Began January 24, 1936 · 384 days long
1936: year of the Fire Rat
The Rat year started on January 24, not on January 1 — so anyone born in 1936 before that date is a Pig.
- Opening new moon
- Jan 24, 1936 7:19 AM UTC
- In Beijing
- 3:19 PM Fri, Jan 24 · sets the date
- Year of the Rat
- 384 days 13 lunar months, one of them leap
- It ends
- Feb 11, 1937 7:35 AM UTC
New moons: NASA JPL DE440. New-year dates: Hong Kong Observatory.
Exact times
Chinese New Year 1936: the new moon in your city
The Fire Rat year opened with the new moon at 7:19 AM UTC on January 24, 1936 — 3:19 PM on January 24 in Beijing, the time the calendar reckons by, and 2:19 AM on January 24 in New York, 7:19 AM on January 24 in London and 5:19 PM on January 24 in Sydney.
| City | New moon that opens the year |
|---|---|
| UTC | Fri, Jan 24, 1936 |
| Honolulu United States | 8:49 PM Thu, Jan 23, 1936 · UTC−10:30 |
| Anchorage United States | 9:19 PM Thu, Jan 23, 1936 · UTC−10 |
| Los Angeles United States | 11:19 PM Thu, Jan 23, 1936 · UTC−8 |
| Phoenix United States | 12:19 AM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC−7 |
| Denver United States | 12:19 AM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC−7 |
| Chicago United States | 1:19 AM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC−6 |
| Mexico City Mexico | 1:19 AM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC−6 |
| New York United States | 2:19 AM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC−5 |
| Toronto Canada | 2:19 AM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC−5 |
| Bogotá Colombia | 2:19 AM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC−5 |
| Lima Peru | 2:19 AM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC−5 |
| Caracas Venezuela | 2:49 AM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC−4:30 |
| Santiago Chile | 3:19 AM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC−4 |
| Buenos Aires Argentina | 4:19 AM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC−3 |
| São Paulo Brazil | 4:19 AM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC−3 |
| Reykjavík Iceland | 6:19 AM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC−1 |
| London United Kingdom | 7:19 AM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC |
| Lagos Nigeria | 8:19 AM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC+1 |
| Paris France | 7:19 AM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC |
| Berlin Germany | 8:19 AM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC+1 |
| Johannesburg South Africa | 9:19 AM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC+2 |
| Cairo Egypt | 9:19 AM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC+2 |
| Athens Greece | 9:19 AM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC+2 |
| Istanbul Turkey | 9:19 AM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC+2 |
| Moscow Russia | 10:19 AM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC+3 |
| Nairobi Kenya | 9:49 AM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC+2:30 |
| Tehran Iran | 10:49 AM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC+3:30 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | 11:19 AM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC+4 |
| Karachi Pakistan | 12:49 PM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC+5:30 |
| New Delhi India | 12:49 PM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC+5:30 |
| Kathmandu Nepal | 12:49 PM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC+5:30 |
| Dhaka Bangladesh | 1:12 PM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC+5:53 |
| Bangkok Thailand | 2:19 PM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC+7 |
| Jakarta Indonesia | 2:49 PM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC+7:30 |
| Singapore | 2:39 PM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC+7:20 |
| Beijing China | 3:19 PM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC+8 |
| Manila Philippines | 3:19 PM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC+8 |
| Perth Australia | 3:19 PM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC+8 |
| Seoul South Korea | 4:19 PM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC+9 |
| Tokyo Japan | 4:19 PM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC+9 |
| Adelaide Australia | 4:49 PM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC+9:30 |
| Brisbane Australia | 5:19 PM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC+10 |
| Sydney Australia | 5:19 PM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC+10 |
| Auckland New Zealand | 7:19 PM Fri, Jan 24, 1936 · UTC+12 |
New moon: JPL DE440 (Swiss Ephemeris within 8 s); 1936 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 Fire Rat personality
Anyone born from January 24, 1936 through February 10, 1937 is a Fire Rat: the yang fire stem 丙 over the 子 branch.
The Rat's own Water controls Fire here, so the sign keeps the upper hand over the year's element. Fire brings intensity, visibility and speed — traditionally the most driven version, and the quickest to burn through its own energy.
Stem and branch
1936 is 丙子 (Bǐngzǐ)
Na yin — the sounding element
Water in the Ravine 澗下水
Clear water running at the bottom of a gully. The image is purity and persistence in a narrow course — quiet, clean energy that finds its way through difficult ground.
1936 therefore carries fire from its stem and water 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, 1936 and February 4, 1937, Beijing time. The Rat year spans January 24, 1936 to February 10, 1937, so both dates sit inside it: a double spring year (双春). What double spring and blind years mean →
Who clashes with a 1936 Rat
The 子 branch puts a 1936 Rat opposite the Horse on the wheel, the traditional clash; the nearest Horse year after it was 1942. Its harmony partner is the Ox, whose year followed straight after, in 1937. How the Rat and Horse get on →
Rats born in 1936 turn 90 in 2026 — 91 by the traditional count, which starts at one.
If you were born in 1936
- Born January 1 – January 23, 1936: a Wood Pig, the animal of 1935.
- Born January 24, 1936 or later in the year: a Fire Rat.
Only the first 23 days of 1936 belong to the Pig, yet a year-only calculator still calls them Rats. Those dates hold 6.0% of US births (SSA, 2000–2014). Check your exact date →
The Rat across the cycle
The animal returns every 12 years but the element every 60, so each of these years is a different Rat.
The lunar calendar of 1936
Why 384 days, and not 365
1936 repeated its third month: the leap month 闰三月 ran from April 21 to May 20 and stretched the year to 384 days. Seven of the 13 months had 30 days.
The 30-day months were the 1st, leap 3rd, 6th, 7th, 9th, 10th and 11th. Three 30-day months ran back to back, from month 9 to month 11.
Festival dates in the 1936 lunar year
| Festival | Lunar date | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Lantern Festival 元宵节 | first month, day 15 | Fri, Feb 7, 1936 |
| Dragon Boat Festival 端午节 | fifth month, day 5 | Tue, Jun 23, 1936 |
| Qixi, the Double Seventh 七夕 | seventh month, day 7 | Sun, Aug 23, 1936 |
| Ghost Festival 中元节 | seventh month, day 15 | Mon, Aug 31, 1936 |
| Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 | eighth month, day 15 | Wed, Sep 30, 1936 |
| Double Ninth Festival 重阳节 | ninth month, day 9 | Fri, Oct 23, 1936 |
| Winter solstice 冬至 | solar term, Sun at 270° | Tue, Dec 22, 1936 |
| Laba Festival 腊八节 | twelfth month, day 8 | Wed, Jan 20, 1937 |
At the Lantern Festival on February 7 the year's first full moon came that same day, at 7:18 PM Beijing time. The festival night of September 30 fell a day before the true full moon, which came at 5:00 AM Beijing time on October 1 — 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 1936
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 nine of the 110 new years in the table fall earlier in the calendar than January 24. Three other years share the date. Twelve years earlier, 1924 began on February 5; twelve years later, 1948 began on February 10 — both marked in lavender with the other Rat years.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Chinese Horoscope 1936: Zodiac Year of the Fire Rat.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1936/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Chinese Horoscope 1936: Zodiac Year of the Fire Rat |url=https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1936/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-28}}