Chinese zodiac 2009
Year of the Earth Ox
26 January 2009 to 13 February 2010
Born in 2009? Your sign depends on the day
The animal changes at Lunar New Year, not on 1 January. In 2009 it falls on 26 January 2009.
- 26 January to 31 December 2009
- π Earth Ox
- and on to 13 Feb 2010
Check an exact birth date
The Earth Ox at a glance
Animal
π Ox
Said to be steady, hard-working, dependable.
Element
ε Yin Earth
Linked with stability and patience. Each element rules two years in a row.
Length
384 days
A long year: the calendar adds a thirteenth, leap month.
Other Ox years
The 60-year cycle
Animal and element line up again only every 60 years. The Earth Ox years nearest to this one are 1949 and 2069.
Who gets on with the Ox
Allies
Four years apart. The three animals of a trine are said to share a temperament.
Secret friend
One of six fixed pairs said to complement each other.
Opposite
Six years apart, directly across the wheel. Tradition calls this the hardest pairing.
Friction
One of six fixed pairs said to rub each other the wrong way.
Bonds come from each animal's position among the twelve, as tradition sets them. They describe the Ox sign in general, not any one person.
Dates are computed estimates from the Hong Kong Observatory's calendar tables, counted in China's time zone. Some traditions change the animal at the start of spring (around 4 February) instead of at Lunar New Year.