese New Year 1956 fell on 12 February 1956, a separate boundary that festivals use; between the two dates the popular and the classical conventions disagree. Anyone born in January or early February 1956 should check the table below before claiming a sign.

1956 is one of 8 Monkey years between 1924 and 2027, and one of 2 Fire Monkey years in that span (1956 and 2016), because stem and branch only line up again after sixty years: the same 丙申 pillar last stood in 1896 and returns in 2016.

Which sign a 1956 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 1956, 00:00 → 5 February 1956, 04:11	乙未	Wood Goat	Still the Goat year that opened in 1955.
5 February 1956, 04:11 → 31 December 1956, 23:59	丙申	Fire Monkey	The Monkey year proper; it runs on past 31 December until Lichun 1957.

Born on 1 January 1956? That is a Goat, not a Monkey: the Wood Goat year 乙未 ran on until 5 February 1956 at 04:11 Beijing time.

Lichun is an astronomical instant, not a date: in 1956 it fell at 04:11 Beijing time (UTC+8). The instant itself starts the Monkey year, so a birth at 04:11 on that day is already a Monkey. 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 丙申 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.
	1956
Stem and branch	丙申 (Bing Shen)
Place in the sixty-year cycle	33 of 60
Heavenly stem	丙 — Yang Fire 火
Earthly branch	申 — the Monkey 猴, fixed element Metal 金
Na yin (纳音)	山下火 — a Fire na yin
Lichun (start of the zodiac year)	5 Feb 1956, 04:11 (Beijing time, UTC+8)
Chinese New Year	12 February 1956
Same pillar last seen / next seen	1896 / 2016

Ten stems and twelve branches only return to the same pairing after sixty years, so 丙申 belongs to 1896, 1956 and 2016 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 Fire Monkey

Fire Monkey (Bing Shen) sets yang Fire over Metal, the controlling relationship, which the texts read as brilliance refining itself under heat. Bing Shen is the most conspicuous of the five — performance, argument, public wit — and the classical note is that Fire melting Metal costs both, so the variant is warned about burning through allies as well as energy.

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	Monkey years 1924–2027
Wood Monkey	甲申	1944, 2004
Fire Monkey	丙申	1956, 2016
Earth Monkey	戊申	1968
Metal Monkey	庚申	1980
Water Monkey	壬申	1932, 1992

Every Monkey year from 1924 to 2027

Born in 1956: 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.
	Monkey born 1956
Age at Lichun 2027	70–71
Nominal age 虚岁	72
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 1956 is 70 if their birthday has not yet come round and 71 if it has. The nominal age (虚岁), counted as one at birth and raised at each Chinese New Year, is 72 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 Monkey in 2027. For the part of the sign that does not move with the year, see the Monkey profile.

Frequently asked questions

Someone born in January 1956 — Goat or Monkey?: Goat. The Monkey year did not begin until Lichun (立春), 5 Feb 1956, 04:11 (Beijing time, UTC+8), so every birthday from 1 January up to that instant still belongs to the Wood Goat year 乙未. Chinese New Year 1956 fell on 12 February 1956, 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 1956 a Fire Monkey or a Metal Monkey?: Fire Monkey, and both labels are describing something real. The element in the popular name comes from the year's heavenly stem, which for 1956 is 丙 — Yang Fire. The Metal belongs to the branch 申, the Monkey's own fixed element, and it does not change from one Monkey year to the next. So 1956 is a Fire stem sitting over a metal branch; its na yin, a third system again, is 山下火.
How old is someone born in 1956 in 2027?: 70–71 by the ordinary count at Lichun 2027, and 72 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. 1956 is one of 8 Monkey 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.