Someone born in January 2018 — Rooster or Dog?

Rooster. The Dog year did not begin until Lichun (立春), 4 Feb 2018, 05:28 (Beijing time, UTC+8), so every birthday from 1 January up to that instant still belongs to the Fire Rooster year 丁酉. Chinese New Year 2018 fell on 16 February 2018, 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 2018 called a Earth Dog twice over?

Because both halves of the pillar carry the same element. The stem 戊 is Yang Earth, and the branch 戌 — the Dog itself — is fixed as Earth in the branch tables. 2018 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 Dog. Its na yin, a third and older system, reads 平地木 (Wood).

How old is someone born in 2018 in 2027?

8–9 by the ordinary count at Lichun 2027, and 10 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. 2018 is one of 8 Dog years between 1924 and 2027; in 2027 all of them stand in the same relationship to the Tai Sui — Punishment 刑太岁 + Destruction 破太岁 — but each is a different age.

2018 Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Earth Dog (戊戌)

戊戌 Wu Xu · Yang Earth over the Dog's Earth branch · number 35 of 60

2018 was a 戊戌 (Wu Xu) year — the 35th of the sixty stem-and-branch combinations, and in everyday English a Earth Dog year. The element in that name comes from the heavenly stem 戊 (Yang Earth); the branch 戌, the Dog itself, carries Earth whatever the stem above it says. Its na yin, the older sixty-part scheme, reads 平地木 — a Wood na yin.

The 2018 zodiac year did not start on 1 January. It started at Lichun (立春), 4 Feb 2018, 05:28 (Beijing time, UTC+8), and ran until the instant before Lichun 2019, 4 Feb 2019, 11:14 (Beijing time, UTC+8). Chinese New Year 2018 fell on 16 February 2018, a separate boundary that festivals use; between the two dates the popular and the classical conventions disagree. Anyone born in January or early February 2018 should check the table below before claiming a sign.

2018 is one of 8 Dog years between 1924 and 2027, and one of 2 Earth Dog years in that span (1958 and 2018), because stem and branch only line up again after sixty years: the same 戊戌 pillar last stood in 1958 and returns in 2078.

Which sign a 2018 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 2018, 00:00 → 4 February 2018, 05:28	丁酉	Fire Rooster	Still the Rooster year that opened in 2017.
4 February 2018, 05:28 → 31 December 2018, 23:59	戊戌	Earth Dog	The Dog year proper; it runs on past 31 December until Lichun 2019.

Born on 1 January 2018? That is a Rooster, not a Dog: the Fire Rooster year 丁酉 ran on until 4 February 2018 at 05:28 Beijing time.

Lichun is an astronomical instant, not a date: in 2018 it fell at 05:28 Beijing time (UTC+8). The instant itself starts the Dog year, so a birth at 05:28 on that day is already a Dog. 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 戊戌 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.
	2018
Stem and branch	戊戌 (Wu Xu)
Place in the sixty-year cycle	35 of 60
Heavenly stem	戊 — Yang Earth 土
Earthly branch	戌 — the Dog 狗, fixed element Earth 土
Na yin (纳音)	平地木 — a Wood na yin
Lichun (start of the zodiac year)	4 Feb 2018, 05:28 (Beijing time, UTC+8)
Chinese New Year	16 February 2018
Same pillar last seen / next seen	1958 / 2078

Ten stems and twelve branches only return to the same pairing after sixty years, so 戊戌 belongs to 1958, 2018 and 2078 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 Dog

Earth Dog (Wu Xu) doubles Earth over an Earth branch and is the most immovable version of the sign. Descriptions emphasise reliability, conservatism and deep attachment to home ground, with the stored Fire held tightest of the five. The caution is that a sealed vault looks like coldness to people who have not earned their way in, which the variant is said to mind more than it shows.

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	Dog years 1924–2027
Wood Dog	甲戌	1934, 1994
Fire Dog	丙戌	1946, 2006
Earth Dog	戊戌	1958, 2018
Metal Dog	庚戌	1970
Water Dog	壬戌	1982

Every Dog year from 1924 to 2027

Born in 2018: 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.
	Dog born 2018
Age at Lichun 2027	8–9
Nominal age 虚岁	10
Relationship with the 2027 Tai Sui	Punishment 刑太岁 + Destruction 破太岁
Traditional reading	Mixed — a minor Tai Sui affliction
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 2018 is 8 if their birthday has not yet come round and 9 if it has. The nominal age (虚岁), counted as one at birth and raised at each Chinese New Year, is 10 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 Dog in 2027. For the part of the sign that does not move with the year, see the Dog profile.

Frequently asked questions

Someone born in January 2018 — Rooster or Dog?: Rooster. The Dog year did not begin until Lichun (立春), 4 Feb 2018, 05:28 (Beijing time, UTC+8), so every birthday from 1 January up to that instant still belongs to the Fire Rooster year 丁酉. Chinese New Year 2018 fell on 16 February 2018, 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 2018 called a Earth Dog twice over?: Because both halves of the pillar carry the same element. The stem 戊 is Yang Earth, and the branch 戌 — the Dog itself — is fixed as Earth in the branch tables. 2018 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 Dog. Its na yin, a third and older system, reads 平地木 (Wood).
How old is someone born in 2018 in 2027?: 8–9 by the ordinary count at Lichun 2027, and 10 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. 2018 is one of 8 Dog years between 1924 and 2027; in 2027 all of them stand in the same relationship to the Tai Sui — Punishment 刑太岁 + Destruction 破太岁 — but each is a different age.