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The Ox in ink wash

Year of the Ox 1925

The Wood Ox, 乙丑: from Chinese New Year on 24 January 1925 to 12 February 1926.

Steady, patient and dependable. The Ox finishes what it starts and is trusted with what matters; in farming China it was the family's most valuable companion. Wood years favour growth and beginnings: planting, building, the first steps of long projects.

The Wood Ox

Element

Wood years are associated with growth and flexibility: spring, bamboo, new shoots. In the sixty-year cycle each animal meets each element once, so the Wood Ox came last in 1865 and returns in 1985. The year's 纳音 (the "sound" of its stem and branch in the old almanacs) is 海中金.

Company

The Ox shares a trine with the Snake and the Rooster; its secret friend is the Rat. Those signs are said to find a Ox year easiest. The Ox would have won the river race, but carried the Rat across and came second without complaint.

Years of the Ox

Each starts at Chinese New Year.

  • 1925Wood Ox, from 24 January 1925
  • 1937Fire Ox, from 11 February 1937
  • 1949Earth Ox, from 29 January 1949
  • 1961Metal Ox, from 15 February 1961
  • 1973Water Ox, from 3 February 1973
  • 1985Wood Ox, from 20 February 1985
  • 1997Fire Ox, from 7 February 1997
  • 2009Earth Ox, from 26 January 2009
  • 2021Metal Ox, from 12 February 2021
  • 2033Water Ox, from 31 January 2033

Questions

When does the Year of the Ox 1925 start and end?

It starts at Chinese New Year, 24 January 1925, and ends on 12 February 1926, the day before the next new year.

What element is the Ox in 1925?

Wood (木), from the heavenly stem 乙. Wood years are associated with growth and flexibility: spring, bamboo, new shoots.

Is a baby born in January 1925 a Ox?

No. A baby born before 24 January 1925 belongs to the previous animal, the Rat. The zodiac year follows the lunar calendar, not 1 January.

Which other years were Wood Ox years?

1985. The same stem and branch return every sixty years.

Your Ox in ink

The Ox painted in ink wash above your name and lunar birthday.

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More about the animal: Year of the Ox. All twelve: the zodiac.