1997: Year of the Fire Ox
The 1997 Chinese zodiac year is the Yin Fire Ox, and it runs from 7 February 1997 to 27 January 1998 — not from 1 January.
- Animal
- Ox 牛
- Element and polarity
- Yin Fire
- Gan-Zhi
- Ding Chou 丁丑
- Age this zodiac year
- Born in 1997, a person turns 29 during the 2026 year
Born early in 1997? You may be Rat, not Ox
Chinese New Year 1997 fell on 7 February 1997. Anyone born between 1 January 1997 and 6 February 1997 — a window of 37 days — belongs to the 1996 zodiac year, the Yang Fire Rat, and not to the Ox.
Check an exact birth date against the 7 February 1997 boundary.
Exact 1997 zodiac year dates
The 1997 lunar year ran its ordinary twelve months, 355 days in total.
Other Ox years around 1997
| Ox year | Complete name | Begins |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Yin Metal Ox | 15 February 1961 |
| 1973 | Yin Water Ox | 3 February 1973 |
| 1985 | Yin Wood Ox | 20 February 1985 |
| 2009 | Yin Earth Ox | 26 January 2009 |
| 2021 | Yin Metal Ox | 12 February 2021 |
| 2033 | Yin Water Ox | 31 January 2033 |
The exact pairing 丁丑 — Yin Fire Ox — returns only once every sixty years: 1937, 2057.