Began January 23, 1928 · 384 days long
1928: year of the Earth Dragon
The Dragon year started on January 23, not on January 1 — so anyone born in 1928 before that date is a Rabbit.
- Opening new moon
- Jan 22, 1928 8:19 PM UTC
- In Beijing
- 4:19 AM Mon, Jan 23 · sets the date
- Year of the Dragon
- 384 days 13 lunar months, one of them leap
- It ends
- Feb 9, 1929 5:56 PM UTC
New moons: NASA JPL DE440. New-year dates: Hong Kong Observatory.
Exact times
Chinese New Year 1928: the new moon in your city
The Earth Dragon year opened with the new moon at 8:19 PM UTC on January 22, 1928 — 4:19 AM on January 23 in Beijing, the time the calendar reckons by, and 3:19 PM on January 22 in New York, 8:19 PM on January 22 in London and 6:19 AM on January 23 in Sydney.
| City | New moon that opens the year |
|---|---|
| UTC | Sun, Jan 22, 1928 |
| Honolulu United States | 9:49 AM Sun, Jan 22, 1928 · UTC−10:30 |
| Anchorage United States | 10:19 AM Sun, Jan 22, 1928 · UTC−10 |
| Los Angeles United States | 12:19 PM Sun, Jan 22, 1928 · UTC−8 |
| Phoenix United States | 1:19 PM Sun, Jan 22, 1928 · UTC−7 |
| Denver United States | 1:19 PM Sun, Jan 22, 1928 · UTC−7 |
| Chicago United States | 2:19 PM Sun, Jan 22, 1928 · UTC−6 |
| Mexico City Mexico | 2:19 PM Sun, Jan 22, 1928 · UTC−6 |
| New York United States | 3:19 PM Sun, Jan 22, 1928 · UTC−5 |
| Toronto Canada | 3:19 PM Sun, Jan 22, 1928 · UTC−5 |
| Bogotá Colombia | 3:19 PM Sun, Jan 22, 1928 · UTC−5 |
| Lima Peru | 3:19 PM Sun, Jan 22, 1928 · UTC−5 |
| Caracas Venezuela | 3:49 PM Sun, Jan 22, 1928 · UTC−4:30 |
| Santiago Chile | 4:19 PM Sun, Jan 22, 1928 · UTC−4 |
| Buenos Aires Argentina | 4:19 PM Sun, Jan 22, 1928 · UTC−4 |
| São Paulo Brazil | 5:19 PM Sun, Jan 22, 1928 · UTC−3 |
| Reykjavík Iceland | 7:19 PM Sun, Jan 22, 1928 · UTC−1 |
| London United Kingdom | 8:19 PM Sun, Jan 22, 1928 · UTC |
| Lagos Nigeria | 9:19 PM Sun, Jan 22, 1928 · UTC+1 |
| Paris France | 8:19 PM Sun, Jan 22, 1928 · UTC |
| Berlin Germany | 9:19 PM Sun, Jan 22, 1928 · UTC+1 |
| Johannesburg South Africa | 10:19 PM Sun, Jan 22, 1928 · UTC+2 |
| Cairo Egypt | 10:19 PM Sun, Jan 22, 1928 · UTC+2 |
| Athens Greece | 10:19 PM Sun, Jan 22, 1928 · UTC+2 |
| Istanbul Turkey | 10:19 PM Sun, Jan 22, 1928 · UTC+2 |
| Moscow Russia | 10:19 PM Sun, Jan 22, 1928 · UTC+2 |
| Nairobi Kenya | 10:49 PM Sun, Jan 22, 1928 · UTC+2:30 |
| Tehran Iran | 11:44 PM Sun, Jan 22, 1928 · UTC+3:25 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | 12:19 AM Mon, Jan 23, 1928 · UTC+4 |
| Karachi Pakistan | 1:49 AM Mon, Jan 23, 1928 · UTC+5:30 |
| New Delhi India | 1:49 AM Mon, Jan 23, 1928 · UTC+5:30 |
| Kathmandu Nepal | 1:49 AM Mon, Jan 23, 1928 · UTC+5:30 |
| Dhaka Bangladesh | 2:12 AM Mon, Jan 23, 1928 · UTC+5:53 |
| Bangkok Thailand | 3:19 AM Mon, Jan 23, 1928 · UTC+7 |
| Jakarta Indonesia | 3:39 AM Mon, Jan 23, 1928 · UTC+7:20 |
| Singapore | 3:19 AM Mon, Jan 23, 1928 · UTC+7 |
| Beijing China | 4:19 AM Mon, Jan 23, 1928 · UTC+8 |
| Manila Philippines | 4:19 AM Mon, Jan 23, 1928 · UTC+8 |
| Perth Australia | 4:19 AM Mon, Jan 23, 1928 · UTC+8 |
| Seoul South Korea | 5:19 AM Mon, Jan 23, 1928 · UTC+9 |
| Tokyo Japan | 5:19 AM Mon, Jan 23, 1928 · UTC+9 |
| Adelaide Australia | 5:49 AM Mon, Jan 23, 1928 · UTC+9:30 |
| Brisbane Australia | 6:19 AM Mon, Jan 23, 1928 · UTC+10 |
| Sydney Australia | 6:19 AM Mon, Jan 23, 1928 · UTC+10 |
| Auckland New Zealand | 8:49 AM Mon, Jan 23, 1928 · UTC+12:30 |
New moon: JPL DE440 (Swiss Ephemeris within 8 s); 1928 date as in the Hong Kong Observatory calendar. Local times: IANA time zones, to the minute.
