1978 — Year of the Horse 馬 戊午

1978 is the year of the Horse 馬 — year pillar 戊午, Yang Earth. Every date on this page is computed by the same astronomical kernel that powers our public API, to the minute.

Lichun 1978-02-04 12:27:01 · CNY 1978-02-07 · engine 0.1.0

The two-calendar window in 1978

In 1978, Lichun 立春 falls first (1978-02-04) and Chinese New Year 3 days later (1978-02-07). Anyone born inside that 3-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 (1978-02-04 12:27:01, 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 1978

Born inside 1978 (after Lichun)? Your Ming Gua: male (2000 − 1978) mod 9 = 4 → Xun 巽 · female (1978 − 2000 + 6) mod 9 = 2 → Kun 坤. Born before Lichun? The formula runs on 1977 — the Kua calculator applies the boundary for your exact birthday.

FAQ

When does the year of the Horse (戊午) start and end?

By the exact Lichun instant: from 1978-02-04 12:27:01 Beijing to the Lichun of 1979. By the lunar calendar: from Chinese New Year (1978-02-07) to the next new-year new moon. The two definitions disagree about 3 days of 1978 — see the window note above.

Is 1978 a leap month year?

No — the lunar year 1978 has 12 months and no leap month.

What is my Kua number if I was born in 1978?

For births after Lichun: male 4 (巽), female 2 (坤). Births before the exact Lichun instant belong to 1977 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 1978 · Almanac for Chinese New Year (1978-02-07) · Kua number calculator · Four-pillar chart · All Horse years