Chinese zodiac · Year of the Goat
The Metal Goat: 1931, 1991, 2051
辛未 · Xin wèi · Yin Metal stem on the Earth branch
A Metal Goat year pairs the Heavenly Stem 辛 (Xin, yin Metal) with the Earthly Branch 未 (wèi, the Goat). The pair recurs every sixty years, so in the range AsterNym covers the Metal Goat years are 1931, 1991, 2051. The animal is the same each time; the stem is what makes a Metal Goat different from a Wood Goat or a Fire Goat. 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 Goat is like
Popular Chinese zodiac tradition. For reflection, not prediction.
The Metal Goat is the toughest, proud and self-reliant, gentleness with an armoured edge.
1991 Metal Goats are the toughest of the five, gentleness with an armoured edge, which suits a year the Soviet Union ended in.
In BaZi terms the Earth branch feeds the Metal stem: Earth produces Metal in the generating cycle. Practitioners read the year as the Goat 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 Goat.
The rest of the Goat’s character, in love, at work and the growing edge, is on the Year of the Goat page.
Metal Goat 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1931 | 17 February 1931 | 5 February 1932 | 5 February 1931 |
| 1991 | 15 February 1991 | 3 February 1992 | 4 February 1991 |
| 2051 | outside the table | … | 4 February 2051 |
The next Metal Goat year is 2051. Check any birthday against the boundary with the finder.
Famous Metal Goats
Public birth records, assigned by the Lunar New Year boundary.
Born in 1931
- Umberto EcoItalian semiotician, essayist, philosopher, literary critic, and novelist
- Toni MorrisonAfrican American novelist, essayist, and academic
- Alice MunroCanadian writer
- Desmond TutuSouth African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner
- Tomas TranströmerSwedish poet, psychologist and translator
- Rupert MurdochAmerican businessman
Common questions
- When does the Year of the Metal Goat start?
- The 1931 Metal Goat year began at Lunar New Year on 17 February 1931 and ran to 5 February 1932. The 1991 Metal Goat year began at Lunar New Year on 15 February 1991 and ran to 3 February 1992. 2051 is outside AsterNym's Lunar New Year table. BaZi turns the year at Li Chun instead (1931: 5 February 1931; 1991: 4 February 1991; 2051: 4 February 2051), so a birth between the two dates carries different year animals in the two systems.
- What is a Metal Goat personality?
- The Metal Goat is the toughest, proud and self-reliant, gentleness with an armoured edge. In BaZi terms the Earth branch feeds the Metal stem: Earth produces Metal in the generating cycle. Practitioners read the year as the Goat 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 Goat.
- When is the next Metal Goat year?
- 2051. The pair of stem 辛 and branch 未 recurs every sixty years.