1949: Year of the Earth Ox
The 1949 Chinese zodiac year is the Yin Earth Ox, and it runs from 29 January 1949 to 16 February 1950 — not from 1 January.
- Animal
- Ox 牛
- Element and polarity
- Yin Earth
- Gan-Zhi
- Ji Chou 己丑
- Age this zodiac year
- Born in 1949, a person turns 77 during the 2026 year
Born early in 1949? You may be Rat, not Ox
Chinese New Year 1949 fell on 29 January 1949. Anyone born between 1 January 1949 and 28 January 1949 — a window of 28 days — belongs to the 1948 zodiac year, the Yang Earth Rat, and not to the Ox.
Check an exact birth date against the 29 January 1949 boundary.
Exact 1949 zodiac year dates
The 1949 lunar year carried a leap month, stretching it to 384 days — which is why the following Chinese New Year falls comparatively late.
Other Ox years around 1949
| Ox year | Complete name | Begins |
|---|---|---|
| 1913 | Yin Water Ox | 6 February 1913 |
| 1925 | Yin Wood Ox | 24 January 1925 |
| 1937 | Yin Fire Ox | 11 February 1937 |
| 1961 | Yin Metal Ox | 15 February 1961 |
| 1973 | Yin Water Ox | 3 February 1973 |
| 1985 | Yin Wood Ox | 20 February 1985 |
The exact pairing 己丑 — Yin Earth Ox — returns only once every sixty years: 2009, 2069.