What Chinese Zodiac Is 1947? Year of the Fire Pig

When the 1947 Fire Pig year starts and ends

The 1947 Fire Pig year began at Lunar New Year on January 22, 1947 and lasted until February 9, 1948, the day before the next new year. Anyone born between January 1 and Jan 22 1947 therefore belongs to the Fire Dog year that started in 1946, while someone born in early 1948, up to Feb 9, is still a Fire Pig. The Chinese calendar is lunisolar, which is why the start date moves between January 21 and February 20 instead of staying on January 1. The same Fire Pig combination also falls in 2007, sixty years apart, because five elements and twelve animals realign only once in each sixty-year cycle. Lunar New Year 1947 fell on a Wednesday, while the Western Sun was in Aquarius.

Fire Pig personality

A Fire Pig year is linked with enthusiastic, brave and generous people. The Pig's Water restrains Fire, so traditional readings describe passion held within a gentle nature. Those born then often have big appetites for life and a strong wish to succeed. The usual caution is impulsiveness and indulgence, which steady rhythms and moderation tend to balance. Celebrations tend to be livelier when they arrive.

Fire is the element of summer and full daylight, and a Fire year is traditionally said to turn up the volume of whatever animal it meets. Descriptions link it with passion, charisma, courage and a love of movement and expression. Fire-year people are often portrayed as lively, persuasive and quick to act, able to warm a room and rally others behind an idea. The element is associated with the heart and with joy, which gives it real generosity of spirit. Its traditional shadow is impatience: Fire can burn hot and fast, leading to restlessness, sharp words in the moment and a tendency to lose interest once the excitement fades.

1947 in numerology and the twelve-year cycle

In numerology the digits of this year reduce to 3, associated with expression, creativity and sociability, so a 3 year is described as lively and communicative. The digits of 1947 add up to 21, which reduces to 3. In the twelve-year cycle the Pig is the twelfth animal, earthly branch Hai, with Water as its fixed element and Yin polarity. The year element is Fire, and in the five-element cycles water controls Fire. The year before was the Fire Dog and the year after is the Earth Rat.

In the traditional sexagenary count the year is called Ding-Hai: Ding is the Fire heavenly stem and Hai is the Pig's earthly branch. Stems and branches alternate between yang and yin together, which is why yin stems only ever meet yin animals.