Year of the Dragon: 2000, 2012, 2024, 2036

Dragon in 2026

2026 is a Horse year. Dragon and Horse occupy branches 辰 and 午.

This pair has no shared harmony, trine, seasonal meeting or Six Clash in the four groups shown here.

Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water Dragon

Wood Dragon

Years: 1904, 1964, 2024.

Wood controls the Dragon's Earth, introducing growth and revision into a sign traditionally associated with a forceful sense of direction. The Wood Dragon reading emphasizes building an ambitious idea with other people, including the tension between welcoming their contributions and wanting the larger design to remain intact.

Wood Dragon birth dates and next year →

Fire Dragon

Years: 1916, 1976, 2036.

Fire feeds the Dragon's Earth in the generating cycle, adding outward expression to the animal's traditional confidence and ambition. This reading presents the Fire Dragon as a visible rallying point, eager to make an undertaking feel significant and sometimes impatient with the quieter work of bringing others along.

Fire Dragon birth dates and next year →

Earth Dragon

Years: 1928, 1988, 2048.

Earth repeats the Dragon's fixed element, reinforcing the traditional image of a character that seeks a substantial place in the world. The Earth Dragon reading attaches ambition to durable results, careful stewardship and responsibility for a whole undertaking, with resistance when an established direction is questioned.

Earth Dragon birth dates and next year →

Metal Dragon

Years: 1940, 2000.

The Dragon's Earth generates Metal, connecting the animal's broad ambition with the year element's association with definition and firm boundaries. The Metal Dragon reading focuses on setting a demanding standard and pursuing it decisively, with less patience for compromise when the result no longer matches the original vision.

Metal Dragon birth dates and next year →

Water Dragon

Years: 1952, 2012.

The Dragon's Earth controls Water, bringing its wish to direct events into contact with a more responsive and changeable element. In this reading, the Water Dragon pursues a large aim through timing, observation and negotiation, while still wanting a clear say in where the collective effort leads.

Water Dragon birth dates and next year →

Dragon personality traits

The Dragon is traditionally portrayed as ambitious, commanding and ready to take responsibility for a large undertaking. It looks for a clear direction and brings enough conviction to draw other people into the effort. Patience becomes harder when the work moves slowly or a proposal meets resistance. The central contrast in this character is between inspiring others with confidence and leaving them room to shape the outcome.

Dragon: best and difficult matches

Rat: Dragon and Rat share the Water trine; Monkey completes their three-animal group.

Monkey: Dragon and Monkey share the Water trine; Rat completes their three-animal group.

Rooster: Dragon (辰) and Rooster (酉) form one of the six fixed harmony pairs, traditionally read as a complementary connection.

Dog: Dragon (辰) stands six positions opposite Dog (戌), the contrast called a Six Clash in the traditional pairing.

All twelve Dragon compatibility pairings →

Five forms · one twelve-day rhythm

The next Dragon days

The branch repeats every twelve days. Its stem advances too, so these five occurrences have five different stem elements before the complete name repeats after sixty days. The Dragon branch itself keeps Earth.

Yang Water
15 September 2026
Yang Water Dragon · 壬辰
Na Yin: Long-flowing Water · 长流水
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Yang Wood
27 September 2026
Yang Wood Dragon · 甲辰
Na Yin: Covered-lamp Fire · 覆灯火
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Yang Fire
9 October 2026
Yang Fire Dragon · 丙辰
Na Yin: Sand Earth · 沙中土
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Yang Earth
21 October 2026
Yang Earth Dragon · 戊辰
Na Yin: Great Forest Wood · 大林木
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Yang Metal
2 November 2026
Yang Metal Dragon · 庚辰
Na Yin: White Wax Metal · 白蜡金
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The Na Yin name belongs to the complete pillar. It is a separate pairing from the stem’s element and the branch’s fixed element.

Chinese New Year to the final lunar day

Dragon years and their exact boundaries

Use the interval, not just the Gregorian year number, for a birthday near January or February. A full Dragon element-name returns sixty years later; the animal alone returns after twelve.

甲辰 · Yang Wood Dragon
1904 Dragon year
16 February 1904 through 3 February 1905
丙辰 · Yang Fire Dragon
1916 Dragon year
3 February 1916 through 22 January 1917
戊辰 · Yang Earth Dragon
1928 Dragon year
23 January 1928 through 9 February 1929
庚辰 · Yang Metal Dragon
1940 Dragon year
8 February 1940 through 26 January 1941
壬辰 · Yang Water Dragon
1952 Dragon year
27 January 1952 through 13 February 1953
甲辰 · Yang Wood Dragon
1964 Dragon year
13 February 1964 through 1 February 1965
丙辰 · Yang Fire Dragon
1976 Dragon year
31 January 1976 through 17 February 1977
戊辰 · Yang Earth Dragon
1988 Dragon year
17 February 1988 through 5 February 1989
庚辰 · Yang Metal Dragon
2000 Dragon year
5 February 2000 through 23 January 2001
壬辰 · Yang Water Dragon
2012 Dragon year
23 January 2012 through 9 February 2013
甲辰 · Yang Wood Dragon
2024 Dragon year
10 February 2024 through 28 January 2025
丙辰 · Yang Fire Dragon
2036 Dragon year
28 January 2036 through 14 February 2037
戊辰 · Yang Earth Dragon
2048 Dragon year
14 February 2048 through 1 February 2049

Solar month · clock period

The Dragon month and double-hour

Spring branch month

Pure Brightness opens the Dragon month at 5 April 2026, 02:40:00 UTC+8. It runs until Beginning of Summer at 5 May 2026, 19:48:44 UTC+8.

These are solar-term instants, not the first days of numbered lunar months.

Follow the whole spring season →

07:00–08:59

The Dragon double-hour occupies position 5 in the twelve-branch clock. It follows Rabbit and precedes Snake. A double-hour label describes a time of day; it does not determine the year or day animal.

The sets containing Dragon