2024 Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Wood Dragon (甲辰)
甲辰 Jia Chen · Yang Wood over the Dragon's Earth branch · number 41 of 60
2024 was a 甲辰 (Jia Chen) year — the 41st of the sixty stem-and-branch combinations, and in everyday English a Wood Dragon year. The element in that name comes from the heavenly stem 甲 (Yang Wood); the branch 辰, the Dragon itself, carries Earth whatever the stem above it says. Its na yin, the older sixty-part scheme, reads 覆灯火 — a Fire na yin.
The 2024 zodiac year did not start on 1 January. It started at Lichun (立春), 4 Feb 2024, 16:27 (Beijing time, UTC+8), and ran until the instant before Lichun 2025, 3 Feb 2025, 22:10 (Beijing time, UTC+8). Chinese New Year 2024 fell on 10 February 2024, a separate boundary that festivals use; between the two dates the popular and the classical conventions disagree. Anyone born in January or early February 2024 should check the table below before claiming a sign.
2024 is one of 9 Dragon years between 1924 and 2027, and one of 2 Wood Dragon years in that span (1964 and 2024), because stem and branch only line up again after sixty years: the same 甲辰 pillar last stood in 1964 and returns in 2084.
Which sign a 2024 birthday belongs to
| Born between (Beijing time) | Stem and branch | Sign | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2024, 00:00 → 4 February 2024, 16:27 | 癸卯 | Water Rabbit | Still the Rabbit year that opened in 2023. |
| 4 February 2024, 16:27 → 31 December 2024, 23:59 | 甲辰 | Wood Dragon | The Dragon year proper; it runs on past 31 December until Lichun 2025. |
Born on 1 January 2024? That is a Rabbit, not a Dragon: the Water Rabbit year 癸卯 ran on until 4 February 2024 at 16:27 Beijing time.
Lichun is an astronomical instant, not a date: in 2024 it fell at 16:27 Beijing time (UTC+8). The instant itself starts the Dragon year, so a birth at 16:27 on that day is already a Dragon. 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 甲辰 pillar
| 2024 | |
|---|---|
| Stem and branch | 甲辰 (Jia Chen) |
| Place in the sixty-year cycle | 41 of 60 |
| Heavenly stem | 甲 — Yang Wood 木 |
| Earthly branch | 辰 — the Dragon 龙, fixed element Earth 土 |
| Na yin (纳音) | 覆灯火 — a Fire na yin |
| Lichun (start of the zodiac year) | 4 Feb 2024, 16:27 (Beijing time, UTC+8) |
| Chinese New Year | 10 February 2024 |
| Same pillar last seen / next seen | 1964 / 2084 |
Ten stems and twelve branches only return to the same pairing after sixty years, so 甲辰 belongs to 1964, 2024 and 2084 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 Dragon
Wood Dragon (Jia Chen) puts yang Wood over the water vault, and because the stored Water feeds the stem the tradition reads it as ambition with fuel underneath. This is the variant associated with building institutions rather than moments — long projects, organisations, things meant to outlast the founder. The caution is that Jia does not bend, and the vault is finite.
| Variant | Stem and branch | Dragon years 1924–2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Wood Dragon | 甲辰 | 1964, 2024 |
| Fire Dragon | 丙辰 | 1976 |
| Earth Dragon | 戊辰 | 1928, 1988 |
| Metal Dragon | 庚辰 | 1940, 2000 |
| Water Dragon | 壬辰 | 1952, 2012 |
Every Dragon year from 1924 to 2027
- 1928Earth Dragon
- 1940Metal Dragon
- 1952Water Dragon
- 1964Wood Dragon
- 1976Fire Dragon
- 1988Earth Dragon
- 2000Metal Dragon
- 2012Water Dragon
- 2024Wood Dragon · this page
Born in 2024: the 2027 Goat year
| Dragon born 2024 | |
|---|---|
| Age at Lichun 2027 | 2–3 |
| Nominal age 虚岁 | 4 |
| 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 2024 is 2 if their birthday has not yet come round and 3 if it has. The nominal age (虚岁), counted as one at birth and raised at each Chinese New Year, is 4 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 Dragon in 2027. For the part of the sign that does not move with the year, see the Dragon profile.
Frequently asked questions
- Someone born in January 2024 — Rabbit or Dragon?
- Rabbit. The Dragon year did not begin until Lichun (立春), 4 Feb 2024, 16:27 (Beijing time, UTC+8), so every birthday from 1 January up to that instant still belongs to the Water Rabbit year 癸卯. Chinese New Year 2024 fell on 10 February 2024, 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 2024 a Wood Dragon or an Earth Dragon?
- Wood Dragon, and both labels are describing something real. The element in the popular name comes from the year's heavenly stem, which for 2024 is 甲 — Yang Wood. The Earth belongs to the branch 辰, the Dragon's own fixed element, and it does not change from one Dragon year to the next. So 2024 is a Wood stem sitting over an earth branch; its na yin, a third system again, is 覆灯火.
- How old is someone born in 2024 in 2027?
- 2–3 by the ordinary count at Lichun 2027, and 4 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. 2024 is one of 9 Dragon 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.