2018 — Year of the Dog 狗 戊戌

2018 is the year of the Dog 狗 — year pillar 戊戌, Yang Earth. Every date on this page is computed by the same astronomical kernel that powers our public API, to the minute.

Lichun 2018-02-04 05:28:35 · CNY 2018-02-16 · engine 0.1.0

The two-calendar window in 2018

In 2018, Lichun 立春 falls first (2018-02-04) and Chinese New Year 12 days later (2018-02-16). Anyone born inside that 12-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 (2018-02-04 05:28:35, 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 2018

Born inside 2018 (after Lichun)? Your Ming Gua: male (2000 − 2018) mod 9 = 9 → Li 离 · female (2018 − 2000 + 6) mod 9 = 6 → Qian 乾. Born before Lichun? The formula runs on 2017 — the Kua calculator applies the boundary for your exact birthday.

FAQ

When does the year of the Dog (戊戌) start and end?

By the exact Lichun instant: from 2018-02-04 05:28:35 Beijing to the Lichun of 2019. By the lunar calendar: from Chinese New Year (2018-02-16) to the next new-year new moon. The two definitions disagree about 12 days of 2018 — see the window note above.

Is 2018 a leap month year?

No — the lunar year 2018 has 12 months and no leap month.

What is my Kua number if I was born in 2018?

For births after Lichun: male 9 (离), female 6 (乾). Births before the exact Lichun instant belong to 2017 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 2018 · Almanac for Chinese New Year (2018-02-16) · Kua number calculator · Four-pillar chart · All Dog years