Chinese zodiac · Year of the Rabbit
The Water Rabbit: 1963, 2023, 2083
癸卯 · Gui mǎo · Yin Water stem on the Wood branch
A Water Rabbit year pairs the Heavenly Stem 癸 (Gui, yin Water) with the Earthly Branch 卯 (mǎo, the Rabbit). The pair recurs every sixty years, so in the range AsterNym covers the Water Rabbit years are 1963, 2023, 2083. The animal is the same each time; the stem is what makes a Water Rabbit different from a Wood Rabbit or a Fire Rabbit. 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 Water Rabbit is like
Popular Chinese zodiac tradition. For reflection, not prediction.
The Water Rabbit is the most sensitive, absorbing the mood of a room and needing quiet afterwards to let it go.
2023 was the Water Rabbit, the most sensitive of the five, and the tradition read it as a year to recover from the two before it.
In BaZi terms the Water stem feeds the Wood branch: Water produces Wood in the generating cycle. Practitioners read the year as the stem spending itself on the branch, so the Rabbit'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 Rabbit’s character, in love, at work and the growing edge, is on the Year of the Rabbit page.
Water Rabbit 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | 25 January 1963 | 12 February 1964 | 4 February 1963 |
| 2023 | 22 January 2023 | 9 February 2024 | 4 February 2023 |
| 2083 | outside the table | … | 3 February 2083 |
The next Water Rabbit year is 2083. Check any birthday against the boundary with the finder.
Famous Water Rabbits
Public birth records, assigned by the Lunar New Year boundary.
Common questions
- When does the Year of the Water Rabbit start?
- The 1963 Water Rabbit year began at Lunar New Year on 25 January 1963 and ran to 12 February 1964. The 2023 Water Rabbit year began at Lunar New Year on 22 January 2023 and ran to 9 February 2024. 2083 is outside AsterNym's Lunar New Year table. BaZi turns the year at Li Chun instead (1963: 4 February 1963; 2023: 4 February 2023; 2083: 3 February 2083), so a birth between the two dates carries different year animals in the two systems.
- What is a Water Rabbit personality?
- The Water Rabbit is the most sensitive, absorbing the mood of a room and needing quiet afterwards to let it go. In BaZi terms the Water stem feeds the Wood branch: Water produces Wood in the generating cycle. Practitioners read the year as the stem spending itself on the branch, so the Rabbit'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 Water Rabbit year?
- 2083. The pair of stem 癸 and branch 卯 recurs every sixty years.