Chinese zodiac · Year of the Pig
The Earth Pig: 1959, 2019, 2079
己亥 · Ji hài · Yin Earth stem on the Water branch
A Earth Pig year pairs the Heavenly Stem 己 (Ji, yin Earth) with the Earthly Branch 亥 (hài, the Pig). The pair recurs every sixty years, so in the range AsterNym covers the Earth Pig years are 1959, 2019, 2079. The animal is the same each time; the stem is what makes a Earth Pig different from a Wood Pig or a Fire Pig. 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 Pig is like
Popular Chinese zodiac tradition. For reflection, not prediction.
The Earth Pig is the most practical and patient, steady, home-loving and hard to rush.
2019 Earth Pigs are the practical, patient, home-loving ones, born just before the world went indoors, which the tradition would call good timing.
In BaZi terms the Earth stem controls the Water branch: Earth restrains Water in the controlling cycle. Practitioners read the year as the element on top holding the animal in check, so the Pig's nature is disciplined, sometimes frustrated, and channelled rather than let loose. Tension with a purpose.
The rest of the Pig’s character, in love, at work and the growing edge, is on the Year of the Pig page.
Earth Pig 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | 8 February 1959 | 27 January 1960 | 4 February 1959 |
| 2019 | 5 February 2019 | 24 January 2020 | 4 February 2019 |
| 2079 | outside the table | … | 4 February 2079 |
The next Earth Pig year is 2079. Check any birthday against the boundary with the finder.
Famous Earth Pigs
Public birth records, assigned by the Lunar New Year boundary.
Born in 1959
- Evo MoralesPresident of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019
- Donna StricklandCanadian physicist, Nobel laurate
- Boris NemtsovRussian scientist, statesman and liberal politician
- Emma ThompsonEnglish actress and screenwriter
- Mauricio MacriPresident of Argentina from 2015 to 2019
- Alberto FernándezPresident of Argentina from 2019 to 2023
Common questions
- When does the Year of the Earth Pig start?
- The 1959 Earth Pig year began at Lunar New Year on 8 February 1959 and ran to 27 January 1960. The 2019 Earth Pig year began at Lunar New Year on 5 February 2019 and ran to 24 January 2020. 2079 is outside AsterNym's Lunar New Year table. BaZi turns the year at Li Chun instead (1959: 4 February 1959; 2019: 4 February 2019; 2079: 4 February 2079), so a birth between the two dates carries different year animals in the two systems.
- What is a Earth Pig personality?
- The Earth Pig is the most practical and patient, steady, home-loving and hard to rush. In BaZi terms the Earth stem controls the Water branch: Earth restrains Water in the controlling cycle. Practitioners read the year as the element on top holding the animal in check, so the Pig's nature is disciplined, sometimes frustrated, and channelled rather than let loose. Tension with a purpose.
- When is the next Earth Pig year?
- 2079. The pair of stem 己 and branch 亥 recurs every sixty years.