Began February 12, 1956 · 354 days long
1956: year of the Fire Monkey
The Monkey year started on February 12, not on January 1 — so anyone born in 1956 before that date is a Goat.
- Opening new moon
- Feb 11, 1956 9:39 PM UTC
- In Beijing
- 5:39 AM Sun, Feb 12 · sets the date
- Year of the Monkey
- 354 days 12 lunar months
- It ends
- Jan 30, 1957 9:25 PM UTC
New moons: NASA JPL DE440. New-year dates: Hong Kong Observatory.
Exact times
Chinese New Year 1956: the new moon in your city
The Fire Monkey year opened with the new moon at 9:39 PM UTC on February 11, 1956 — 5:39 AM on February 12 in Beijing, the time the calendar reckons by, and 4:39 PM on February 11 in New York, 9:39 PM on February 11 in London and 7:39 AM on February 12 in Sydney.
| City | New moon that opens the year |
|---|---|
| UTC | Sat, Feb 11, 1956 |
| Honolulu United States | 11:39 AM Sat, Feb 11, 1956 · UTC−10 |
| Anchorage United States | 11:39 AM Sat, Feb 11, 1956 · UTC−10 |
| Los Angeles United States | 1:39 PM Sat, Feb 11, 1956 · UTC−8 |
| Phoenix United States | 2:39 PM Sat, Feb 11, 1956 · UTC−7 |
| Denver United States | 2:39 PM Sat, Feb 11, 1956 · UTC−7 |
| Chicago United States | 3:39 PM Sat, Feb 11, 1956 · UTC−6 |
| Mexico City Mexico | 3:39 PM Sat, Feb 11, 1956 · UTC−6 |
| New York United States | 4:39 PM Sat, Feb 11, 1956 · UTC−5 |
| Toronto Canada | 4:39 PM Sat, Feb 11, 1956 · UTC−5 |
| Bogotá Colombia | 4:39 PM Sat, Feb 11, 1956 · UTC−5 |
| Lima Peru | 4:39 PM Sat, Feb 11, 1956 · UTC−5 |
| Caracas Venezuela | 5:09 PM Sat, Feb 11, 1956 · UTC−4:30 |
| Santiago Chile | 5:39 PM Sat, Feb 11, 1956 · UTC−4 |
| Buenos Aires Argentina | 6:39 PM Sat, Feb 11, 1956 · UTC−3 |
| São Paulo Brazil | 6:39 PM Sat, Feb 11, 1956 · UTC−3 |
| Reykjavík Iceland | 8:39 PM Sat, Feb 11, 1956 · UTC−1 |
| London United Kingdom | 9:39 PM Sat, Feb 11, 1956 · UTC |
| Lagos Nigeria | 10:39 PM Sat, Feb 11, 1956 · UTC+1 |
| Paris France | 10:39 PM Sat, Feb 11, 1956 · UTC+1 |
| Berlin Germany | 10:39 PM Sat, Feb 11, 1956 · UTC+1 |
| Johannesburg South Africa | 11:39 PM Sat, Feb 11, 1956 · UTC+2 |
| Cairo Egypt | 11:39 PM Sat, Feb 11, 1956 · UTC+2 |
| Athens Greece | 11:39 PM Sat, Feb 11, 1956 · UTC+2 |
| Istanbul Turkey | 11:39 PM Sat, Feb 11, 1956 · UTC+2 |
| Moscow Russia | 12:39 AM Sun, Feb 12, 1956 · UTC+3 |
| Nairobi Kenya | 12:39 AM Sun, Feb 12, 1956 · UTC+3 |
| Tehran Iran | 1:09 AM Sun, Feb 12, 1956 · UTC+3:30 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | 1:39 AM Sun, Feb 12, 1956 · UTC+4 |
| Karachi Pakistan | 2:39 AM Sun, Feb 12, 1956 · UTC+5 |
| New Delhi India | 3:09 AM Sun, Feb 12, 1956 · UTC+5:30 |
| Kathmandu Nepal | 3:09 AM Sun, Feb 12, 1956 · UTC+5:30 |
| Dhaka Bangladesh | 3:39 AM Sun, Feb 12, 1956 · UTC+6 |
| Bangkok Thailand | 4:39 AM Sun, Feb 12, 1956 · UTC+7 |
| Jakarta Indonesia | 5:09 AM Sun, Feb 12, 1956 · UTC+7:30 |
| Singapore | 5:09 AM Sun, Feb 12, 1956 · UTC+7:30 |
| Beijing China | 5:39 AM Sun, Feb 12, 1956 · UTC+8 |
| Manila Philippines | 5:39 AM Sun, Feb 12, 1956 · UTC+8 |
| Perth Australia | 5:39 AM Sun, Feb 12, 1956 · UTC+8 |
| Seoul South Korea | 6:09 AM Sun, Feb 12, 1956 · UTC+8:30 |
| Tokyo Japan | 6:39 AM Sun, Feb 12, 1956 · UTC+9 |
| Adelaide Australia | 7:09 AM Sun, Feb 12, 1956 · UTC+9:30 |
| Brisbane Australia | 7:39 AM Sun, Feb 12, 1956 · UTC+10 |
| Sydney Australia | 7:39 AM Sun, Feb 12, 1956 · UTC+10 |
| Auckland New Zealand | 9:39 AM Sun, Feb 12, 1956 · UTC+12 |
New moon: JPL DE440 (Swiss Ephemeris within 8 s); 1956 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 Monkey personality
Anyone born from February 12, 1956 through January 30, 1957 is a Fire Monkey: the yang fire stem 丙 over the 申 branch.
