2011 Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Metal Rabbit (辛卯)

2011 was a 辛卯 (Xin Mao) year — the 28th of the sixty stem-and-branch combinations, and in everyday English a Metal Rabbit year. The element in that name comes from the heavenly stem 辛 (Yin Metal); the branch 卯, the Rabbit itself, carries Wood whatever the stem above it says. Its na yin, the older sixty-part scheme, reads 松柏木 — a Wood na yin.

The 2011 zodiac year did not start on 1 January. It started at Lichun (立春), 4 Feb 2011, 12:32 (Beijing time, UTC+8), and ran until the instant before Lichun 2012, 4 Feb 2012, 18:22 (Beijing time, UTC+8). Chinese New Year 2011 fell on 3 February 2011, a separate boundary that festivals use; between the two dates the popular and the classical conventions disagree. Anyone born in January or early February 2011 should check the table below before claiming a sign.

2011 is one of 9 Rabbit years between 1924 and 2027, and one of 2 Metal Rabbit years in that span (1951 and 2011), because stem and branch only line up again after sixty years: the same 辛卯 pillar last stood in 1951 and returns in 2071.

Born on 1 January 2011? That is a Tiger, not a Rabbit: the Metal Tiger year 庚寅 ran on until 4 February 2011 at 12:32 Beijing time.

Lichun is an astronomical instant, not a date: in 2011 it fell at 12:32 Beijing time (UTC+8). The instant itself starts the Rabbit year, so a birth at 12:32 on that day is already a Rabbit. 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.

Ten stems and twelve branches only return to the same pairing after sixty years, so 辛卯 belongs to 1951, 2011 and 2071 and to no year in between. That is why a sixtieth birthday is traditionally marked: it is the year the whole pillar comes back.

Metal Rabbit (Xin Mao) puts refined Metal over Wood, the controlling relationship, and the tradition treats it as elegance with a blade in it. Judgement sharpens: standards of quality, an unsentimental read of people, a willingness to end things cleanly. The classical note is that the pressure falls on the branch, so this variant is described as harder on itself than it looks.

At Lichun 2027 someone born in 2011 is 15 if their birthday has not yet come round and 16 if it has. The nominal age (虚岁), counted as one at birth and raised at each Chinese New Year, is 17 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 Rabbit in 2027. For the part of the sign that does not move with the year, see the Rabbit profile.