Zodiacrune

Chinese Zodiac Years by Decade — 1950 to 2043

Every Chinese zodiac year from 1950 to 2043 grouped by decade, with the animal, heavenly stem, element and polarity for each year.

Quick answer

What is a decade in the Chinese zodiac?

A decade here is ten consecutive Chinese years grouped together, which is exactly one full run of the ten heavenly stems. Because the stem cycle is ten and the branch cycle is twelve, every decade covers each stem once and each animal either once or twice — and the pattern of which animals a decade omits is what distinguishes one decade from the next.

Pick a decade

1950–1959
Tiger to Pig — every year with its animal, stem and element.
10 years
1960–1969
Rat to Rooster — every year with its animal, stem and element.
10 years
1970–1979
Dog to Goat — every year with its animal, stem and element.
10 years
1980–1989
Monkey to Snake — every year with its animal, stem and element.
10 years
1990–1999
Horse to Rabbit — every year with its animal, stem and element.
10 years
2000–2009
Dragon to Ox — every year with its animal, stem and element.
10 years
2010–2019
Tiger to Pig — every year with its animal, stem and element.
10 years
2020–2029
Rat to Rooster — every year with its animal, stem and element.
10 years
2030–2039
Dog to Goat — every year with its animal, stem and element.
10 years
2040–2043
Monkey to Pig — every year with its animal, stem and element.
4 years
鼠牛虎兔龙蛇马羊猴鸡狗猪1950–1959鼠牛虎兔龙蛇马羊猴鸡狗猪1960–1969鼠牛虎兔龙蛇马羊猴鸡狗猪1970–1979鼠牛虎兔龙蛇马羊猴鸡狗猪1980–1989鼠牛虎兔龙蛇马羊猴鸡狗猪1990–1999鼠牛虎兔龙蛇马羊猴鸡狗猪2000–2009鼠牛虎兔龙蛇马羊猴鸡狗猪2010–2019鼠牛虎兔龙蛇马羊猴鸡狗猪2020–2029鼠牛虎兔龙蛇马羊猴鸡狗猪2030–2039鼠牛虎兔龙蛇马羊猴鸡狗猪2040–2043鼠牛虎兔龙蛇马羊猴鸡狗猪in the decademissingevery row holds exactly ten of the twelve animals, and the two gaps walk forward across the table
Ten decades against the twelve animals. Each row is complete except for two columns, and which two those are shifts from decade to decade — that shift is the only thing a decade page can show that a flat year table cannot.

Decades at a glance

DecadeAnimal span Stem elementsAnimals not in this decade
1950–1959Tiger – PigMetal 2 · Water 2 · Wood 2 · Fire 2 · Earth 2Rat, Ox
1960–1969Rat – RoosterMetal 2 · Water 2 · Wood 2 · Fire 2 · Earth 2Dog, Pig
1970–1979Dog – GoatMetal 2 · Water 2 · Wood 2 · Fire 2 · Earth 2Monkey, Rooster
1980–1989Monkey – SnakeMetal 2 · Water 2 · Wood 2 · Fire 2 · Earth 2Horse, Goat
1990–1999Horse – RabbitMetal 2 · Water 2 · Wood 2 · Fire 2 · Earth 2Dragon, Snake
2000–2009Dragon – OxMetal 2 · Water 2 · Wood 2 · Fire 2 · Earth 2Tiger, Rabbit
2010–2019Tiger – PigMetal 2 · Water 2 · Wood 2 · Fire 2 · Earth 2Rat, Ox
2020–2029Rat – RoosterMetal 2 · Water 2 · Wood 2 · Fire 2 · Earth 2Dog, Pig
2030–2039Dog – GoatMetal 2 · Water 2 · Wood 2 · Fire 2 · Earth 2Monkey, Rooster
2040–2043Monkey – PigMetal 2 · Water 2Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat
Every ten-year span contains one of each heavenly stem, because the stem cycle is exactly ten years long. What differs between decades is where the branch sequence lands — and which two of the twelve animals are therefore missing.

How to use these pages

If you know a birth year, the decade page gives you its animal, stem, element and polarity directly. That is the year pillar, which is one of the four positions in a full BaZi chart — the weakest of the four, and the only one the popular zodiac uses.

The pages also note where the year attribution is ambiguous. The popular boundary for a zodiac year is Chinese New Year; BaZi uses Lichun, the Start of Spring, which falls around 3–5 February. Births in January and early February can belong to the previous animal under one convention and the next under the other.

Keep reading

Full year chart 1900–2043 The twelve animals The zodiac boundary problem The 60-year cycle

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