Began February 8, 1959 · 354 days long
1959: year of the Earth Pig
The Pig year started on February 8, not on January 1 — so anyone born in 1959 before that date is a Dog.
- Opening new moon
- Feb 7, 1959 7:23 PM UTC
- In Beijing
- 3:23 AM Sun, Feb 8 · sets the date
- Year of the Pig
- 354 days 12 lunar months
- It ends
- Jan 28, 1960 6:16 AM UTC
New moons: NASA JPL DE440. New-year dates: Hong Kong Observatory.
Exact times
Chinese New Year 1959: the new moon in your city
The Earth Pig year opened with the new moon at 7:23 PM UTC on February 7, 1959 — 3:23 AM on February 8 in Beijing, the time the calendar reckons by, and 2:23 PM on February 7 in New York, 7:23 PM on February 7 in London and 5:23 AM on February 8 in Sydney.
| City | New moon that opens the year |
|---|---|
| UTC | Sat, Feb 7, 1959 |
| Honolulu United States | 9:23 AM Sat, Feb 7, 1959 · UTC−10 |
| Anchorage United States | 9:23 AM Sat, Feb 7, 1959 · UTC−10 |
| Los Angeles United States | 11:23 AM Sat, Feb 7, 1959 · UTC−8 |
| Phoenix United States | 12:23 PM Sat, Feb 7, 1959 · UTC−7 |
| Denver United States | 12:23 PM Sat, Feb 7, 1959 · UTC−7 |
| Chicago United States | 1:23 PM Sat, Feb 7, 1959 · UTC−6 |
| Mexico City Mexico | 1:23 PM Sat, Feb 7, 1959 · UTC−6 |
| New York United States | 2:23 PM Sat, Feb 7, 1959 · UTC−5 |
| Toronto Canada | 2:23 PM Sat, Feb 7, 1959 · UTC−5 |
| Bogotá Colombia | 2:23 PM Sat, Feb 7, 1959 · UTC−5 |
| Lima Peru | 2:23 PM Sat, Feb 7, 1959 · UTC−5 |
| Caracas Venezuela | 2:53 PM Sat, Feb 7, 1959 · UTC−4:30 |
| Santiago Chile | 3:23 PM Sat, Feb 7, 1959 · UTC−4 |
| Buenos Aires Argentina | 4:23 PM Sat, Feb 7, 1959 · UTC−3 |
| São Paulo Brazil | 4:23 PM Sat, Feb 7, 1959 · UTC−3 |
| Reykjavík Iceland | 6:23 PM Sat, Feb 7, 1959 · UTC−1 |
| London United Kingdom | 7:23 PM Sat, Feb 7, 1959 · UTC |
| Lagos Nigeria | 8:23 PM Sat, Feb 7, 1959 · UTC+1 |
| Paris France | 8:23 PM Sat, Feb 7, 1959 · UTC+1 |
| Berlin Germany | 8:23 PM Sat, Feb 7, 1959 · UTC+1 |
| Johannesburg South Africa | 9:23 PM Sat, Feb 7, 1959 · UTC+2 |
| Cairo Egypt | 9:23 PM Sat, Feb 7, 1959 · UTC+2 |
| Athens Greece | 9:23 PM Sat, Feb 7, 1959 · UTC+2 |
| Istanbul Turkey | 9:23 PM Sat, Feb 7, 1959 · UTC+2 |
| Moscow Russia | 10:23 PM Sat, Feb 7, 1959 · UTC+3 |
| Nairobi Kenya | 10:23 PM Sat, Feb 7, 1959 · UTC+3 |
| Tehran Iran | 10:53 PM Sat, Feb 7, 1959 · UTC+3:30 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | 11:23 PM Sat, Feb 7, 1959 · UTC+4 |
| Karachi Pakistan | 12:23 AM Sun, Feb 8, 1959 · UTC+5 |
| New Delhi India | 12:53 AM Sun, Feb 8, 1959 · UTC+5:30 |
| Kathmandu Nepal | 12:53 AM Sun, Feb 8, 1959 · UTC+5:30 |
| Dhaka Bangladesh | 1:23 AM Sun, Feb 8, 1959 · UTC+6 |
| Bangkok Thailand | 2:23 AM Sun, Feb 8, 1959 · UTC+7 |
| Jakarta Indonesia | 2:53 AM Sun, Feb 8, 1959 · UTC+7:30 |
| Singapore | 2:53 AM Sun, Feb 8, 1959 · UTC+7:30 |
| Beijing China | 3:23 AM Sun, Feb 8, 1959 · UTC+8 |
| Manila Philippines | 3:23 AM Sun, Feb 8, 1959 · UTC+8 |
| Perth Australia | 3:23 AM Sun, Feb 8, 1959 · UTC+8 |
| Seoul South Korea | 3:53 AM Sun, Feb 8, 1959 · UTC+8:30 |
| Tokyo Japan | 4:23 AM Sun, Feb 8, 1959 · UTC+9 |
| Adelaide Australia | 4:53 AM Sun, Feb 8, 1959 · UTC+9:30 |
| Brisbane Australia | 5:23 AM Sun, Feb 8, 1959 · UTC+10 |
| Sydney Australia | 5:23 AM Sun, Feb 8, 1959 · UTC+10 |
| Auckland New Zealand | 7:23 AM Sun, Feb 8, 1959 · UTC+12 |
New moon: JPL DE440 (Swiss Ephemeris within 8 s); 1959 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 Pig personality
Anyone born from February 8, 1959 through January 27, 1960 is an Earth Pig: the yin earth stem 己 over the 亥 branch.
