Someone born in January 1979 — Horse or Goat?

Horse. The Goat year did not begin until Lichun (立春), 4 Feb 1979, 18:12 (Beijing time, UTC+8), so every birthday from 1 January up to that instant still belongs to the Earth Horse year 戊午. Chinese New Year 1979 fell on 28 January 1979, 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 1979 called a Earth Goat twice over?

Because both halves of the pillar carry the same element. The stem 己 is Yin Earth, and the branch 未 — the Goat itself — is fixed as Earth in the branch tables. 1979 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 Goat. Its na yin, a third and older system, reads 天上火 (Fire).

How old is someone born in 1979 in 2027?

47–48 by the ordinary count at Lichun 2027, and 49 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. 1979 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.

1979 Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Earth Goat (己未)

己未 Ji Wei · Yin Earth over the Goat's Earth branch · number 56 of 60

1979 was a 己未 (Ji Wei) year — the 56th of the sixty stem-and-branch combinations, and in everyday English a Earth Goat year. The element in that name comes from the heavenly stem 己 (Yin Earth); the branch 未, the Goat itself, carries Earth whatever the stem above it says. Its na yin, the older sixty-part scheme, reads 天上火 — a Fire na yin.

The 1979 zodiac year did not start on 1 January. It started at Lichun (立春), 4 Feb 1979, 18:12 (Beijing time, UTC+8), and ran until the instant before Lichun 1980, 5 Feb 1980, 00:09 (Beijing time, UTC+8). Chinese New Year 1979 fell on 28 January 1979, a separate boundary that festivals use; between the two dates the popular and the classical conventions disagree. Anyone born in January or early February 1979 should check the table below before claiming a sign.

1979 is one of 9 Goat years between 1924 and 2027, and the only Earth Goat year in that span, because stem and branch only line up again after sixty years: the same 己未 pillar last stood in 1919 and returns in 2039.

Which sign a 1979 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 1979, 00:00 → 4 February 1979, 18:12	戊午	Earth Horse	Still the Horse year that opened in 1978.
4 February 1979, 18:12 → 31 December 1979, 23:59	己未	Earth Goat	The Goat year proper; it runs on past 31 December until Lichun 1980.

Born on 1 January 1979? That is a Horse, not a Goat: the Earth Horse year 戊午 ran on until 4 February 1979 at 18:12 Beijing time.

Lichun is an astronomical instant, not a date: in 1979 it fell at 18:12 Beijing time (UTC+8). The instant itself starts the Goat year, so a birth at 18:12 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 己未 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.
	1979
Stem and branch	己未 (Ji Wei)
Place in the sixty-year cycle	56 of 60
Heavenly stem	己 — Yin Earth 土
Earthly branch	未 — the Goat 羊, fixed element Earth 土
Na yin (纳音)	天上火 — a Fire na yin
Lichun (start of the zodiac year)	4 Feb 1979, 18:12 (Beijing time, UTC+8)
Chinese New Year	28 January 1979
Same pillar last seen / next seen	1919 / 2039

Ten stems and twelve branches only return to the same pairing after sixty years, so 己未 belongs to 1919, 1979 and 2039 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 Goat

Earth Goat (Ji Wei) doubles the element and is the most self-contained version of the sign. Stem and branch both Earth gives the texts an image of ground closed over the vault: very hard to read, very slow to move, unusually attached to home and to routine. The caution is that the stored Wood is hardest to release here, so the talent needs an external deadline.

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 1979: 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 1979
Age at Lichun 2027	47–48
Nominal age 虚岁	49
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 1979 is 47 if their birthday has not yet come round and 48 if it has. The nominal age (虚岁), counted as one at birth and raised at each Chinese New Year, is 49 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 1979 — Horse or Goat?: Horse. The Goat year did not begin until Lichun (立春), 4 Feb 1979, 18:12 (Beijing time, UTC+8), so every birthday from 1 January up to that instant still belongs to the Earth Horse year 戊午. Chinese New Year 1979 fell on 28 January 1979, 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 1979 called a Earth Goat twice over?: Because both halves of the pillar carry the same element. The stem 己 is Yin Earth, and the branch 未 — the Goat itself — is fixed as Earth in the branch tables. 1979 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 Goat. Its na yin, a third and older system, reads 天上火 (Fire).
How old is someone born in 1979 in 2027?: 47–48 by the ordinary count at Lichun 2027, and 49 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. 1979 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.