Began February 19, 1939 · 354 days long
1939: year of the Earth Rabbit
The Rabbit year started on February 19, not on January 1 — so anyone born in 1939 before that date is a Tiger.
- Opening new moon
- Feb 19, 1939 8:29 AM UTC
- In Beijing
- 4:29 PM Sun, Feb 19 · sets the date
- Year of the Rabbit
- 354 days 12 lunar months
- It ends
- Feb 8, 1940 7:46 AM UTC
New moons: NASA JPL DE440. New-year dates: Hong Kong Observatory.
Exact times
Chinese New Year 1939: the new moon in your city
The Earth Rabbit year opened with the new moon at 8:29 AM UTC on February 19, 1939 — 4:29 PM on February 19 in Beijing, the time the calendar reckons by, and 3:29 AM on February 19 in New York, 8:29 AM on February 19 in London and 6:29 PM on February 19 in Sydney.
| City | New moon that opens the year |
|---|---|
| UTC | Sun, Feb 19, 1939 |
| Honolulu United States | 9:59 PM Sat, Feb 18, 1939 · UTC−10:30 |
| Anchorage United States | 10:29 PM Sat, Feb 18, 1939 · UTC−10 |
| Los Angeles United States | 12:29 AM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC−8 |
| Phoenix United States | 1:29 AM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC−7 |
| Denver United States | 1:29 AM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC−7 |
| Chicago United States | 2:29 AM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC−6 |
| Mexico City Mexico | 3:29 AM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC−5 |
| New York United States | 3:29 AM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC−5 |
| Toronto Canada | 3:29 AM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC−5 |
| Bogotá Colombia | 3:29 AM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC−5 |
| Lima Peru | 4:29 AM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC−4 |
| Caracas Venezuela | 3:59 AM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC−4:30 |
| Santiago Chile | 4:29 AM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC−4 |
| Buenos Aires Argentina | 5:29 AM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC−3 |
| São Paulo Brazil | 5:29 AM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC−3 |
| Reykjavík Iceland | 7:29 AM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC−1 |
| London United Kingdom | 8:29 AM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC |
| Lagos Nigeria | 9:29 AM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC+1 |
| Paris France | 8:29 AM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC |
| Berlin Germany | 9:29 AM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC+1 |
| Johannesburg South Africa | 10:29 AM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC+2 |
| Cairo Egypt | 10:29 AM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC+2 |
| Athens Greece | 10:29 AM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC+2 |
| Istanbul Turkey | 10:29 AM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC+2 |
| Moscow Russia | 11:29 AM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC+3 |
| Nairobi Kenya | 11:14 AM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC+2:45 |
| Tehran Iran | 11:59 AM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC+3:30 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | 12:29 PM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC+4 |
| Karachi Pakistan | 1:59 PM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC+5:30 |
| New Delhi India | 1:59 PM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC+5:30 |
| Kathmandu Nepal | 1:59 PM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC+5:30 |
| Dhaka Bangladesh | 2:22 PM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC+5:53 |
| Bangkok Thailand | 3:29 PM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC+7 |
| Jakarta Indonesia | 3:59 PM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC+7:30 |
| Singapore | 3:49 PM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC+7:20 |
| Beijing China | 4:29 PM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC+8 |
| Manila Philippines | 4:29 PM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC+8 |
| Perth Australia | 4:29 PM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC+8 |
| Seoul South Korea | 5:29 PM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC+9 |
| Tokyo Japan | 5:29 PM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC+9 |
| Adelaide Australia | 5:59 PM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC+9:30 |
| Brisbane Australia | 6:29 PM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC+10 |
| Sydney Australia | 6:29 PM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC+10 |
| Auckland New Zealand | 8:29 PM Sun, Feb 19, 1939 · UTC+12 |
New moon: JPL DE440 (Swiss Ephemeris within 8 s); 1939 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 Rabbit personality
Anyone born from February 19, 1939 through February 7, 1940 is an Earth Rabbit: the yin earth stem 己 over the 卯 branch.
The Rabbit's own Wood controls Earth here, so the sign keeps the upper hand over the year's element. Earth brings steadiness, practicality and patience — traditionally the most reliable version, and the slowest to change direction.
Stem and branch
1939 is 己卯 (Jǐmǎo)
Na yin — the sounding element
Earth on the City Wall 城頭土
Packed earth forming a city's defenses. Associated with protection, structure and responsibility for others — the kind of strength that exists to keep something safe.
1939 therefore carries earth from its stem and earth from its na yin — the same element twice. What na yin is →
Li Chun inside the year
An ordinary single-spring year
The two Li Chun dates around it are February 5, 1939 and February 5, 1940, Beijing time. The Rabbit year spans February 19, 1939 to February 7, 1940, so exactly one of them sits inside it. What double spring and blind years mean →
Who clashes with a 1939 Rabbit
The 卯 branch puts a 1939 Rabbit opposite the Rooster on the wheel, the traditional clash; the nearest Rooster year after it was 1945. Its harmony partner is the Dog, whose year came round 7 years later, in 1946. How the Rabbit and Rooster get on →
Rabbits born in 1939 turn 87 in 2026 — 88 by the traditional count, which starts at one.
If you were born in 1939
- Born January 1 – February 18, 1939: an Earth Tiger, the animal of 1938.
- Born February 19, 1939 or later in the year: an Earth Rabbit.
This is one of the late new years: 49 days, from New Year's Day to February 18, still belong to the Tiger. That is about one US birth in 8 (13.0%, SSA records 2000–2014). Check your exact date →
The Rabbit across the cycle
The animal returns every 12 years but the element every 60, so each of these years is a different Rabbit.
The lunar calendar of 1939
Why 354 days, and not 365
No leap month this time: from February 19, 1939 to February 7, 1940, 1939 ran twelve months, six of 30 days and six of 29 — 354 days.
The 30-day months were the 1st, 2nd, 5th, 8th, 10th and 12th.
Festival dates in the 1939 lunar year
| Festival | Lunar date | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Lantern Festival 元宵节 | first month, day 15 | Sun, Mar 5, 1939 |
| Dragon Boat Festival 端午节 | fifth month, day 5 | Wed, Jun 21, 1939 |
| Qixi, the Double Seventh 七夕 | seventh month, day 7 | Mon, Aug 21, 1939 |
| Ghost Festival 中元节 | seventh month, day 15 | Tue, Aug 29, 1939 |
| Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 | eighth month, day 15 | Wed, Sep 27, 1939 |
| Double Ninth Festival 重阳节 | ninth month, day 9 | Sat, Oct 21, 1939 |
| Winter solstice 冬至 | solar term, Sun at 270° | Sat, Dec 23, 1939 |
| Laba Festival 腊八节 | twelfth month, day 8 | Tue, Jan 16, 1940 |
The year's first full moon arrived at 2:00 AM on March 6, the day after the Lantern Festival. The festival night of September 27 fell a day before the true full moon, which came at 10:26 PM Beijing time on September 28 — 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 1939
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 one of the 110 new years in the table fall later in the calendar than February 19. Two other years share the date. Twelve years earlier, 1927 began on February 2; twelve years later, 1951 began on February 6 — both marked in lavender with the other Rabbit years.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Chinese Horoscope 1939: Zodiac Year of the Earth Rabbit.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1939/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Chinese Horoscope 1939: Zodiac Year of the Earth Rabbit |url=https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1939/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-28}}