Began February 15, 1942 · 355 days long
1942: year of the Water Horse
The Horse year started on February 15, not on January 1 — so anyone born in 1942 before that date is a Snake.
- Opening new moon
- Feb 15, 1942 10:03 AM UTC
- In Beijing
- 7:03 PM Sun, Feb 15 · sets the date
- Year of the Horse
- 355 days 12 lunar months
- It ends
- Feb 4, 1943 11:30 PM UTC
New moons: NASA JPL DE440. New-year dates: Hong Kong Observatory.
Exact times
Chinese New Year 1942: the new moon in your city
The Water Horse year opened with the new moon at 10:03 AM UTC on February 15, 1942 — 7:03 PM on February 15 in Beijing, the time the calendar reckons by, and 6:03 AM on February 15 in New York, 11:03 AM on February 15 in London and 9:03 PM on February 15 in Sydney.
| City | New moon that opens the year |
|---|---|
| UTC | Sun, Feb 15, 1942 |
| Honolulu United States | 12:33 AM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC−9:30 |
| Anchorage United States | 1:03 AM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC−9 |
| Los Angeles United States | 3:03 AM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC−7 |
| Phoenix United States | 4:03 AM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC−6 |
| Denver United States | 4:03 AM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC−6 |
| Chicago United States | 5:03 AM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC−5 |
| Mexico City Mexico | 4:03 AM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC−6 |
| New York United States | 6:03 AM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC−4 |
| Toronto Canada | 6:03 AM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC−4 |
| Bogotá Colombia | 5:03 AM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC−5 |
| Lima Peru | 5:03 AM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC−5 |
| Caracas Venezuela | 5:33 AM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC−4:30 |
| Santiago Chile | 6:03 AM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC−4 |
| Buenos Aires Argentina | 7:03 AM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC−3 |
| São Paulo Brazil | 7:03 AM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC−3 |
| Reykjavík Iceland | 9:03 AM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC−1 |
| London United Kingdom | 11:03 AM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC+1 |
| Lagos Nigeria | 11:03 AM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC+1 |
| Paris France | 12:03 PM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC+2 |
| Berlin Germany | 12:03 PM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC+2 |
| Johannesburg South Africa | 12:03 PM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC+2 |
| Cairo Egypt | 12:03 PM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC+2 |
| Athens Greece | 12:03 PM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC+2 |
| Istanbul Turkey | 12:03 PM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC+2 |
| Moscow Russia | 1:03 PM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC+3 |
| Nairobi Kenya | 12:48 PM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC+2:45 |
| Tehran Iran | 1:33 PM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC+3:30 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | 2:03 PM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC+4 |
| Karachi Pakistan | 3:33 PM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC+5:30 |
| New Delhi India | 4:33 PM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC+6:30 |
| Kathmandu Nepal | 3:33 PM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC+5:30 |
| Dhaka Bangladesh | 4:33 PM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC+6:30 |
| Bangkok Thailand | 5:03 PM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC+7 |
| Jakarta Indonesia | 5:33 PM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC+7:30 |
| Singapore | 5:33 PM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC+7:30 |
| Beijing China | 7:03 PM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC+9 |
| Manila Philippines | 7:03 PM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC+9 |
| Perth Australia | 7:03 PM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC+9 |
| Seoul South Korea | 7:03 PM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC+9 |
| Tokyo Japan | 7:03 PM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC+9 |
| Adelaide Australia | 8:33 PM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC+10:30 |
| Brisbane Australia | 9:03 PM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC+11 |
| Sydney Australia | 9:03 PM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC+11 |
| Auckland New Zealand | 10:03 PM Sun, Feb 15, 1942 · UTC+12 |
New moon: JPL DE440 (Swiss Ephemeris within 8 s); 1942 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 Water Horse personality
Anyone born from February 15, 1942 through February 4, 1943 is a Water Horse: the yang water stem 壬 over the 午 branch.
Water controls the Horse's own Fire in the five-element cycle, so the year's element pushes against the sign rather than with it. Water brings adaptability, perception and diplomacy — traditionally the most intuitive version, and the most easily influenced.
Stem and branch
1942 is 壬午 (Rénwǔ)
Na yin — the sounding element
Willow Wood 楊柳木
The willow bends in wind and water without breaking. The image is flexibility, grace and adaptability — strength that comes from yielding rather than resisting.
1942 therefore carries water from its stem and wood from its na yin. What na yin is →
Li Chun inside the year
A "blind" year with no spring
The two Li Chun dates around it are February 4, 1942 and February 5, 1943, Beijing time. The Horse year spans February 15, 1942 to February 4, 1943, so neither date sits inside it: a blind year (无春年). What double spring and blind years mean →
Who clashes with a 1942 Horse
The 午 branch puts a 1942 Horse opposite the Rat on the wheel, the traditional clash; the nearest Rat year after it was 1948. Its harmony partner is the Goat, whose year followed straight after, in 1943. How the Horse and Rat get on →
Horses born in 1942 turn 84 in 2026 — 85 by the traditional count, which starts at one.
If you were born in 1942
- Born January 1 – February 14, 1942: a Metal Snake, the animal of 1941.
- Born February 15, 1942 or later in the year: a Water Horse.
This is one of the late new years: 45 days, from New Year's Day to February 14, still belong to the Snake. That is about one US birth in 8 (11.9%, SSA records 2000–2014). Check your exact date →
The Horse across the cycle
The animal returns every 12 years but the element every 60, so each of these years is a different Horse.
The lunar calendar of 1942
Why 355 days, and not 365
No month was doubled in 1942, so the year ended on February 4, 1943 after twelve months — seven long ones of 30 days and five short ones of 29, 355 days in all.
The 30-day months were the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th.
Festival dates in the 1942 lunar year
| Festival | Lunar date | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Lantern Festival 元宵节 | first month, day 15 | Sun, Mar 1, 1942 |
| Dragon Boat Festival 端午节 | fifth month, day 5 | Thu, Jun 18, 1942 |
| Qixi, the Double Seventh 七夕 | seventh month, day 7 | Tue, Aug 18, 1942 |
| Ghost Festival 中元节 | seventh month, day 15 | Wed, Aug 26, 1942 |
| Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 | eighth month, day 15 | Thu, Sep 24, 1942 |
| Double Ninth Festival 重阳节 | ninth month, day 9 | Sun, Oct 18, 1942 |
| Winter solstice 冬至 | solar term, Sun at 270° | Tue, Dec 22, 1942 |
| Laba Festival 腊八节 | twelfth month, day 8 | Wed, Jan 13, 1943 |
The year's first full moon arrived at 9:19 AM on March 3, two days after the Lantern Festival. This time the calendar and the sky agreed: the Moon was exactly full on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, at 11:33 PM Beijing time on September 24.
Dates follow Beijing time (UTC+8), the reference clock of the Chinese calendar. Why lunar years differ in length →
Lunar years around 1942
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 15 of the 110 new years in the table fall later in the calendar than February 15. Three other years share the date. Twelve years earlier, 1930 began on January 30; twelve years later, 1954 began on February 3 — both marked in lavender with the other Horse years.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Chinese Horoscope 1942: Zodiac Year of the Water Horse.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1942/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Chinese Horoscope 1942: Zodiac Year of the Water Horse |url=https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1942/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-28}}