Chinese zodiac · Year of the Horse
The Wood Horse: 1954, 2014, 2074
甲午 · Jia wǔ · Yang Wood stem on the Fire branch
A Wood Horse year pairs the Heavenly Stem 甲 (Jia, yang Wood) with the Earthly Branch 午 (wǔ, the Horse). The pair recurs every sixty years, so in the range AsterNym covers the Wood Horse years are 1954, 2014, 2074. The animal is the same each time; the stem is what makes a Wood Horse different from a Fire 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 Wood Horse is like
Popular Chinese zodiac tradition. For reflection, not prediction.
The Wood Horse is the most cooperative, a traveller who brings people along and keeps in touch afterwards.
2026 is the Wood Horse, the cooperative traveller, and the tradition reads it as the Horse that brings people along and keeps in touch afterwards.
In BaZi terms the Wood stem feeds the Fire branch: Wood produces Fire in the generating cycle. Practitioners read the year as the stem spending itself on the branch, so the Horse's qualities are well supported from above while the stem itself is drained. A generous year for the animal, at some cost to the element on top.
The rest of the Horse’s character, in love, at work and the growing edge, is on the Year of the Horse page.
Wood 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1954 | 3 February 1954 | 23 January 1955 | 4 February 1954 |
| 2014 | 31 January 2014 | 18 February 2015 | 4 February 2014 |
| 2074 | outside the table | … | 3 February 2074 |
The next Wood Horse year is 2074. Check any birthday against the boundary with the finder.
Famous Wood Horses
Public birth records, assigned by the Lunar New Year boundary.
Common questions
- When does the Year of the Wood Horse start?
- The 1954 Wood Horse year began at Lunar New Year on 3 February 1954 and ran to 23 January 1955. The 2014 Wood Horse year began at Lunar New Year on 31 January 2014 and ran to 18 February 2015. 2074 is outside AsterNym's Lunar New Year table. BaZi turns the year at Li Chun instead (1954: 4 February 1954; 2014: 4 February 2014; 2074: 3 February 2074), so a birth between the two dates carries different year animals in the two systems.
- What is a Wood Horse personality?
- The Wood Horse is the most cooperative, a traveller who brings people along and keeps in touch afterwards. In BaZi terms the Wood stem feeds the Fire branch: Wood produces Fire in the generating cycle. Practitioners read the year as the stem spending itself on the branch, so the Horse's qualities are well supported from above while the stem itself is drained. A generous year for the animal, at some cost to the element on top.
- When is the next Wood Horse year?
- 2074. The pair of stem 甲 and branch 午 recurs every sixty years.