Cathay Ink › Chinese zodiac › Year of the Rabbit › 1951
Year of the Rabbit 1951
The Metal Rabbit, 辛卯: from Chinese New Year on 6 February 1951 to 26 January 1952.
Gentle, tactful and perceptive. The Rabbit prefers harmony to confrontation and tends to be the one everyone confides in. Metal years favour decisiveness and finishing: clean cuts, clear words, things brought to a conclusion.
The Metal Rabbit
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 Rabbit came last in 1891 and returns in 2011. The year's 纳音 (the "sound" of its stem and branch in the old almanacs) is 松柏木.
Company
The Rabbit shares a trine with the Goat and the Pig; its secret friend is the Dog. Those signs are said to find a Rabbit year easiest. The Jade Rabbit lives on the moon, pounding the elixir of life under the osmanthus tree; look for it at Mid-Autumn.
Years of the Rabbit
Each starts at Chinese New Year.
- 1927Fire Rabbit, from 2 February 1927
- 1939Earth Rabbit, from 19 February 1939
- 1951Metal Rabbit, from 6 February 1951
- 1963Water Rabbit, from 25 January 1963
- 1975Wood Rabbit, from 11 February 1975
- 1987Fire Rabbit, from 29 January 1987
- 1999Earth Rabbit, from 16 February 1999
- 2011Metal Rabbit, from 3 February 2011
- 2023Water Rabbit, from 22 January 2023
- 2035Wood Rabbit, from 8 February 2035
Questions
When does the Year of the Rabbit 1951 start and end?
It starts at Chinese New Year, 6 February 1951, and ends on 26 January 1952, the day before the next new year.
What element is the Rabbit in 1951?
Metal (金), from the heavenly stem 辛. Metal years are associated with resolve and clarity: the edge of a blade, the ring of a bell.
Is a baby born in January 1951 a Rabbit?
No. A baby born before 6 February 1951 belongs to the previous animal, the Tiger. The zodiac year follows the lunar calendar, not 1 January.
Which other years were Metal Rabbit years?
2011. The same stem and branch return every sixty years.
Your Rabbit in ink
The Rabbit painted in ink wash above your name and lunar birthday.
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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 Rabbit. All twelve: the zodiac.