--- title: "What Chinese Zodiac Is 2013? Year of the Water Snake" description: "2013 is the Year of the Water Snake in the Chinese zodiac, from February 10, 2013 to January 30, 2014. Personality, Lunar New Year dates and numerology." canonical: https://unifiedreading.com/chinese-zodiac/2013 last-updated: 2026-10-23 reviewed: false author: Unified Reading editorial --- # What Chinese Zodiac Is 2013? Year of the Water Snake In Chinese astrology, 2013 is the Year of the Water Snake, a Yin year. It began at Lunar New Year on February 10, 2013 and ended on January 30, 2014, so people born in 2013 before Feb 10 belong to the Water Dragon year. ## Key facts | Fact | Value | | --- | --- | | Animal · element · polarity | Snake · Water · Yin | | Starts (Lunar New Year) | February 10, 2013 | | Ends | January 30, 2014 | | Born in 2013 before Feb 10 | Water Dragon (the 2012 year) | | Snake's fixed element | Fire (Water controls Fire) | | Other Water Snake years (1924-2044) | 1953 | | Stem-branch name | Gui-Si | | Lunar New Year weekday · Sun sign | Sunday · Aquarius | | Numerology year number | 6 | ## 2013 Lunar New Year: start and end dates Lunar New Year opened the Water Snake year on February 10, 2013, and the year ran to January 30, 2014. So a birth date of Feb 10, 2013 or later counts as Water Snake, and so do early 2014 birthdays through Jan 30; births in 2013 before Feb 10 still belong to the Water Dragon. That moving boundary comes from the lunisolar calendar, in which the new year starts with the second new moon after the winter solstice in most years, so its Gregorian date shifts by up to a month from one year to the next. Look sixty years either side and the pairing repeats: 1953 are Water Snake years too. That Sunday new year arrived with the Sun in Aquarius in the Western zodiac. ## What the Water Snake is like Deep waters, banked fire: that is the traditional image of a Water Snake year. Water controlling Fire is read as a cooling, deepening force, producing people who are strategic, diplomatic and hard to read. Their insight is considerable. Stating needs plainly, letting some relationships be unplanned and balancing solitude with trusted company are the classic suggestions. Few people keep a secret more faithfully than they do. In classical thought, Water belongs to the north and to the deep, resting energy of winter, the season when life gathers strength out of sight. As a year stem, it tends to make an animal more reflective, adaptable and emotionally attuned. People born under a Water stem are often described as clever negotiators, sensitive friends and natural mediators who prefer influence to force. They value understanding and tend to think before they act. The caution traditionally attached to Water is fluidity taken too far: avoiding conflict, keeping too much hidden and losing a clear sense of their own direction. ## 2013 in the animal cycle and in numerology In numerology the year's digits come to 6, linked with home, care and responsibility, so a 6 year is read as one centred on family and commitments. The digits of 2013 add up to 6. The Snake holds the sixth place among the twelve animals and its fixed element is Fire. Set beside the year's Water stem, water controls Fire, which readings use to describe how settled or stretched the combination feels. The year before was the Water Dragon and the year after is the Wood Horse. Chinese almanacs name 2013 Gui-Si, pairing the Water stem Gui with the branch Si. Both are Yin, as stem and branch always share a polarity, so of the hundred and twenty possible pairings only sixty ever occur, and each one names a single year in every cycle. ## Frequently asked questions ### What Chinese zodiac is 2013? 2013 is the Year of the Water Snake. It started on February 10, 2013 and ended on January 30, 2014. ### What if I was born in January or February 2013? Check the date against Feb 10. Born before February 10, 2013, you are a Water Dragon; born on or after it, you are a Water Snake. ### What element is 2013 in the Chinese zodiac? Water, a Yin year. The Snake's own fixed element is Fire; the year element changes every two years, while the fixed element stays with the animal. ### What is the traditional Chinese name for 2013? Gui-Si. The first part is the heavenly stem, which carries the year's element and polarity; the second is the earthly branch, which carries the animal. Almanacs, calendars and Four Pillars charts identify years this way rather than by animal alone. ### When is the next Water Snake year? 2073, sixty years later, when the five elements and twelve animals line up again; the table also has 1953. ## Related pages - [Water Snake](https://unifiedreading.com/chinese-zodiac/water-snake) - [Snake](https://unifiedreading.com/chinese-zodiac/snake) - [Chinese zodiac years](https://unifiedreading.com/chinese-zodiac/years) - [2012 (Water Dragon)](https://unifiedreading.com/chinese-zodiac/2012) - [2014 (Wood Horse)](https://unifiedreading.com/chinese-zodiac/2014) - [2001 (Metal Snake)](https://unifiedreading.com/chinese-zodiac/2001) - [2025 (Wood Snake)](https://unifiedreading.com/chinese-zodiac/2025) - [1953 (Water Snake)](https://unifiedreading.com/chinese-zodiac/1953) - [1989 (Earth Snake)](https://unifiedreading.com/chinese-zodiac/1989) - [2037 (Fire Snake)](https://unifiedreading.com/chinese-zodiac/2037) - [Chinese zodiac calculator](https://unifiedreading.com/chinese-zodiac-calculator) - [Chinese zodiac](https://unifiedreading.com/chinese-zodiac) ## About Unified Reading Unified Reading combines Pythagorean numerology, the Western Sun sign (Moon and rising with a birth time), the Chinese zodiac and life-stage context in one reading. The preview is free at https://unifiedreading.com/#details; the full reading is $4.99, paid once through Stripe, with no subscription. A fictional sample is at https://unifiedreading.com/sample. With a birth time and place it adds whole sign houses and the chart ruler; it does not calculate planetary aspects or transits, and it is a framework for reflection, not a prediction.