2014 Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Wood Horse (甲午)
甲午 Jia Wu · Yang Wood over the Horse's Fire branch · number 31 of 60
2014 was a 甲午 (Jia Wu) year — the 31st of the sixty stem-and-branch combinations, and in everyday English a Wood Horse year. The element in that name comes from the heavenly stem 甲 (Yang Wood); the branch 午, the Horse itself, carries Fire whatever the stem above it says. Its na yin, the older sixty-part scheme, reads 沙中金 — a Metal na yin.
The 2014 zodiac year did not start on 1 January. It started at Lichun (立春), 4 Feb 2014, 06:03 (Beijing time, UTC+8), and ran until the instant before Lichun 2015, 4 Feb 2015, 11:58 (Beijing time, UTC+8). Chinese New Year 2014 fell on 31 January 2014, a separate boundary that festivals use; between the two dates the popular and the classical conventions disagree. Anyone born in January or early February 2014 should check the table below before claiming a sign.
2014 is one of 9 Horse years between 1924 and 2027, and one of 2 Wood Horse years in that span (1954 and 2014), because stem and branch only line up again after sixty years: the same 甲午 pillar last stood in 1954 and returns in 2074.
Which sign a 2014 birthday belongs to
| Born between (Beijing time) | Stem and branch | Sign | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2014, 00:00 → 4 February 2014, 06:03 | 癸巳 | Water Snake | Still the Snake year that opened in 2013. |
| 4 February 2014, 06:03 → 31 December 2014, 23:59 | 甲午 | Wood Horse | The Horse year proper; it runs on past 31 December until Lichun 2015. |
Born on 1 January 2014? That is a Snake, not a Horse: the Water Snake year 癸巳 ran on until 4 February 2014 at 06:03 Beijing time.
Lichun is an astronomical instant, not a date: in 2014 it fell at 06:03 Beijing time (UTC+8). The instant itself starts the Horse year, so a birth at 06:03 on that day is already a Horse. 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 甲午 pillar
| 2014 | |
|---|---|
| Stem and branch | 甲午 (Jia Wu) |
| Place in the sixty-year cycle | 31 of 60 |
| Heavenly stem | 甲 — Yang Wood 木 |
| Earthly branch | 午 — the Horse 马, fixed element Fire 火 |
| Na yin (纳音) | 沙中金 — a Metal na yin |
| Lichun (start of the zodiac year) | 4 Feb 2014, 06:03 (Beijing time, UTC+8) |
| Chinese New Year | 31 January 2014 |
| Same pillar last seen / next seen | 1954 / 2074 |
Ten stems and twelve branches only return to the same pairing after sixty years, so 甲午 belongs to 1954, 2014 and 2074 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 Wood Horse
Wood Horse (Jia Wu) feeds Fire with yang Wood, the producing relationship, and the tradition reads it as momentum with principle: a Horse that runs towards something it believes in rather than away from boredom. Jia Wu is the variant associated with public causes and with teaching, and the caution is that the fuel burns fastest when the cause supplies the excuse.
| Variant | Stem and branch | Horse years 1924–2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Wood Horse | 甲午 | 1954, 2014 |
| Fire Horse | 丙午 | 1966, 2026 |
| Earth Horse | 戊午 | 1978 |
| Metal Horse | 庚午 | 1930, 1990 |
| Water Horse | 壬午 | 1942, 2002 |
Every Horse year from 1924 to 2027
- 1930Metal Horse
- 1942Water Horse
- 1954Wood Horse
- 1966Fire Horse
- 1978Earth Horse
- 1990Metal Horse
- 2002Water Horse
- 2014Wood Horse · this page
- 2026Fire Horse
Born in 2014: the 2027 Goat year
| Horse born 2014 | |
|---|---|
| Age at Lichun 2027 | 12–13 |
| Nominal age 虚岁 | 14 |
| Relationship with the 2027 Tai Sui | Six Harmony 六合 |
| Traditional reading | Favourable — supported by the Tai Sui |
| Ben Ming Nian 本命年 | No — 2027 is a Goat year |
| Lucky element for the year | Wood · green, teal · 3, 8 · East |
At Lichun 2027 someone born in 2014 is 12 if their birthday has not yet come round and 13 if it has. The nominal age (虚岁), counted as one at birth and raised at each Chinese New Year, is 14 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 Horse in 2027. For the part of the sign that does not move with the year, see the Horse profile.
Frequently asked questions
- Someone born in January 2014 — Snake or Horse?
- Snake. The Horse year did not begin until Lichun (立春), 4 Feb 2014, 06:03 (Beijing time, UTC+8), so every birthday from 1 January up to that instant still belongs to the Water Snake year 癸巳. Chinese New Year 2014 fell on 31 January 2014, 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 2014 a Wood Horse or a Fire Horse?
- Wood Horse, and both labels are describing something real. The element in the popular name comes from the year's heavenly stem, which for 2014 is 甲 — Yang Wood. The Fire belongs to the branch 午, the Horse's own fixed element, and it does not change from one Horse year to the next. So 2014 is a Wood stem sitting over a fire branch; its na yin, a third system again, is 沙中金.
- How old is someone born in 2014 in 2027?
- 12–13 by the ordinary count at Lichun 2027, and 14 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. 2014 is one of 9 Horse years between 1924 and 2027; in 2027 all of them stand in the same relationship to the Tai Sui — Six Harmony 六合 — but each is a different age.