Chinese zodiac · Year of the Horse
The Fire Horse: 1966, 2026, 2086
丙午 · Bing wǔ · Yang Fire stem on the Fire branch
A Fire Horse year pairs the Heavenly Stem 丙 (Bing, yang Fire) with the Earthly Branch 午 (wǔ, the Horse). The pair recurs every sixty years, so in the range AsterNym covers the Fire Horse years are 1966, 2026, 2086. The animal is the same each time; the stem is what makes a Fire Horse different from a Wood Horse or a Earth Horse. 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 Fire Horse is like
Popular Chinese zodiac tradition. For reflection, not prediction.
The Fire Horse is a byword for wildness in the tradition: brilliant, restless, and famously hard to hold.
The Fire Horse is the famous one: 1966 saw birth rates fall in Japan because the tradition calls the Fire Horse wild, and 2026's neighbour in 2086 will carry the same reputation.
In BaZi terms the Fire stem sits on a Fire branch, the same element twice. Practitioners read a matched pair as a year with one clear voice: the Horse's nature amplified rather than argued with, strong in its own direction and short of counterweight. Whatever the Horse does, this year does more of it.
The rest of the Horse’s character, in love, at work and the growing edge, is on the Year of the Horse page.
Fire Horse 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | 21 January 1966 | 8 February 1967 | 4 February 1966 |
| 2026 | 17 February 2026 | 5 February 2027 | 4 February 2026 |
| 2086 | outside the table | … | 3 February 2086 |
The next Fire Horse year is 2026. Check any birthday against the boundary with the finder.
Famous Fire Horses
Public birth records, assigned by the Lunar New Year boundary.
Common questions
- When does the Year of the Fire Horse start?
- The 1966 Fire Horse year began at Lunar New Year on 21 January 1966 and ran to 8 February 1967. The 2026 Fire Horse year began at Lunar New Year on 17 February 2026 and ran to 5 February 2027. 2086 is outside AsterNym's Lunar New Year table. BaZi turns the year at Li Chun instead (1966: 4 February 1966; 2026: 4 February 2026; 2086: 3 February 2086), so a birth between the two dates carries different year animals in the two systems.
- What is a Fire Horse personality?
- The Fire Horse is a byword for wildness in the tradition: brilliant, restless, and famously hard to hold. In BaZi terms the Fire stem sits on a Fire branch, the same element twice. Practitioners read a matched pair as a year with one clear voice: the Horse's nature amplified rather than argued with, strong in its own direction and short of counterweight. Whatever the Horse does, this year does more of it.
- When is the next Fire Horse year?
- 2026. The pair of stem 丙 and branch 午 recurs every sixty years.