Traditional Chinese years carry a two-character name built from a heavenly stem and an earthly branch. Ten stems and twelve branches produce 60 combinations before the cycle repeats — which is why a 60th birthday is a milestone, and why "the year 甲子" comes back only once in a lifetime.
The two sets
Ten heavenly stems (天干): 甲乙丙丁戊己庚辛壬癸
Twelve earthly branches (地支): 子丑寅卯辰巳午未申酉戌亥 — these are the ones the zodiac animals were hung on.
Pair them and you get names like 甲子, 乙丑, 丙寅, and so on.
Why 60, and not 120?
Ten and twelve look like they'd give 120 combinations (10 × 12). They don't, because both are even numbers — so a yang stem only ever pairs with a yang branch, and a yin stem only with a yin branch. That halves the total to 60, the least common multiple of 10 and 12.
The complete cycle
| 甲子 | 甲戌 | 甲申 | 甲午 | 甲辰 | 甲寅 |
| 乙丑 | 乙亥 | 乙酉 | 乙未 | 乙巳 | 乙卯 |
| 丙寅 | 丙子 | 丙戌 | 丙申 | 丙午 | 丙辰 |
| 丁卯 | 丁丑 | 丁亥 | 丁酉 | 丁未 | 丁巳 |
| 戊辰 | 戊寅 | 戊子 | 戊戌 | 戊申 | 戊午 |
| 己巳 | 己卯 | 己丑 | 己亥 | 己酉 | 己未 |
| 庚午 | 庚辰 | 庚寅 | 庚子 | 庚戌 | 庚申 |
| 辛未 | 辛巳 | 辛卯 | 辛丑 | 辛亥 | 辛酉 |
| 壬申 | 壬午 | 壬辰 | 壬寅 | 壬子 | 壬戌 |
| 癸酉 | 癸未 | 癸巳 | 癸卯 | 癸丑 | 癸亥 |
Read left to right, top to bottom. The cycle always runs in this order, forever — 甲子 is followed by 乙丑, and 癸亥 is followed by 甲子 again.
How to work out any year
Two lines of arithmetic. Subtract 4 from the year, then take the remainder against 10 and against 12:
- Stem = (year − 4) ÷ 10, take the remainder → 0 = 甲, 1 = 乙, 2 = 丙, 3 = 丁, 4 = 戊, 5 = 己, 6 = 庚, 7 = 辛, 8 = 壬, 9 = 癸
- Branch = (year − 4) ÷ 12, take the remainder → 0 = 子, 1 = 丑, 2 = 寅, 3 = 卯, 4 = 辰, 5 = 巳, 6 = 午, 7 = 未, 8 = 申, 9 = 酉, 10 = 戌, 11 = 亥
Example: 2024
2024 − 4 = 2020. 2020 ÷ 10 leaves remainder 0 → 甲. 2020 ÷ 12 leaves remainder 4 → 辰. So 2024 is 甲辰 — a Wood Dragon year.
Example: 1998
1998 − 4 = 1994. 1994 ÷ 10 leaves remainder 4 → 戊. 1994 ÷ 12 leaves remainder 2 → 寅. So 1998 is 戊寅 — an Earth Tiger year. (Which matches the tiger page.)
Year lookup: 1950–2050
| 1950 | 庚寅 | 1951 | 辛卯 |
| 1952 | 壬辰 | 1953 | 癸巳 |
| 1954 | 甲午 | 1955 | 乙未 |
| 1956 | 丙申 | 1957 | 丁酉 |
| 1958 | 戊戌 | 1959 | 己亥 |
| 1960 | 庚子 | 1961 | 辛丑 |
| 1962 | 壬寅 | 1963 | 癸卯 |
| 1964 | 甲辰 | 1965 | 乙巳 |
| 1966 | 丙午 | 1967 | 丁未 |
| 1968 | 戊申 | 1969 | 己酉 |
| 1970 | 庚戌 | 1971 | 辛亥 |
| 1972 | 壬子 | 1973 | 癸丑 |
| 1974 | 甲寅 | 1975 | 乙卯 |
| 1976 | 丙辰 | 1977 | 丁巳 |
| 1978 | 戊午 | 1979 | 己未 |
| 1980 | 庚申 | 1981 | 辛酉 |
| 1982 | 壬戌 | 1983 | 癸亥 |
| 1984 | 甲子 | 1985 | 乙丑 |
| 1986 | 丙寅 | 1987 | 丁卯 |
| 1988 | 戊辰 | 1989 | 己巳 |
| 1990 | 庚午 | 1991 | 辛未 |
| 1992 | 壬申 | 1993 | 癸酉 |
| 1994 | 甲戌 | 1995 | 乙亥 |
| 1996 | 丙子 | 1997 | 丁丑 |
| 1998 | 戊寅 | 1999 | 己卯 |
| 2000 | 庚辰 | 2001 | 辛巳 |
| 2002 | 壬午 | 2003 | 癸未 |
| 2004 | 甲申 | 2005 | 乙酉 |
| 2006 | 丙戌 | 2007 | 丁亥 |
| 2008 | 戊子 | 2009 | 己丑 |
| 2010 | 庚寅 | 2011 | 辛卯 |
| 2012 | 壬辰 | 2013 | 癸巳 |
| 2014 | 甲午 | 2015 | 乙未 |
| 2016 | 丙申 | 2017 | 丁酉 |
| 2018 | 戊戌 | 2019 | 己亥 |
| 2020 | 庚子 | 2021 | 辛丑 |
| 2022 | 壬寅 | 2023 | 癸卯 |
| 2024 | 甲辰 | 2025 | 乙巳 |
| 2026 | 丙午 | 2027 | 丁未 |
| 2028 | 戊申 | 2029 | 己酉 |
| 2030 | 庚戌 | 2031 | 辛亥 |
| 2032 | 壬子 | 2033 | 癸丑 |
| 2034 | 甲寅 | 2035 | 乙卯 |
| 2036 | 丙辰 | 2037 | 丁巳 |
| 2038 | 戊午 | 2039 | 己未 |
| 2040 | 庚申 | 2041 | 辛酉 |
| 2042 | 壬戌 | 2043 | 癸亥 |
| 2044 | 甲子 | 2045 | 乙丑 |
| 2046 | 丙寅 | 2047 | 丁卯 |
| 2048 | 戊辰 | 2049 | 己巳 |
| 2050 | 庚午 |
Note this follows the lunar year: a year's ganzhi name begins at Chinese New Year, not January 1. If you were born in January or early February, check the previous year too — and see the zodiac finder for the exact conversion.
What the stem adds
The branch gives you the animal; the stem gives you the phase. That's why there are five different kinds of tiger year rather than one — 戊寅, 庚寅, 壬寅, 甲寅, 丙寅 cycle through over sixty years, each with a different element.
The full rundown for one animal is on the tiger's cosmology page.
Convert any date to the lunar calendar →Enter a date and see its lunar date, ganzhi year name, zodiac animal, branch, and element — with the working shown.