Chinese New Year 2027: Date, the Year of the Goat, and Why Lichun (Feb 4) Matters for BaZi

Chinese New Year 2027 is Saturday, February 6, and begins the Year of the Goat (also called Sheep or Ram). BaZi changes the year pillar earlier, at Lichun, the start of spring, on February 4 at 09:46 Beijing time. So a baby born on February 5 is a Horse by zodiac, but already has the 丁未 (Ding-Wei) year pillar.

When is Chinese New Year 2027?

Chinese New Year 2027 is on Saturday, February 6, 2027, the first day of the first lunar month of the Ding-Wei (丁未) year. The key dates around it:

• February 4 (Thursday): Lichun, the start of spring, at 09:46 Beijing time.
• February 5 (Friday): New Year's Eve, the last day of the old lunar year.
• February 6 (Saturday): Chinese New Year, the Year of the Goat begins.
• February 20 (Saturday): the Lantern Festival, the 15th day of the first lunar month, which ends the New Year season.

All dates are in Beijing time (UTC+8). The calendar comes straight from astronomy, but it does depend on the time zone, as the next sections show.

What animal is the 2027 Chinese zodiac year?

The 2027 zodiac animal is the Goat. The Chinese character 羊 (yáng) covers goats, sheep and rams, which is why English uses all three names. We say "Goat" here, but Sheep and Ram are just as correct. The year is 丁未 (Ding-Wei): 丁 is the yin Fire stem and 未 is the Goat branch.

The Year of the Goat runs from February 6, 2027 until the day before the next Chinese New Year, which falls on January 26, 2028 (the Year of the Monkey, 戊申). Before February 6, 2027 the zodiac animal is still the Horse.

How is the date of Chinese New Year decided?

Chinese New Year is the first day of the first lunar month. In the standard rules, month 11 is the month that contains the December solstice, and the new year normally begins at the second new moon after that solstice (with a leap-month exception in some years). Days are counted in UTC+8.

For 2027:

• The December solstice falls on December 21, 2026 at 20:50 UTC (December 22, 04:50 in Beijing).
• The first new moon after it is January 7, 2027 at 20:25 UTC (January 8 in Beijing).
• The second new moon is February 6, 2027 at 15:56 UTC, which is 23:56 in Beijing, about three minutes before midnight. That makes February 6 day one of the new year.

Because the new moon is so close to midnight, the time zone matters. In UTC+9 the same new moon falls at 00:56 on February 7, so Korea's Seollal in 2027 is on Sunday, February 7. The sky is the same; the date line is different.

What is Lichun, and how is it different from Chinese New Year?

Lichun (立春, "Spring Commences") is a solar term, the moment the Sun reaches 315° of ecliptic longitude. In 2027 that moment is February 4 at 09:46 Beijing time, which is 01:46 UTC. The neighboring major terms are Severe Cold on January 20 at 15:30 and Spring Showers on February 19 at 05:33 (Beijing time). Lichun is not Chinese New Year; it is a separate marker that happens to fall close by.

The two follow different clocks. Chinese New Year follows the Moon, so it moves between late January and mid-February. Lichun follows the Sun, so it stays near February 3–5. In 2027 the Sun's date comes first. In 2028 the order reverses: Chinese New Year is on January 26 and Lichun is on February 4.

BaZi (Four Pillars of Destiny) uses solar terms for its year and month pillars, which is why the question matters. For how the pillars work, see our guide to what BaZi is.

Which zodiac am I if I was born in January or early February 2027?

Use two rules: the zodiac animal changes at Chinese New Year, and the BaZi year pillar changes at Lichun. For 2027 births:

The only gap is February 4 from 09:46 through February 5, when the zodiac is still the Horse but the BaZi year pillar has already become 丁未. The same logic works for any year: look up that year's Chinese New Year date for the animal, and the Lichun date for the BaZi pillar.

Check your time zone (for readers outside China)

Chinese New Year stays Saturday, February 6 for Chinese communities everywhere, because the calendar is set in Beijing time (UTC+8). Lichun is the date that shifts on your local clock: 09:46 on February 4 in Beijing is the evening of February 3 in the Americas. Lichun is one instant, 01:46 UTC on February 4, 2027, so its clock time depends on where you were born. Converted, it is 17:46 on February 3 in Los Angeles, 20:46 on February 3 in New York, 01:46 on February 4 in London, 10:46 on February 4 in Seoul and Tokyo, and 12:46 on February 4 in Sydney. A person born in New York at 9 p.m. on February 3 is already past Lichun, so their BaZi year pillar is 丁未, even though the local calendar still says February 3. Convert your birth time to Beijing time before using the table. If you do not know your birth time at all, see BaZi without a birth time and our Day Master guide.

Good to know

Your animal and year pillar are one layer of a BaZi reading, and traditions differ on how much weight to give them, so treat them as guidance for your planning. Neither rule is "wrong": everyday culture and festivals use Chinese New Year for the animal, while BaZi readers generally use Lichun for the year pillar, and a few teachers do it differently, so check which one your calculator uses. If you were born within a day or so of Lichun, convert your birth time to Beijing time and check it with a calculator, because one minute or one time zone can change the pillar. Countries also celebrate on different days: Korea's Seollal is on February 7. For more on how methods differ, see BaZi versus Western astrology and which divination method.