Fire controls the Monkey's own Metal in the five-element cycle, so the year's element pushes against the sign rather than with it. Fire brings intensity, visibility and speed — traditionally the most driven version, and the quickest to burn through its own energy.
Stem and branch
1956 is 丙申 (Bǐngshēn)
Na yin — the sounding element
Fire at the Foot of the Mountain 山下火
Fire burning low, below the peak, often read as evening light. A gentler, more modest fire than the mountain-top image: warmth close at hand rather than a beacon.
1956 therefore carries fire from its stem and fire from its na yin — the same element twice. What na yin is →
Li Chun inside the year
A "blind" year with no spring
The two Li Chun dates around it are February 5, 1956 and February 4, 1957, Beijing time. The Monkey year spans February 12, 1956 to January 30, 1957, so neither date sits inside it: a blind year (无春年). What double spring and blind years mean →
Who clashes with a 1956 Monkey
The 申 branch puts a 1956 Monkey opposite the Tiger on the wheel, the traditional clash; the nearest Tiger year after it was 1962. Its harmony partner is the Snake, whose year came round 9 years later, in 1965. How the Monkey and Tiger get on →
Monkeys born in 1956 turn 70 in 2026 — 71 by the traditional count, which starts at one.
If you were born in 1956
- Born January 1 – February 11, 1956: a Wood Goat, the animal of 1955.
- Born February 12, 1956 or later in the year: a Fire Monkey.
This is one of the late new years: 42 days, from New Year's Day to February 11, still belong to the Goat. That is about one US birth in 9 (11.1%, SSA records 2000–2014). Check your exact date →
The Monkey across the cycle
The animal returns every 12 years but the element every 60, so each of these years is a different Monkey.
The lunar calendar of 1956
Why 354 days, and not 365
No leap month this time: from February 12, 1956 to January 30, 1957, 1956 ran twelve months, six of 30 days and six of 29 — 354 days.
The 30-day months were the 2nd, 4th, 7th, 9th, 11th and 12th.
Festival dates in the 1956 lunar year
| Festival | Lunar date | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Lantern Festival 元宵节 | first month, day 15 | Sun, Feb 26, 1956 |
| Dragon Boat Festival 端午节 | fifth month, day 5 | Wed, Jun 13, 1956 |
| Qixi, the Double Seventh 七夕 | seventh month, day 7 | Sun, Aug 12, 1956 |
| Ghost Festival 中元节 | seventh month, day 15 | Mon, Aug 20, 1956 |
| Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 | eighth month, day 15 | Wed, Sep 19, 1956 |
| Double Ninth Festival 重阳节 | ninth month, day 9 | Fri, Oct 12, 1956 |
| Winter solstice 冬至 | solar term, Sun at 270° | Sat, Dec 22, 1956 |
| Laba Festival 腊八节 | twelfth month, day 8 | Tue, Jan 8, 1957 |
At the Lantern Festival on February 26 the year's first full moon came that same day, at 9:41 AM Beijing time. The festival night of September 19 fell a day before the true full moon, which came at 11:19 AM Beijing time on September 20 — 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 1956
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 27 of the 110 new years in the table fall later in the calendar than February 12. Two other years share the date. Twelve years earlier, 1944 began on January 25; twelve years later, 1968 began on January 30 — both marked in lavender with the other Monkey years.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Chinese Horoscope 1956: Zodiac Year of the Fire Monkey.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1956/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Chinese Horoscope 1956: Zodiac Year of the Fire Monkey |url=https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1956/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-28}}