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Year of the Monkey 2040
The Metal Monkey, 庚申: from Chinese New Year on 12 February 2040 to 31 January 2041.
Clever, playful and inventive. The Monkey solves problems sideways and keeps everyone laughing while it does. Metal years favour decisiveness and finishing: clean cuts, clear words, things brought to a conclusion.
The Metal Monkey
Element
Metal years are associated with resolve and clarity: the edge of a blade, the ring of a bell. In the sixty-year cycle each animal meets each element once, so the Metal Monkey came last in 1980 and returns in 2100. The year's 纳音 (the "sound" of its stem and branch in the old almanacs) is 石榴木.
Company
The Monkey shares a trine with the Rat and the Dragon; its secret friend is the Snake. Those signs are said to find a Monkey year easiest. Sun Wukong, the Monkey King of Journey to the West, is the most loved character in Chinese literature.
Years of the Monkey
Each starts at Chinese New Year.
- 1932Water Monkey, from 6 February 1932
- 1944Wood Monkey, from 25 January 1944
- 1956Fire Monkey, from 12 February 1956
- 1968Earth Monkey, from 30 January 1968
- 1980Metal Monkey, from 16 February 1980
- 1992Water Monkey, from 4 February 1992
- 2004Wood Monkey, from 22 January 2004
- 2016Fire Monkey, from 8 February 2016
- 2028Earth Monkey, from 26 January 2028
- 2040Metal Monkey, from 12 February 2040
Questions
When does the Year of the Monkey 2040 start and end?
It starts at Chinese New Year, 12 February 2040, and ends on 31 January 2041, the day before the next new year.
What element is the Monkey in 2040?
Metal (金), from the heavenly stem 庚. Metal years are associated with resolve and clarity: the edge of a blade, the ring of a bell.
Is a baby born in January 2040 a Monkey?
No. A baby born before 12 February 2040 belongs to the previous animal, the Goat. The zodiac year follows the lunar calendar, not 1 January.
Which other years were Metal Monkey years?
1980. The same stem and branch return every sixty years.
Your Monkey in ink
The Monkey 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 Monkey. All twelve: the zodiac.