Earth controls the Pig's own Water in the five-element cycle, so the year's element pushes against the sign rather than with it. Earth brings steadiness, practicality and patience — traditionally the most reliable version, and the slowest to change direction.
Stem and branch
1959 is 己亥 (Jǐhài)
Na yin — the sounding element
Wood of the Plain 平地木
Trees and crops growing on open, level ground. The image is ordinary growth with wide reach — usefulness to many, and a need for open space and light.
1959 therefore carries earth 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, 1959 and February 5, 1960, Beijing time. The Pig year spans February 8, 1959 to January 27, 1960, so neither date sits inside it: a blind year (无春年). What double spring and blind years mean →
Who clashes with a 1959 Pig
The 亥 branch puts a 1959 Pig opposite the Snake on the wheel, the traditional clash; the nearest Snake year after it was 1965. Its harmony partner is the Tiger, whose year came round 3 years later, in 1962. How the Pig and Snake get on →
Pigs born in 1959 turn 67 in 2026 — 68 by the traditional count, which starts at one.
If you were born in 1959
- Born January 1 – February 7, 1959: an Earth Dog, the animal of 1958.
- Born February 8, 1959 or later in the year: an Earth Pig.
A year-only calculator mislabels 38 days of 1959, everything from January 1 to February 7. That is about one US birth in 10 (10.0%, SSA records 2000–2014). Check your exact date →
The Pig across the cycle
The animal returns every 12 years but the element every 60, so each of these years is a different Pig.
The lunar calendar of 1959
Why 354 days, and not 365
No leap month this time: from February 8, 1959 to January 27, 1960, 1959 ran twelve months, six of 30 days and six of 29 — 354 days.
The 30-day months were the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th and 11th.
Festival dates in the 1959 lunar year
| Festival | Lunar date | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Lantern Festival 元宵节 | first month, day 15 | Sun, Feb 22, 1959 |
| Dragon Boat Festival 端午节 | fifth month, day 5 | Wed, Jun 10, 1959 |
| Qixi, the Double Seventh 七夕 | seventh month, day 7 | Mon, Aug 10, 1959 |
| Ghost Festival 中元节 | seventh month, day 15 | Tue, Aug 18, 1959 |
| Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 | eighth month, day 15 | Thu, Sep 17, 1959 |
| Double Ninth Festival 重阳节 | ninth month, day 9 | Sat, Oct 10, 1959 |
| Winter solstice 冬至 | solar term, Sun at 270° | Tue, Dec 22, 1959 |
| Laba Festival 腊八节 | twelfth month, day 8 | Wed, Jan 6, 1960 |
The year's first full moon arrived at 4:53 PM on February 23, the day 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 8:51 AM Beijing time on September 17.
Dates follow Beijing time (UTC+8), the reference clock of the Chinese calendar. Why lunar years differ in length →
Lunar years around 1959
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.
By date, 1959 sits mid-table: of the 110 new years, 66 fall earlier in the calendar and 41 later. Two other years share the date. Twelve years earlier, 1947 began on January 22; twelve years later, 1971 began on January 27 — both marked in lavender with the other Pig years.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Chinese Horoscope 1959: Zodiac Year of the Earth Pig.” Accessed October 29, 2026. https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1959/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Chinese Horoscope 1959: Zodiac Year of the Earth Pig |url=https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1959/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-29}}