1948 — Year of the Rat 鼠 戊子

1948 is the year of the Rat 鼠 — year pillar 戊子, Yang Earth. Every date on this page is computed by the same astronomical kernel that powers our public API, to the minute.

Lichun 1948-02-05 05:42:09 · CNY 1948-02-10 · engine 0.1.0

The two-calendar window in 1948

In 1948, Lichun 立春 falls first (1948-02-05) and Chinese New Year 5 days later (1948-02-10). Anyone born inside that 5-day window gets a different zodiac animal and year pillar depending on which convention their tool follows — BaZi practice switches at the exact Lichun instant (1948-02-05 05:42:09, Beijing), folk calendar practice at the new moon. This is not an edge case we gloss over — it is the single most common source of wrong zodiac years, and our engine comparison tool shows it live with three engines side by side.

Your Kua number for 1948

Born inside 1948 (after Lichun)? Your Ming Gua: male (2000 − 1948) mod 9 = 7 → Dui 兑 · female (1948 − 2000 + 6) mod 9 = 8 → Gen 艮. Born before Lichun? The formula runs on 1947 — the Kua calculator applies the boundary for your exact birthday.

FAQ

When does the year of the Rat (戊子) start and end?

By the exact Lichun instant: from 1948-02-05 05:42:09 Beijing to the Lichun of 1949. By the lunar calendar: from Chinese New Year (1948-02-10) to the next new-year new moon. The two definitions disagree about 5 days of 1948 — see the window note above.

Is 1948 a leap month year?

No — the lunar year 1948 has 12 months and no leap month.

What is my Kua number if I was born in 1948?

For births after Lichun: male 7 (兑), female 8 (艮). Births before the exact Lichun instant belong to 1947 and use that year in the formula — most online calculators get early-February birthdays wrong here.

Tools for this year

All 24 solar terms of 1948 · Almanac for Chinese New Year (1948-02-10) · Kua number calculator · Four-pillar chart · All Rat years