--- title: "What Chinese Zodiac Is 2025? Year of the Wood Snake" description: "2025 is the Year of the Wood Snake in the Chinese zodiac, from January 29, 2025 to February 16, 2026. Personality, Lunar New Year dates and numerology." canonical: https://unifiedreading.com/chinese-zodiac/2025 last-updated: 2026-10-23 reviewed: false author: Unified Reading editorial --- # What Chinese Zodiac Is 2025? Year of the Wood Snake In Chinese astrology, 2025 is the Year of the Wood Snake, a Yin year. It began at Lunar New Year on January 29, 2025 and ended on February 16, 2026, so people born in 2025 before Jan 29 belong to the Wood Dragon year. ## Key facts | Fact | Value | | --- | --- | | Animal · element · polarity | Snake · Wood · Yin | | Starts (Lunar New Year) | January 29, 2025 | | Ends | February 16, 2026 | | Born in 2025 before Jan 29 | Wood Dragon (the 2024 year) | | Snake's fixed element | Fire (Wood generates Fire) | | Other Wood Snake years (1924-2044) | 1965 | | Stem-branch name | Yi-Si | | Lunar New Year weekday · Sun sign | Wednesday · Aquarius | | Numerology year number | 9 | ## 2025 Lunar New Year: start and end dates Lunar New Year opened the Wood Snake year on January 29, 2025, and the year ran to February 16, 2026. So a birth date of Jan 29, 2025 or later counts as Wood Snake, and so do early 2026 birthdays through Feb 16; births in 2025 before Jan 29 still belong to the Wood 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: 1965 are Wood Snake years too. That Wednesday new year arrived with the Sun in Aquarius in the Western zodiac. ## What the Wood Snake is like A Snake that opens up a little is the classic image of this year. Since Wood generates Fire, readings describe steady confidence, strong intuition and a generous, creative streak. Those born now often make excellent mentors. Setting dates for decisions and expressing warmth directly, not just through subtle gestures, help others understand them. Libraries, galleries and well-tended gardens often bring them peace and fresh ideas. In the five-element scheme, Wood belongs to the east and to the green energy of early spring, and that seasonal image shapes how it colours an animal sign. A Wood stem tends to soften sharp edges and add warmth, curiosity and a cooperative instinct. Traditional texts associate it with benevolence, growth and the wish to build something that lasts beyond the self. People born under a Wood stem are often portrayed as principled, open-handed and hopeful about others. The caution usually attached to Wood is a habit of spreading energy thinly, saying yes to every request and feeling quietly hurt when generosity is not returned in kind. ## 2025 in the animal cycle and in numerology 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 2025 add up to 9. The Snake holds the sixth place among the twelve animals and its fixed element is Fire. Set beside the year's Wood stem, wood generates Fire, which readings use to describe how settled or stretched the combination feels. The year before was the Wood Dragon and the year after is the Fire Horse. Chinese almanacs name 2025 Yi-Si, pairing the Wood stem Yi 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 2025? 2025 is the Year of the Wood Snake. It started on January 29, 2025 and ended on February 16, 2026. ### What if I was born in January or February 2025? Check the date against Jan 29. Born before January 29, 2025, you are a Wood Dragon; born on or after it, you are a Wood Snake. ### What element is 2025 in the Chinese zodiac? Wood, 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 2025? Yi-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 Wood Snake year? 2085, sixty years later, when the five elements and twelve animals line up again; the table also has 1965. ## Related pages - [Wood Snake](https://unifiedreading.com/chinese-zodiac/wood-snake) - [Snake](https://unifiedreading.com/chinese-zodiac/snake) - [Chinese zodiac years](https://unifiedreading.com/chinese-zodiac/years) - [2024 (Wood Dragon)](https://unifiedreading.com/chinese-zodiac/2024) - [2026 (Fire Horse)](https://unifiedreading.com/chinese-zodiac/2026) - [2013 (Water Snake)](https://unifiedreading.com/chinese-zodiac/2013) - [2037 (Fire Snake)](https://unifiedreading.com/chinese-zodiac/2037) - [1965 (Wood Snake)](https://unifiedreading.com/chinese-zodiac/1965) - [2001 (Metal Snake)](https://unifiedreading.com/chinese-zodiac/2001) - [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.