1924: the year of the Wood Rat

甲子 — Jiǎ zǐ. Wood above, the Rat beneath.

It does not begin on 1 January

In BaZi the year turns at Li Chun (立春), the solar term that opens spring, computed from the sun's position rather than the calendar's round number. The Wood Rat year runs from 5 February 1924 to 3 February 1925. Born in January or early February 1924? Your year animal is almost certainly the one before. Many sites get this wrong by assuming 1 January; the date above is computed, and the engine that computed it also resolves the timezone your birthplace was actually keeping.

Sharing the pillar

The Rat returns every twelve years (1936), but the full 甲子 pillar only every sixty (1984). The same sixty names mark the days as well: there is a 甲子 day every sixty days.

The year pillar is the part of a chart most people know, and the part that says least. Compute all four pillars, in your browser, with nothing sent anywhere.

· 1925 →