18 pages · printable
The 2027 Sky Calendar — free PDF
Every retrograde, eclipse, new and full moon of 2027 to the minute, already converted to your city. A month to a page, ready to print.
Personality
The Earth Dragon personality
Anyone born from January 23, 1928 through February 9, 1929 is an Earth Dragon: the yang earth stem 戊 over the 辰 branch.
Earth is already the Dragon's own element, so here it is doubled and everything typical of the sign runs at full strength. Of the five Dragons this is the most confident, and the least inclined to compromise.
Stem and branch
1928 is 戊辰 (Wùchén)
Na yin — the sounding element
Wood of the Great Forest 大林木
Not one tree but a whole forest. Readings describe strength in numbers and slow, broad growth: people and projects that do best as part of something larger, sheltering others as they grow.
1928 therefore carries earth from its stem and wood from its na yin. What na yin is →
Li Chun inside the year
A double spring year
The two Li Chun dates around it are February 5, 1928 and February 4, 1929, Beijing time. The Dragon year spans January 23, 1928 to February 9, 1929, so both dates sit inside it: a double spring year (双春). What double spring and blind years mean →
Who clashes with a 1928 Dragon
The 辰 branch puts a 1928 Dragon opposite the Dog on the wheel, the traditional clash; the nearest Dog year after it was 1934. Its harmony partner is the Rooster, whose year came round 5 years later, in 1933. How the Dragon and Dog get on →
Dragons born in 1928 turn 98 in 2026 — 99 by the traditional count, which starts at one.
If you were born in 1928
- Born January 1 – January 22, 1928: a Fire Rabbit, the animal of 1927.
- Born January 23, 1928 or later in the year: an Earth Dragon.
Only the first 22 days of 1928 belong to the Rabbit, yet a year-only calculator still calls them Dragons. Those dates hold 5.8% of US births (SSA, 2000–2014). Check your exact date →
The Dragon across the cycle
The animal returns every 12 years but the element every 60, so each of these years is a different Dragon.
The lunar calendar of 1928
Why 384 days, and not 365
1928 repeated its second month: the leap month 闰二月 ran from March 22 to April 19 and stretched the year to 384 days. Seven of the 13 months had 30 days.
The 30-day months were the 2nd, 4th, 7th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th. Four 30-day months ran back to back, from month 9 to month 12.
Festival dates in the 1928 lunar year
| Festival | Lunar date | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Lantern Festival 元宵节 | first month, day 15 | Mon, Feb 6, 1928 |
| Dragon Boat Festival 端午节 | fifth month, day 5 | Fri, Jun 22, 1928 |
| Qixi, the Double Seventh 七夕 | seventh month, day 7 | Tue, Aug 21, 1928 |
| Ghost Festival 中元节 | seventh month, day 15 | Wed, Aug 29, 1928 |
| Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 | eighth month, day 15 | Fri, Sep 28, 1928 |
| Double Ninth Festival 重阳节 | ninth month, day 9 | Sun, Oct 21, 1928 |
| Winter solstice 冬至 | solar term, Sun at 270° | Sat, Dec 22, 1928 |
| Laba Festival 腊八节 | twelfth month, day 8 | Fri, Jan 18, 1929 |
At the Lantern Festival on February 6 the year's first full moon came that same day, at 4:10 AM Beijing time. The festival night of September 28 fell a day before the true full moon, which came at 8:42 PM Beijing time on September 29 — lunar day 16.
Dates follow Beijing time (UTC+8), the reference clock of the Chinese calendar. Why lunar years differ in length →
Lunar years around 1928
Lengths differ because a leap month is inserted every two or three years. This is what makes the new year date jump rather than drift.
Only four of the 110 new years in the table fall earlier in the calendar than January 23. Four other years share the date. Twelve years later, 1940 began on February 8 — marked in lavender with the other Dragon years.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Chinese Horoscope 1928: Zodiac Year of the Earth Dragon.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1928/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Chinese Horoscope 1928: Zodiac Year of the Earth Dragon |url=https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1928/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-28}}