1998: Year of the Earth Tiger
The 1998 Chinese zodiac year is the Yang Earth Tiger, and it runs from 28 January 1998 to 15 February 1999 — not from 1 January.
- Animal
- Tiger 虎
- Element and polarity
- Yang Earth
- Gan-Zhi
- Wu Yin 戊寅
- Age this zodiac year
- Born in 1998, a person turns 28 during the 2026 year
Born early in 1998? You may be Ox, not Tiger
Chinese New Year 1998 fell on 28 January 1998. Anyone born between 1 January 1998 and 27 January 1998 — a window of 27 days — belongs to the 1997 zodiac year, the Yin Fire Ox, and not to the Tiger.
Check an exact birth date against the 28 January 1998 boundary.
Exact 1998 zodiac year dates
The 1998 lunar year carried a leap month, stretching it to 384 days — which is why the following Chinese New Year falls comparatively late.
Other Tiger years around 1998
| Tiger year | Complete name | Begins |
|---|---|---|
| 1962 | Yang Water Tiger | 5 February 1962 |
| 1974 | Yang Wood Tiger | 23 January 1974 |
| 1986 | Yang Fire Tiger | 9 February 1986 |
| 2010 | Yang Metal Tiger | 14 February 2010 |
| 2022 | Yang Water Tiger | 1 February 2022 |
| 2034 | Yang Wood Tiger | 19 February 2034 |
The exact pairing 戊寅 — Yang Earth Tiger — returns only once every sixty years: 1938, 2058.