1973: Year of the Water Ox
The 1973 Chinese zodiac year is the Yin Water Ox, and it runs from 3 February 1973 to 22 January 1974 — not from 1 January.
- Animal
- Ox 牛
- Element and polarity
- Yin Water
- Gan-Zhi
- Gui Chou 癸丑
- Age this zodiac year
- Born in 1973, a person turns 53 during the 2026 year
Born early in 1973? You may be Rat, not Ox
Chinese New Year 1973 fell on 3 February 1973. Anyone born between 1 January 1973 and 2 February 1973 — a window of 33 days — belongs to the 1972 zodiac year, the Yang Water Rat, and not to the Ox.
Check an exact birth date against the 3 February 1973 boundary.
Exact 1973 zodiac year dates
The 1973 lunar year ran its ordinary twelve months, 354 days in total.
Other Ox years around 1973
| Ox year | Complete name | Begins |
|---|---|---|
| 1937 | Yin Fire Ox | 11 February 1937 |
| 1949 | Yin Earth Ox | 29 January 1949 |
| 1961 | Yin Metal Ox | 15 February 1961 |
| 1985 | Yin Wood Ox | 20 February 1985 |
| 1997 | Yin Fire Ox | 7 February 1997 |
| 2009 | Yin Earth Ox | 26 January 2009 |
The exact pairing 癸丑 — Yin Water Ox — returns only once every sixty years: 1913, 2033, 2093.