Chinese zodiac · Year of the Dog
The Earth Dog: 1958, 2018, 2078
戊戌 · Wu xū · Yang Earth stem on the Earth branch
A Earth Dog year pairs the Heavenly Stem 戊 (Wu, yang Earth) with the Earthly Branch 戌 (xū, the Dog). The pair recurs every sixty years, so in the range AsterNym covers the Earth Dog years are 1958, 2018, 2078. The animal is the same each time; the stem is what makes a Earth Dog different from a Wood Dog or a Fire Dog. The popular zodiac begins each of these years at Lunar New Year and BaZi begins it at Li Chun, so both boundaries are given below for every year.
What a Earth Dog is like
Popular Chinese zodiac tradition. For reflection, not prediction.
The Earth Dog is the most practical and patient, fairness applied one case at a time.
2018 Earth Dogs are the practical, patient ones, fairness applied one case at a time, and the tradition reads Earth on the Earth branch as the Dog at its most grounded.
In BaZi terms the Earth stem sits on a Earth branch, the same element twice. Practitioners read a matched pair as a year with one clear voice: the Dog's nature amplified rather than argued with, strong in its own direction and short of counterweight. Whatever the Dog does, this year does more of it.
The rest of the Dog’s character, in love, at work and the growing edge, is on the Year of the Dog page.
Earth Dog years and when each begins
The popular zodiac year begins at Lunar New Year; BaZi begins it at Li Chun, the start of spring. Both dates are given so a birth between them can be placed in either system.
| Year | Lunar New Year (popular zodiac) | Ends | Li Chun (BaZi) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | 18 February 1958 | 7 February 1959 | 4 February 1958 |
| 2018 | 16 February 2018 | 4 February 2019 | 4 February 2018 |
| 2078 | outside the table | … | 3 February 2078 |
The next Earth Dog year is 2078. Check any birthday against the boundary with the finder.
Famous Earth Dogs
Public birth records, assigned by the Lunar New Year boundary.
Common questions
- When does the Year of the Earth Dog start?
- The 1958 Earth Dog year began at Lunar New Year on 18 February 1958 and ran to 7 February 1959. The 2018 Earth Dog year began at Lunar New Year on 16 February 2018 and ran to 4 February 2019. 2078 is outside AsterNym's Lunar New Year table. BaZi turns the year at Li Chun instead (1958: 4 February 1958; 2018: 4 February 2018; 2078: 3 February 2078), so a birth between the two dates carries different year animals in the two systems.
- What is a Earth Dog personality?
- The Earth Dog is the most practical and patient, fairness applied one case at a time. In BaZi terms the Earth stem sits on a Earth branch, the same element twice. Practitioners read a matched pair as a year with one clear voice: the Dog's nature amplified rather than argued with, strong in its own direction and short of counterweight. Whatever the Dog does, this year does more of it.
- When is the next Earth Dog year?
- 2078. The pair of stem 戊 and branch 戌 recurs every sixty years.