What Chinese Zodiac Is 1980? Year of the Metal Monkey

When the 1980 Metal Monkey year starts and ends

The 1980 Metal Monkey year began at Lunar New Year on February 16, 1980 and lasted until February 4, 1981, the day before the next new year. Anyone born between January 1 and Feb 16 1980 therefore belongs to the Earth Goat year that started in 1979, while someone born in early 1981, up to Feb 4, is still a Metal Monkey. 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 Metal Monkey combination also falls in 2040, sixty years apart, because five elements and twelve animals realign only once in each sixty-year cycle. Lunar New Year 1980 fell on a Saturday, while the Western Sun was in Aquarius.

Metal Monkey personality

Intelligent, confident and strategic, the Metal Monkey thrives on autonomy and hard problems. The Monkey's fixed element is Metal, so this year doubles it, and tradition describes a sharp wit and formidable drive. People born now are often highly skilled and organised. Pride and emotional reserve are the usual cautions, eased by sharing credit generously. Their inventiveness often surprises even close colleagues.

Metal is the element of autumn and harvest, and a Metal year is traditionally said to sharpen whatever animal it meets. Descriptions associate it with determination, discipline, clear judgement and a strong code of principle. Metal-year people are often portrayed as decisive, self-reliant and willing to do difficult things because they are right. The element is linked with refinement and with cutting away what is unnecessary, so it tends to bring focus and high standards. Its traditional shadow is rigidity: Metal can become inflexible, proud or emotionally guarded, preferring to be correct over being close, and finding it hard to bend once a position is taken.

1980 in numerology and the twelve-year cycle

In numerology the year reduces to 9, the number of completion, generosity and letting go, and a 9 year is traditionally read as one of endings that clear space. The digits of 1980 add up to 18, which reduces to 9. In the twelve-year cycle the Monkey is the ninth animal, earthly branch Shen, with Metal as its fixed element and Yang polarity. The year element is Metal, and in the five-element cycles metal year element matches the fixed element. The year before was the Earth Goat and the year after is the Metal Rooster.

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