Chinese zodiac · Year of the Rat
The Earth Rat: 1948, 2008, 2068
戊子 · Wu zǐ · Yang Earth stem on the Water branch
A Earth Rat year pairs the Heavenly Stem 戊 (Wu, yang Earth) with the Earthly Branch 子 (zǐ, the Rat). The pair recurs every sixty years, so in the range AsterNym covers the Earth Rat years are 1948, 2008, 2068. The animal is the same each time; the stem is what makes a Earth Rat different from a Wood Rat or a Fire Rat. 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 Rat is like
Popular Chinese zodiac tradition. For reflection, not prediction.
The Earth Rat is the steady one, careful with money and slower to move, the Rat most likely to keep the shortcut to itself.
The Earth Rat of 2008 arrived with a financial crash, which the tradition would call fitting for the most careful and money-minded of the five Rats.
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 Rat's nature is disciplined, sometimes frustrated, and channelled rather than let loose. Tension with a purpose.
The rest of the Rat’s character, in love, at work and the growing edge, is on the Year of the Rat page.
Earth Rat 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | 10 February 1948 | 28 January 1949 | 5 February 1948 |
| 2008 | 7 February 2008 | 25 January 2009 | 4 February 2008 |
| 2068 | outside the table | … | 4 February 2068 |
The next Earth Rat year is 2068. Check any birthday against the boundary with the finder.
Famous Earth Rats
Public birth records, assigned by the Lunar New Year boundary.
Born in 1948
- Charles IIIKing of the United Kingdom since 2022
- Haruki MurakamiJapanese writer
- George R. R. MartinAmerican writer and television producer
- Ozzy OsbourneEnglish musician and television personality
- Samuel L. JacksonAmerican actor
- Steven ChuAmerican physicist, former United States Secretary of Energy, Nobel laureate
Common questions
- When does the Year of the Earth Rat start?
- The 1948 Earth Rat year began at Lunar New Year on 10 February 1948 and ran to 28 January 1949. The 2008 Earth Rat year began at Lunar New Year on 7 February 2008 and ran to 25 January 2009. 2068 is outside AsterNym's Lunar New Year table. BaZi turns the year at Li Chun instead (1948: 5 February 1948; 2008: 4 February 2008; 2068: 4 February 2068), so a birth between the two dates carries different year animals in the two systems.
- What is a Earth Rat personality?
- The Earth Rat is the steady one, careful with money and slower to move, the Rat most likely to keep the shortcut to itself. 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 Rat's nature is disciplined, sometimes frustrated, and channelled rather than let loose. Tension with a purpose.
- When is the next Earth Rat year?
- 2068. The pair of stem 戊 and branch 子 recurs every sixty years.