Cathay Ink › Chinese zodiac › Year of the Goat › 2003
Year of the Goat 2003
The Water Goat, 癸未: from Chinese New Year on 1 February 2003 to 21 January 2004.
Kind, creative and calm. The Goat is the artist of the cycle, drawn to beauty and to taking care of people. Water years favour adaptability: plans that bend, conversations that flow, patience with the long way round.
The Water Goat
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 Goat came last in 1943 and returns in 2063. The year's 纳音 (the "sound" of its stem and branch in the old almanacs) is 杨柳木.
Company
The Goat shares a trine with the Rabbit and the Pig; its secret friend is the Horse. Those signs are said to find a Goat year easiest. The character 羊 sits inside 美, the character for beauty, and 善, the character for kindness.
Years of the Goat
Each starts at Chinese New Year.
- 1931Metal Goat, from 17 February 1931
- 1943Water Goat, from 5 February 1943
- 1955Wood Goat, from 24 January 1955
- 1967Fire Goat, from 9 February 1967
- 1979Earth Goat, from 28 January 1979
- 1991Metal Goat, from 15 February 1991
- 2003Water Goat, from 1 February 2003
- 2015Wood Goat, from 19 February 2015
- 2027Fire Goat, from 6 February 2027
- 2039Earth Goat, from 24 January 2039
Questions
When does the Year of the Goat 2003 start and end?
It starts at Chinese New Year, 1 February 2003, and ends on 21 January 2004, the day before the next new year.
What element is the Goat in 2003?
Water (水), from the heavenly stem 癸. Water years are associated with adaptability and depth: rivers finding their way.
Is a baby born in January 2003 a Goat?
No. A baby born before 1 February 2003 belongs to the previous animal, the Horse. The zodiac year follows the lunar calendar, not 1 January.
Which other years were Water Goat years?
1943. The same stem and branch return every sixty years.
Your Goat in ink
The Goat 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 Goat. All twelve: the zodiac.