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Year of the Dragon 2012
The Water Dragon, 壬辰: from Chinese New Year on 23 January 2012 to 9 February 2013.
Confident, ambitious and generous. The only mythical animal in the cycle, the Dragon brings rain and good harvests; emperors took it as their emblem. Water years favour adaptability: plans that bend, conversations that flow, patience with the long way round.
The Water Dragon
Element
Water years are associated with adaptability and depth: rivers finding their way. In the sixty-year cycle each animal meets each element once, so the Water Dragon came last in 1952 and returns in 2072. The year's 纳音 (the "sound" of its stem and branch in the old almanacs) is 长流水.
Company
The Dragon shares a trine with the Rat and the Monkey; its secret friend is the Rooster. Those signs are said to find a Dragon year easiest. Dragon years see a rise in births across the Chinese-speaking world: parents plan for them.
Years of the Dragon
Each starts at Chinese New Year.
- 1928Earth Dragon, from 23 January 1928
- 1940Metal Dragon, from 8 February 1940
- 1952Water Dragon, from 27 January 1952
- 1964Wood Dragon, from 13 February 1964
- 1976Fire Dragon, from 31 January 1976
- 1988Earth Dragon, from 17 February 1988
- 2000Metal Dragon, from 5 February 2000
- 2012Water Dragon, from 23 January 2012
- 2024Wood Dragon, from 10 February 2024
- 2036Fire Dragon, from 28 January 2036
Questions
When does the Year of the Dragon 2012 start and end?
It starts at Chinese New Year, 23 January 2012, and ends on 9 February 2013, the day before the next new year.
What element is the Dragon in 2012?
Water (水), from the heavenly stem 壬. Water years are associated with adaptability and depth: rivers finding their way.
Is a baby born in January 2012 a Dragon?
No. A baby born before 23 January 2012 belongs to the previous animal, the Rabbit. The zodiac year follows the lunar calendar, not 1 January.
Which other years were Water Dragon years?
1952. The same stem and branch return every sixty years.
Your Dragon in ink
The Dragon painted in ink wash above your name and lunar birthday.
Make the poster
Enter your birthday; we set the animal, the element, the lunar date and your name, and add a Chinese name as a seal if you have one.
Start with my birthdayMore about the animal: Year of the Dragon. All twelve: the zodiac.