1988 — Year of the Dragon 龍 戊辰

1988 is the year of the Dragon 龍 — year pillar 戊辰, Yang Earth. Every date on this page is computed by the same astronomical kernel that powers our public API, to the minute.

Lichun 1988-02-04 22:43:00 · CNY 1988-02-17 · engine 0.1.0

The two-calendar window in 1988

In 1988, Lichun 立春 falls first (1988-02-04) and Chinese New Year 13 days later (1988-02-17). Anyone born inside that 13-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 (1988-02-04 22:43:00, 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 1988

Born inside 1988 (after Lichun)? Your Ming Gua: male (2000 − 1988) mod 9 = 3 → Zhen 震 · female (1988 − 2000 + 6) mod 9 = 3 → Zhen 震. Born before Lichun? The formula runs on 1987 — the Kua calculator applies the boundary for your exact birthday.

FAQ

When does the year of the Dragon (戊辰) start and end?

By the exact Lichun instant: from 1988-02-04 22:43:00 Beijing to the Lichun of 1989. By the lunar calendar: from Chinese New Year (1988-02-17) to the next new-year new moon. The two definitions disagree about 13 days of 1988 — see the window note above.

Is 1988 a leap month year?

No — the lunar year 1988 has 12 months and no leap month.

What is my Kua number if I was born in 1988?

For births after Lichun: male 3 (震), female 3 (震). Births before the exact Lichun instant belong to 1987 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 1988 · Almanac for Chinese New Year (1988-02-17) · Kua number calculator · Four-pillar chart · All Dragon years