2017 Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Fire Rooster (丁酉)
丁酉 Ding You · Yin Fire over the Rooster's Metal branch · number 34 of 60
2017 was a 丁酉 (Ding You) year — the 34th of the sixty stem-and-branch combinations, and in everyday English a Fire Rooster year. The element in that name comes from the heavenly stem 丁 (Yin Fire); the branch 酉, the Rooster 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 2017 zodiac year did not start on 1 January. It started at Lichun (立春), 3 Feb 2017, 23:34 (Beijing time, UTC+8), and ran until the instant before Lichun 2018, 4 Feb 2018, 05:28 (Beijing time, UTC+8). Chinese New Year 2017 fell on 28 January 2017, a separate boundary that festivals use; between the two dates the popular and the classical conventions disagree. Anyone born in January or early February 2017 should check the table below before claiming a sign.
2017 is one of 8 Rooster years between 1924 and 2027, and one of 2 Fire Rooster years in that span (1957 and 2017), because stem and branch only line up again after sixty years: the same 丁酉 pillar last stood in 1957 and returns in 2077.
Which sign a 2017 birthday belongs to
| Born between (Beijing time) | Stem and branch | Sign | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2017, 00:00 → 3 February 2017, 23:34 | 丙申 | Fire Monkey | Still the Monkey year that opened in 2016. |
| 3 February 2017, 23:34 → 31 December 2017, 23:59 | 丁酉 | Fire Rooster | The Rooster year proper; it runs on past 31 December until Lichun 2018. |
Born on 1 January 2017? That is a Monkey, not a Rooster: the Fire Monkey year 丙申 ran on until 3 February 2017 at 23:34 Beijing time.
Lichun is an astronomical instant, not a date: in 2017 it fell at 23:34 Beijing time (UTC+8). The instant itself starts the Rooster year, so a birth at 23:34 on that day is already a Rooster. 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 丁酉 pillar
| 2017 | |
|---|---|
| Stem and branch | 丁酉 (Ding You) |
| Place in the sixty-year cycle | 34 of 60 |
| Heavenly stem | 丁 — Yin Fire 火 |
| Earthly branch | 酉 — the Rooster 鸡, fixed element Metal 金 |
| Na yin (纳音) | 山下火 — a Fire na yin |
| Lichun (start of the zodiac year) | 3 Feb 2017, 23:34 (Beijing time, UTC+8) |
| Chinese New Year | 28 January 2017 |
| Same pillar last seen / next seen | 1957 / 2077 |
Ten stems and twelve branches only return to the same pairing after sixty years, so 丁酉 belongs to 1957, 2017 and 2077 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 Rooster
Fire Rooster (Ding You) sets yin Fire over refined Metal, the controlling relationship, and the classical image is the goldsmith's flame — heat used deliberately to shape something valuable. The variant is read as the most expressive: performance, advocacy, argument made elegant. The caution is that the flame is applied to people as readily as to work.
| Variant | Stem and branch | Rooster years 1924–2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Wood Rooster | 乙酉 | 1945, 2005 |
| Fire Rooster | 丁酉 | 1957, 2017 |
| Earth Rooster | 己酉 | 1969 |
| Metal Rooster | 辛酉 | 1981 |
| Water Rooster | 癸酉 | 1933, 1993 |
Every Rooster year from 1924 to 2027
- 1933Water Rooster
- 1945Wood Rooster
- 1957Fire Rooster
- 1969Earth Rooster
- 1981Metal Rooster
- 1993Water Rooster
- 2005Wood Rooster
- 2017Fire Rooster · this page
Born in 2017: the 2027 Goat year
| Rooster born 2017 | |
|---|---|
| Age at Lichun 2027 | 9–10 |
| Nominal age 虚岁 | 11 |
| 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 2017 is 9 if their birthday has not yet come round and 10 if it has. The nominal age (虚岁), counted as one at birth and raised at each Chinese New Year, is 11 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 Rooster in 2027. For the part of the sign that does not move with the year, see the Rooster profile.
Frequently asked questions
- Someone born in January 2017 — Monkey or Rooster?
- Monkey. The Rooster year did not begin until Lichun (立春), 3 Feb 2017, 23:34 (Beijing time, UTC+8), so every birthday from 1 January up to that instant still belongs to the Fire Monkey year 丙申. Chinese New Year 2017 fell on 28 January 2017, 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 2017 a Fire Rooster or a Metal Rooster?
- Fire Rooster, and both labels are describing something real. The element in the popular name comes from the year's heavenly stem, which for 2017 is 丁 — Yin Fire. The Metal belongs to the branch 酉, the Rooster's own fixed element, and it does not change from one Rooster year to the next. So 2017 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 2017 in 2027?
- 9–10 by the ordinary count at Lichun 2027, and 11 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. 2017 is one of 8 Rooster 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.