Year of the Goat 2027: the Fire Goat and Your Animal

Chinese New Year 2027 falls on Saturday 6 February 2027 and opens the Year of the Goat, more precisely the Fire Goat, 丁未 Ding Wei. This guide gives the dates, explains what the Fire Goat pairing means in BaZi, shows why BaZi counts the year from a different day than the popular zodiac, and sets out how the Goat relates to each of the twelve animals.

You will also see the year called the Year of the Sheep or the Year of the Ram. The Chinese character 羊 (yáng) covers all three animals, so the three names refer to the same year. This site uses Goat, in line with the Earthly Branch Wei (未).

When is Chinese New Year 2027?

Chinese New Year 2027 is on Saturday 6 February 2027. The Year of the Goat runs until 25 January 2028. Chinese New Year 2028 falls on 26 January 2028 and starts the Year of the Monkey.

Before it, the Fire Horse year of 2026 ran from 17 February 2026 to 5 February 2027. The Horse and the Goat are neighbours on the circle of twelve branches, and they form a Six Harmony, so the change from 2026 to 2027 is a handover between partners rather than a break.

What is Ding Wei (丁未)? The Fire Goat explained

Every year has a pillar made of a Heavenly Stem and an Earthly Branch. For 2027 the stem is Ding (丁), Yin Fire, and the branch is Wei (未), the Goat. Wei is an Earth branch, and its hidden stems are Ji (Yin Earth), Ding (Yin Fire) and Yi (Yin Wood). So Fire sits on top of an Earth branch that already holds some Fire in it.

Ding Fire is the candle or the lamp rather than the sun. It is close, steady and precise, where 2026's Bing Fire (Yang Fire over the Horse) was bright and fast. The Goat is dry Earth that stores heat. Read together, 2027 is a warm, steady year rather than a blazing one. That is a description of tendencies and tells you nothing certain about events.

The last Fire Goat year was 1967 and the next will be 2087, since the same pillar returns every 60 years. To see how Yin Fire behaves in a chart, read our article on Yin Fire (Ding).

BaZi starts the year at Li Chun, not at Chinese New Year

The popular Chinese zodiac changes animal at Chinese New Year, a date set by the lunar calendar. BaZi changes year at Li Chun (立春), the start of spring, which is a solar date and falls on 3, 4 or 5 February. It uses the exact moment, not the day. In 2027 Li Chun falls on 4 February at about 01:46 UTC, two days before Chinese New Year.

The two systems disagree for people born between Li Chun and Chinese New Year. In 2027 that means 4 and 5 February: they are Goat in BaZi and still Horse in the popular zodiac. In other years the gap runs the other way, with Chinese New Year first and Li Chun later. If you were born in January or in the first half of February, check which animal your chart shows before you read your page.

Goat years: 1931 to 2027

The Goat comes back every twelve years, each time with a different stem, so each Goat year has a different element. The table shows the recent ones with their Chinese New Year dates. If you were born in a Goat year but before Chinese New Year or Li Chun, you may belong to the Horse year before it.

How 2027 treats each animal

Only some animals have a direct relation with the Goat in the branch tables: one Six Harmony (Horse), two Wood trines (Rabbit and Pig), one clash with punishment (Ox), one punishment with destruction (Dog) and one harm (Rat). The Snake shares the Fire group, and the Goat meets its own year. For Tiger, Dragon, Monkey, and Rooster there is no direct link, and the year acts through its elements. Select an animal for its full page.

Tai Sui in 2027: Ox, Goat, Rat and Dog

Tai Sui (太岁), the "Grand Duke of the year", is a tradition that names the animals said to "offend" the year. For 2027 the list is the Goat itself (the animal of the year), the Ox (clash), the Dog (punishment) and the Rat (harm). The practice is called Fan Tai Sui, and people who follow it often visit a temple or wear red.

In BaZi these are simply branch interactions, and they work differently in each chart. A relation with the year branch matters most for the pillar it touches: the year pillar is about family and the outer world, the month pillar about career, the day pillar about the self and partner, the hour pillar about children and ambitions. An animal that "offends" Tai Sui can have a smooth year, and the reverse. Treat the list as a prompt to look at your chart, not as a verdict.

Your animal is only one of eight characters

Your animal is only your year branch, one of the eight characters in a BaZi chart. Your full chart shows how 2027 interacts with your Day Master: the 2027 annual pillar is set against all four of your pillars, and your chart result shows it for you.

Frequently asked questions

When is Chinese New Year 2027?

Chinese New Year 2027 is on Saturday 6 February 2027. The Year of the Goat lasts until 25 January 2028, and the Year of the Monkey begins on 26 January 2028.

What element is 2027 in Chinese astrology?

2027 is a Fire year: the year pillar is 丁未 Ding Wei, Yin Fire over the Goat, a Fire Goat year. The Goat branch is Earth, so Fire sits on dry Earth. The last Fire Goat year was 1967.

Is 2027 a good year for my animal?

It depends on your whole chart, but the animal alone gives a first picture. The Horse has the most supportive link (Six Harmony), the Rabbit and the Pig share a Wood trine, the Ox has the most demanding one (clash and punishment), and the Rat, Dog and Goat have a harm, a punishment and their own year. Tiger, Dragon, Monkey and Rooster have no direct link to the Goat.

What years are Goat years?

Goat years include 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015 and 2027. They return every 12 years, and the next after 2027 is 2039. Check the Li Chun rule if you were born in January or early February.

When does the BaZi year start?

BaZi changes year at Li Chun (立春), around 3 to 5 February, and not on 1 January. In 2027 Li Chun falls on 4 February. This differs from the popular zodiac, which changes at Chinese New Year (6 February 2027).

Keep reading

• Goat: the full animal profile
• Yin Fire (Ding): the candle and the lamp
• The Fire element in BaZi
• Luck Pillars: the ten-year cycles behind each year