Chinese zodiac · Year of the Ox
The Earth Ox: 1949, 2009, 2069
己丑 · Ji chǒu · Yin Earth stem on the Earth branch
A Earth Ox year pairs the Heavenly Stem 己 (Ji, yin Earth) with the Earthly Branch 丑 (chǒu, the Ox). The pair recurs every sixty years, so in the range AsterNym covers the Earth Ox years are 1949, 2009, 2069. The animal is the same each time; the stem is what makes a Earth Ox different from a Wood Ox or a Fire Ox. 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 Earth Ox is like
Popular Chinese zodiac tradition. For reflection, not prediction.
The Earth Ox is the Ox at its most itself: practical, loyal, unhurried and almost impossible to knock off course.
2009 and 1949 are Earth Ox years, the Ox at its most itself; the People's Republic was founded in one and the world rebuilt from a crash in the other, which the tradition would call very Ox.
In BaZi terms the Earth stem sits on a Earth branch, the same element twice. Practitioners read a matched pair as a year with one clear voice: the Ox's nature amplified rather than argued with, strong in its own direction and short of counterweight. Whatever the Ox does, this year does more of it.
The rest of the Ox’s character, in love, at work and the growing edge, is on the Year of the Ox page.
Earth Ox 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | 29 January 1949 | 16 February 1950 | 4 February 1949 |
| 2009 | 26 January 2009 | 13 February 2010 | 4 February 2009 |
| 2069 | outside the table | … | 3 February 2069 |
The next Earth Ox year is 2069. Check any birthday against the boundary with the finder.
Famous Earth Oxs
Public birth records, assigned by the Lunar New Year boundary.
Born in 1949
Born in 2009
Common questions
- When does the Year of the Earth Ox start?
- The 1949 Earth Ox year began at Lunar New Year on 29 January 1949 and ran to 16 February 1950. The 2009 Earth Ox year began at Lunar New Year on 26 January 2009 and ran to 13 February 2010. 2069 is outside AsterNym's Lunar New Year table. BaZi turns the year at Li Chun instead (1949: 4 February 1949; 2009: 4 February 2009; 2069: 3 February 2069), so a birth between the two dates carries different year animals in the two systems.
- What is a Earth Ox personality?
- The Earth Ox is the Ox at its most itself: practical, loyal, unhurried and almost impossible to knock off course. In BaZi terms the Earth stem sits on a Earth branch, the same element twice. Practitioners read a matched pair as a year with one clear voice: the Ox's nature amplified rather than argued with, strong in its own direction and short of counterweight. Whatever the Ox does, this year does more of it.
- When is the next Earth Ox year?
- 2069. The pair of stem 己 and branch 丑 recurs every sixty years.