1978: Year of the Earth Horse
The 1978 Chinese zodiac year is the Yang Earth Horse, and it runs from 7 February 1978 to 27 January 1979 — not from 1 January.
- Animal
- Horse 马
- Element and polarity
- Yang Earth
- Gan-Zhi
- Wu Wu 戊午
- Age this zodiac year
- Born in 1978, a person turns 48 during the 2026 year
Born early in 1978? You may be Snake, not Horse
Chinese New Year 1978 fell on 7 February 1978. Anyone born between 1 January 1978 and 6 February 1978 — a window of 37 days — belongs to the 1977 zodiac year, the Yin Fire Snake, and not to the Horse.
Check an exact birth date against the 7 February 1978 boundary.
Exact 1978 zodiac year dates
The 1978 lunar year ran its ordinary twelve months, 355 days in total.
Other Horse years around 1978
| Horse year | Complete name | Begins |
|---|---|---|
| 1942 | Yang Water Horse | 15 February 1942 |
| 1954 | Yang Wood Horse | 3 February 1954 |
| 1966 | Yang Fire Horse | 21 January 1966 |
| 1990 | Yang Metal Horse | 27 January 1990 |
| 2002 | Yang Water Horse | 12 February 2002 |
| 2014 | Yang Wood Horse | 31 January 2014 |
The exact pairing 戊午 — Yang Earth Horse — returns only once every sixty years: 1918, 2038, 2098.