Chinese zodiac · Year of the Monkey
The Wood Monkey: 1944, 2004, 2064
甲申 · Jia shēn · Yang Wood stem on the Metal branch
A Wood Monkey year pairs the Heavenly Stem 甲 (Jia, yang Wood) with the Earthly Branch 申 (shēn, the Monkey). The pair recurs every sixty years, so in the range AsterNym covers the Wood Monkey years are 1944, 2004, 2064. The animal is the same each time; the stem is what makes a Wood Monkey different from a Fire Monkey or a Earth Monkey. 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 Monkey is like
Popular Chinese zodiac tradition. For reflection, not prediction.
The Wood Monkey is the most ambitious and the most thorough, a trickster who also reads the manual.
2004 Wood Monkeys are the ambitious and thorough ones, and the tradition's trickster who also reads the manual describes the first generation born into social media.
In BaZi terms the Metal branch controls the Wood stem: Metal restrains Wood in the controlling cycle. Practitioners read the year as the animal pushing back against the element above it, so the Monkey's qualities come through strongly and the stem struggles to impose itself. The animal has the upper hand.
The rest of the Monkey’s character, in love, at work and the growing edge, is on the Year of the Monkey page.
Wood Monkey 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1944 | 25 January 1944 | 12 February 1945 | 5 February 1944 |
| 2004 | 22 January 2004 | 8 February 2005 | 4 February 2004 |
| 2064 | outside the table | … | 4 February 2064 |
The next Wood Monkey year is 2064. Check any birthday against the boundary with the finder.
Famous Wood Monkeys
Public birth records, assigned by the Lunar New Year boundary.
Born in 1944
Common questions
- When does the Year of the Wood Monkey start?
- The 1944 Wood Monkey year began at Lunar New Year on 25 January 1944 and ran to 12 February 1945. The 2004 Wood Monkey year began at Lunar New Year on 22 January 2004 and ran to 8 February 2005. 2064 is outside AsterNym's Lunar New Year table. BaZi turns the year at Li Chun instead (1944: 5 February 1944; 2004: 4 February 2004; 2064: 4 February 2064), so a birth between the two dates carries different year animals in the two systems.
- What is a Wood Monkey personality?
- The Wood Monkey is the most ambitious and the most thorough, a trickster who also reads the manual. In BaZi terms the Metal branch controls the Wood stem: Metal restrains Wood in the controlling cycle. Practitioners read the year as the animal pushing back against the element above it, so the Monkey's qualities come through strongly and the stem struggles to impose itself. The animal has the upper hand.
- When is the next Wood Monkey year?
- 2064. The pair of stem 甲 and branch 申 recurs every sixty years.