2022 Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Water Tiger (壬寅)
壬寅 Ren Yin · Yang Water over the Tiger's Wood branch · number 39 of 60
2022 was a 壬寅 (Ren Yin) year — the 39th of the sixty stem-and-branch combinations, and in everyday English a Water Tiger year. The element in that name comes from the heavenly stem 壬 (Yang Water); the branch 寅, the Tiger itself, carries Wood whatever the stem above it says. Its na yin, the older sixty-part scheme, reads 金箔金 — a Metal na yin.
The 2022 zodiac year did not start on 1 January. It started at Lichun (立春), 4 Feb 2022, 04:50 (Beijing time, UTC+8), and ran until the instant before Lichun 2023, 4 Feb 2023, 10:42 (Beijing time, UTC+8). Chinese New Year 2022 fell on 1 February 2022, a separate boundary that festivals use; between the two dates the popular and the classical conventions disagree. Anyone born in January or early February 2022 should check the table below before claiming a sign.
2022 is one of 9 Tiger years between 1924 and 2027, and one of 2 Water Tiger years in that span (1962 and 2022), because stem and branch only line up again after sixty years: the same 壬寅 pillar last stood in 1962 and returns in 2082.
Which sign a 2022 birthday belongs to
| Born between (Beijing time) | Stem and branch | Sign | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2022, 00:00 → 4 February 2022, 04:50 | 辛丑 | Metal Ox | Still the Ox year that opened in 2021. |
| 4 February 2022, 04:50 → 31 December 2022, 23:59 | 壬寅 | Water Tiger | The Tiger year proper; it runs on past 31 December until Lichun 2023. |
Born on 1 January 2022? That is a Ox, not a Tiger: the Metal Ox year 辛丑 ran on until 4 February 2022 at 04:50 Beijing time.
Lichun is an astronomical instant, not a date: in 2022 it fell at 04:50 Beijing time (UTC+8). The instant itself starts the Tiger year, so a birth at 04:50 on that day is already a Tiger. 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 壬寅 pillar
| 2022 | |
|---|---|
| Stem and branch | 壬寅 (Ren Yin) |
| Place in the sixty-year cycle | 39 of 60 |
| Heavenly stem | 壬 — Yang Water 水 |
| Earthly branch | 寅 — the Tiger 虎, fixed element Wood 木 |
| Na yin (纳音) | 金箔金 — a Metal na yin |
| Lichun (start of the zodiac year) | 4 Feb 2022, 04:50 (Beijing time, UTC+8) |
| Chinese New Year | 1 February 2022 |
| Same pillar last seen / next seen | 1962 / 2082 |
Ten stems and twelve branches only return to the same pairing after sixty years, so 壬寅 belongs to 1962, 2022 and 2082 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 Water Tiger
Water Tiger (Ren Yin) has Water feeding Wood, the producing relationship, and the reading is of nerve with intelligence behind it: strategy, study, persuasion. Ren is moving water, so descriptions emphasise travel, foreign connections and ideas taken from one field into another. The caution is diffusion — many well-informed starts and no single deep root.
| Variant | Stem and branch | Tiger years 1924–2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Wood Tiger | 甲寅 | 1974 |
| Fire Tiger | 丙寅 | 1926, 1986 |
| Earth Tiger | 戊寅 | 1938, 1998 |
| Metal Tiger | 庚寅 | 1950, 2010 |
| Water Tiger | 壬寅 | 1962, 2022 |
Every Tiger year from 1924 to 2027
- 1926Fire Tiger
- 1938Earth Tiger
- 1950Metal Tiger
- 1962Water Tiger
- 1974Wood Tiger
- 1986Fire Tiger
- 1998Earth Tiger
- 2010Metal Tiger
- 2022Water Tiger · this page
Born in 2022: the 2027 Goat year
| Tiger born 2022 | |
|---|---|
| Age at Lichun 2027 | 4–5 |
| Nominal age 虚岁 | 6 |
| 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 | Wood · green, teal · 3, 8 · East |
At Lichun 2027 someone born in 2022 is 4 if their birthday has not yet come round and 5 if it has. The nominal age (虚岁), counted as one at birth and raised at each Chinese New Year, is 6 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 Tiger in 2027. For the part of the sign that does not move with the year, see the Tiger profile.
Frequently asked questions
- Someone born in January 2022 — Ox or Tiger?
- Ox. The Tiger year did not begin until Lichun (立春), 4 Feb 2022, 04:50 (Beijing time, UTC+8), so every birthday from 1 January up to that instant still belongs to the Metal Ox year 辛丑. Chinese New Year 2022 fell on 1 February 2022, 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 2022 a Water Tiger or a Wood Tiger?
- Water Tiger, and both labels are describing something real. The element in the popular name comes from the year's heavenly stem, which for 2022 is 壬 — Yang Water. The Wood belongs to the branch 寅, the Tiger's own fixed element, and it does not change from one Tiger year to the next. So 2022 is a Water stem sitting over a wood branch; its na yin, a third system again, is 金箔金.
- How old is someone born in 2022 in 2027?
- 4–5 by the ordinary count at Lichun 2027, and 6 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. 2022 is one of 9 Tiger 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.