Chinese zodiac · Year of the Dragon
The Earth Dragon: 1928, 1988, 2048
戊辰 · Wu chén · Yang Earth stem on the Earth branch
A Earth Dragon year pairs the Heavenly Stem 戊 (Wu, yang Earth) with the Earthly Branch 辰 (chén, the Dragon). The pair recurs every sixty years, so in the range AsterNym covers the Earth Dragon years are 1928, 1988, 2048. The animal is the same each time; the stem is what makes a Earth Dragon different from a Wood Dragon or a Fire Dragon. 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 Dragon is like
Popular Chinese zodiac tradition. For reflection, not prediction.
The Earth Dragon is the steadiest, realistic about what a big plan costs and the most likely to carry one through.
The Earth Dragon of 1988 is the steady one, and the tradition's realistic Dragon who carries a big plan through fits a generation that came of age in the 2008 crash and kept going.
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 Dragon's nature amplified rather than argued with, strong in its own direction and short of counterweight. Whatever the Dragon does, this year does more of it.
The rest of the Dragon’s character, in love, at work and the growing edge, is on the Year of the Dragon page.
Earth Dragon 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1928 | 23 January 1928 | 9 February 1929 | 5 February 1928 |
| 1988 | 17 February 1988 | 5 February 1989 | 4 February 1988 |
| 2048 | 14 February 2048 | 1 February 2049 | 4 February 2048 |
The next Earth Dragon year is 2048. Check any birthday against the boundary with the finder.
Famous Earth Dragons
Public birth records, assigned by the Lunar New Year boundary.
Born in 1928
- Martin Luther King Jr.American Baptist minister and civil rights leader
- Che GuevaraArgentine Marxist revolutionary
- Andy WarholAmerican artist, film director, and producer
- Maya AngelouAmerican poet, author, and civil rights activist
- James WatsonAmerican molecular biologist, geneticist, zoologist and Nobel Laureate
- Alexei AbrikosovSoviet, Russian and American theoretical physicist
Common questions
- When does the Year of the Earth Dragon start?
- The 1928 Earth Dragon year began at Lunar New Year on 23 January 1928 and ran to 9 February 1929. The 1988 Earth Dragon year began at Lunar New Year on 17 February 1988 and ran to 5 February 1989. The 2048 Earth Dragon year began at Lunar New Year on 14 February 2048 and ran to 1 February 2049. BaZi turns the year at Li Chun instead (1928: 5 February 1928; 1988: 4 February 1988; 2048: 4 February 2048), so a birth between the two dates carries different year animals in the two systems.
- What is a Earth Dragon personality?
- The Earth Dragon is the steadiest, realistic about what a big plan costs and the most likely to carry one through. 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 Dragon's nature amplified rather than argued with, strong in its own direction and short of counterweight. Whatever the Dragon does, this year does more of it.
- When is the next Earth Dragon year?
- 2048. The pair of stem 戊 and branch 辰 recurs every sixty years.