Cathay Ink › Chinese zodiac › Year of the Snake › 1953
Year of the Snake 1953
The Water Snake, 癸巳: from Chinese New Year on 14 February 1953 to 2 February 1954.
Thoughtful, elegant and private. The Snake is called the little dragon; it is the sign of wisdom that watches before it speaks. Water years favour adaptability: plans that bend, conversations that flow, patience with the long way round.
The Water Snake
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 Snake came last in 1893 and returns in 2013. The year's 纳音 (the "sound" of its stem and branch in the old almanacs) is 长流水.
Company
The Snake shares a trine with the Ox and the Rooster; its secret friend is the Monkey. Those signs are said to find a Snake year easiest. The White Snake of West Lake, who took human form for love, is one of China's four great folk tales.
Years of the Snake
Each starts at Chinese New Year.
- 1929Earth Snake, from 10 February 1929
- 1941Metal Snake, from 27 January 1941
- 1953Water Snake, from 14 February 1953
- 1965Wood Snake, from 2 February 1965
- 1977Fire Snake, from 18 February 1977
- 1989Earth Snake, from 6 February 1989
- 2001Metal Snake, from 24 January 2001
- 2013Water Snake, from 10 February 2013
- 2025Wood Snake, from 29 January 2025
- 2037Fire Snake, from 15 February 2037
Questions
When does the Year of the Snake 1953 start and end?
It starts at Chinese New Year, 14 February 1953, and ends on 2 February 1954, the day before the next new year.
What element is the Snake in 1953?
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 1953 a Snake?
No. A baby born before 14 February 1953 belongs to the previous animal, the Dragon. The zodiac year follows the lunar calendar, not 1 January.
Which other years were Water Snake years?
2013. The same stem and branch return every sixty years.
Your Snake in ink
The Snake 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 Snake. All twelve: the zodiac.