Chinese zodiac · Year of the Dragon
The Metal Dragon: 1940, 2000, 2060
庚辰 · Geng chén · Yang Metal stem on the Earth branch
A Metal Dragon year pairs the Heavenly Stem 庚 (Geng, yang Metal) with the Earthly Branch 辰 (chén, the Dragon). The pair recurs every sixty years, so in the range AsterNym covers the Metal Dragon years are 1940, 2000, 2060. The animal is the same each time; the stem is what makes a Metal 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 Metal Dragon is like
Popular Chinese zodiac tradition. For reflection, not prediction.
The Metal Dragon is unyielding and honest, a natural leader who finds compromise almost physically difficult.
2000 Metal Dragons are the millennium babies, and the tradition's unyielding, honest Dragon suits a year everyone expected to be enormous.
In BaZi terms the Earth branch feeds the Metal stem: Earth produces Metal in the generating cycle. Practitioners read the year as the Dragon giving its strength upward, so the stem element is well resourced and the animal's own qualities are somewhat spent in the giving. Productive, and a little tiring for the Dragon.
The rest of the Dragon’s character, in love, at work and the growing edge, is on the Year of the Dragon page.
Metal 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1940 | 8 February 1940 | 26 January 1941 | 5 February 1940 |
| 2000 | 5 February 2000 | 23 January 2001 | 4 February 2000 |
| 2060 | outside the table | … | 4 February 2060 |
The next Metal Dragon year is 2060. Check any birthday against the boundary with the finder.
Famous Metal Dragons
Public birth records, assigned by the Lunar New Year boundary.
Born in 1940
Common questions
- When does the Year of the Metal Dragon start?
- The 1940 Metal Dragon year began at Lunar New Year on 8 February 1940 and ran to 26 January 1941. The 2000 Metal Dragon year began at Lunar New Year on 5 February 2000 and ran to 23 January 2001. 2060 is outside AsterNym's Lunar New Year table. BaZi turns the year at Li Chun instead (1940: 5 February 1940; 2000: 4 February 2000; 2060: 4 February 2060), so a birth between the two dates carries different year animals in the two systems.
- What is a Metal Dragon personality?
- The Metal Dragon is unyielding and honest, a natural leader who finds compromise almost physically difficult. In BaZi terms the Earth branch feeds the Metal stem: Earth produces Metal in the generating cycle. Practitioners read the year as the Dragon giving its strength upward, so the stem element is well resourced and the animal's own qualities are somewhat spent in the giving. Productive, and a little tiring for the Dragon.
- When is the next Metal Dragon year?
- 2060. The pair of stem 庚 and branch 辰 recurs every sixty years.