Quick Answer: What Is the 2024 Chinese Zodiac Sign?
The 2024 Chinese zodiac (生肖, shēngxiào) is the Wood Dragon from February 10, 2024 through January 28, 2025, inclusive. The traditional year name is Jia-Chen (甲辰, Jiǎ-Chén).[1][2]
- Earlier 2024 dates. January 1–February 9, 2024 still belongs to the Water Rabbit year.[1]
- The name Wood Dragon. Jia supplies Wood and Chen supplies Dragon.[4]
- The next new year. January 29, 2025 begins the Wood Snake year.[2]
The table follows Lunar New Year. Some Four Pillars charts use the solar term Start of Spring (立春, Lìchūn) instead.[3]
In 2024 the Lunar New Year theme was the Dragon, but birthdays remained in the Rabbit year well into February. Check the starting date and the ending date when you use a zodiac year printed on a gift or calendar.
Where the 2024 Wood Dragon Dates Change
| Gregorian date of birth | Lunar New Year sign |
|---|---|
| January 1–February 9, 2024 | 水の兎 |
| February 10, 2024–January 28, 2025 | 木の龍 |
| January 29–December 31, 2025 | 木の蛇 |
A birthday on February 6, 2024 is Water Rabbit by Lunar New Year dates. Start of Spring had already occurred on February 4, so a Four Pillars chart that follows the solar term can give Wood Dragon for that date.[1][3][4]
How to Read Jia-Chen and Buddhist Lamp Fire
Jia is the Heavenly Stem (天干, tiāngān) for Yang Wood (阳木, yáng mù) in Wuxing (五行, wǔxíng). Chen is the Earthly Branch (地支, dìzhī) for Dragon (龙, lóng). The Gan-Zhi (干支, gānzhī) pair also appears in the 1964 Wood Dragon year. The 2012年・水の龍 has the same animal but a different stem.[3][4]
The Na Yin (纳音, nà yīn) table groups the 2024 Dragon and following Wood Snake under Buddhist Lamp Fire (佛灯火, Fó Dēng Huǒ). The two calendar entries answer different questions: the larger group is Fire, while the 2024 stem itself is Wood.[4][5]
Wood Dragon Symbolism and a Dragon in Glaze
A Chinese stoneware stem bowl from the 12th to mid-13th century has a dragon amid clouds under the glaze. Look inside the bowl for the low relief. The design gives the bowl a dragon motif, but the motif alone gives no reason to assign the bowl to a specific Dragon year.[8]
Popular Wood Dragon profiles associate the sign with initiative and imaginative plans. One 2024 guide names 2, 6 and 7 as lucky numbers and orange, red and purple as lucky colors. In broader Dragon compatibility profiles, Rat, Monkey and Rooster are traditional favorable pairings.[4][6][7]
What 2027 Folk Readings Say About the Dragon Sign
An animal-relationship chart for the 2027 Goat year treats the Dragon as neutral in relation to the Goat. It uses the Chen branch shared by Dragon years, so it places a 2024 Wood Dragon and a 2012 Water Dragon in the same category for this portion of the reading.[4]
FAQs About the 2024 Chinese Zodiac
Is January 28, 2025 still a Wood Dragon birth date?
Yes. It is the last day of the Wood Dragon year. January 29, 2025 starts the Wood Snake year.[2]
Are the 2012 and 2024 Dragons the same type?
They share the Chen branch. Ren in 2012 gives Water and Jia in 2024 gives Wood.[3][4]
Why does Wood Dragon appear beside a Fire label?
The Wood name reads the individual Jia stem. Buddhist Lamp Fire is the Na Yin group shared by the Wood Dragon and Wood Snake years.[4][5]
出典
[1] Hong Kong Observatory. 2024 Gregorian–lunar calendar conversion table
[2] Hong Kong Observatory. 2025 Gregorian–lunar calendar conversion table
[3] Hong Kong Observatory（香港天文台）。What year is it today?（今日は何年？）
[4] Zodiac Almanac. 2024 Wood Dragon calendar labels and dated folk interpretation
[5] Liao Zhong. Wuxing Jingji, digital edition
[6] TravelChinaGuide. 2024 Wood Dragon associations
[7] China Highlights. Chinese zodiac compatibility chart
[8] National Museum of Asian Art. Stem-bowl with molded decoration