2023 Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Water Rabbit (癸卯)
癸卯 Gui Mao · Yin Water over the Rabbit's Wood branch · number 40 of 60
2023 was a 癸卯 (Gui Mao) year — the 40th of the sixty stem-and-branch combinations, and in everyday English a Water Rabbit year. The element in that name comes from the heavenly stem 癸 (Yin Water); the branch 卯, the Rabbit 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 2023 zodiac year did not start on 1 January. It started at Lichun (立春), 4 Feb 2023, 10:42 (Beijing time, UTC+8), and ran until the instant before Lichun 2024, 4 Feb 2024, 16:27 (Beijing time, UTC+8). Chinese New Year 2023 fell on 22 January 2023, a separate boundary that festivals use; between the two dates the popular and the classical conventions disagree. Anyone born in January or early February 2023 should check the table below before claiming a sign.
2023 is one of 9 Rabbit years between 1924 and 2027, and one of 2 Water Rabbit years in that span (1963 and 2023), because stem and branch only line up again after sixty years: the same 癸卯 pillar last stood in 1963 and returns in 2083.
Which sign a 2023 birthday belongs to
| Born between (Beijing time) | Stem and branch | Sign | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2023, 00:00 → 4 February 2023, 10:42 | 壬寅 | Water Tiger | Still the Tiger year that opened in 2022. |
| 4 February 2023, 10:42 → 31 December 2023, 23:59 | 癸卯 | Water Rabbit | The Rabbit year proper; it runs on past 31 December until Lichun 2024. |
Born on 1 January 2023? That is a Tiger, not a Rabbit: the Water Tiger year 壬寅 ran on until 4 February 2023 at 10:42 Beijing time.
Lichun is an astronomical instant, not a date: in 2023 it fell at 10:42 Beijing time (UTC+8). The instant itself starts the Rabbit year, so a birth at 10:42 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.
The 癸卯 pillar
| 2023 | |
|---|---|
| Stem and branch | 癸卯 (Gui Mao) |
| Place in the sixty-year cycle | 40 of 60 |
| Heavenly stem | 癸 — Yin Water 水 |
| Earthly branch | 卯 — the Rabbit 兔, fixed element Wood 木 |
| Na yin (纳音) | 金箔金 — a Metal na yin |
| Lichun (start of the zodiac year) | 4 Feb 2023, 10:42 (Beijing time, UTC+8) |
| Chinese New Year | 22 January 2023 |
| Same pillar last seen / next seen | 1963 / 2083 |
Ten stems and twelve branches only return to the same pairing after sixty years, so 癸卯 belongs to 1963, 2023 and 2083 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 Rabbit
Water Rabbit (Gui Mao) has Water producing Wood, the resource relationship, and the reading is of a Rabbit fed by study and by other people's support: scholarly, receptive, unusually good at absorbing what it is taught. Gui is dew rather than river, so the descriptions emphasise subtlety, and the caution is passivity — waiting to be given the opening instead of making one.
| Variant | Stem and branch | Rabbit years 1924–2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Wood Rabbit | 乙卯 | 1975 |
| Fire Rabbit | 丁卯 | 1927, 1987 |
| Earth Rabbit | 己卯 | 1939, 1999 |
| Metal Rabbit | 辛卯 | 1951, 2011 |
| Water Rabbit | 癸卯 | 1963, 2023 |
Every Rabbit year from 1924 to 2027
- 1927Fire Rabbit
- 1939Earth Rabbit
- 1951Metal Rabbit
- 1963Water Rabbit
- 1975Wood Rabbit
- 1987Fire Rabbit
- 1999Earth Rabbit
- 2011Metal Rabbit
- 2023Water Rabbit · this page
Born in 2023: the 2027 Goat year
| Rabbit born 2023 | |
|---|---|
| Age at Lichun 2027 | 3–4 |
| Nominal age 虚岁 | 5 |
| Relationship with the 2027 Tai Sui | Three Harmony 三合 |
| 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 2023 is 3 if their birthday has not yet come round and 4 if it has. The nominal age (虚岁), counted as one at birth and raised at each Chinese New Year, is 5 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.
Frequently asked questions
- Someone born in January 2023 — Tiger or Rabbit?
- Tiger. The Rabbit year did not begin until Lichun (立春), 4 Feb 2023, 10:42 (Beijing time, UTC+8), so every birthday from 1 January up to that instant still belongs to the Water Tiger year 壬寅. Chinese New Year 2023 fell on 22 January 2023, 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 2023 a Water Rabbit or a Wood Rabbit?
- Water Rabbit, and both labels are describing something real. The element in the popular name comes from the year's heavenly stem, which for 2023 is 癸 — Yin Water. The Wood belongs to the branch 卯, the Rabbit's own fixed element, and it does not change from one Rabbit year to the next. So 2023 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 2023 in 2027?
- 3–4 by the ordinary count at Lichun 2027, and 5 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. 2023 is one of 9 Rabbit years between 1924 and 2027; in 2027 all of them stand in the same relationship to the Tai Sui — Three Harmony 三合 — but each is a different age.