Chinese zodiac · Year of the Snake
The Water Snake: 1953, 2013, 2073
癸巳 · Gui sì · Yin Water stem on the Fire branch
A Water Snake year pairs the Heavenly Stem 癸 (Gui, yin Water) with the Earthly Branch 巳 (sì, the Snake). The pair recurs every sixty years, so in the range AsterNym covers the Water Snake years are 1953, 2013, 2073. The animal is the same each time; the stem is what makes a Water Snake different from a Wood Snake or a Fire Snake. 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 Snake is like
Popular Chinese zodiac tradition. For reflection, not prediction.
The Water Snake is the deepest thinker of the five, intuitive and scholarly, the sage in its purest form.
The Water Snake of 2013 is the deepest thinker of the five, and the tradition reads it as the sage in its purest form; the next arrives in 2073.
In BaZi terms the Water stem controls the Fire branch: Water restrains Fire in the controlling cycle. Practitioners read the year as the element on top holding the animal in check, so the Snake's nature is disciplined, sometimes frustrated, and channelled rather than let loose. Tension with a purpose.
The rest of the Snake’s character, in love, at work and the growing edge, is on the Year of the Snake page.
Water Snake 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | 14 February 1953 | 2 February 1954 | 4 February 1953 |
| 2013 | 10 February 2013 | 30 January 2014 | 4 February 2013 |
| 2073 | outside the table | … | 3 February 2073 |
The next Water Snake year is 2073. Check any birthday against the boundary with the finder.
Famous Water Snakes
Public birth records, assigned by the Lunar New Year boundary.
Born in 1953
- Xi JinpingGeneral Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party since 2012
- Benazir Bhutto11th and 13th prime minister of Pakistan
- Oprah WinfreyAmerican talk show host, actress, producer, and author
- Herta MüllerGerman-Romanian novelist, poet and essayist
- Cristina Fernández de KirchnerPresident of Argentina from 2007 to 2015
- Pierce BrosnanIrish actor
Common questions
- When does the Year of the Water Snake start?
- The 1953 Water Snake year began at Lunar New Year on 14 February 1953 and ran to 2 February 1954. The 2013 Water Snake year began at Lunar New Year on 10 February 2013 and ran to 30 January 2014. 2073 is outside AsterNym's Lunar New Year table. BaZi turns the year at Li Chun instead (1953: 4 February 1953; 2013: 4 February 2013; 2073: 3 February 2073), so a birth between the two dates carries different year animals in the two systems.
- What is a Water Snake personality?
- The Water Snake is the deepest thinker of the five, intuitive and scholarly, the sage in its purest form. In BaZi terms the Water stem controls the Fire branch: Water restrains Fire in the controlling cycle. Practitioners read the year as the element on top holding the animal in check, so the Snake's nature is disciplined, sometimes frustrated, and channelled rather than let loose. Tension with a purpose.
- When is the next Water Snake year?
- 2073. The pair of stem 癸 and branch 巳 recurs every sixty years.