Began February 15, 1972 · 354 days long
1972: year of the Water Rat
The Rat year started on February 15, not on January 1 — so anyone born in 1972 before that date is a Pig.
- Opening new moon
- Feb 15, 1972 12:29 AM UTC
- In Beijing
- 8:29 AM Tue, Feb 15 · sets the date
- Year of the Rat
- 354 days 12 lunar months
- It ends
- Feb 3, 1973 9:23 AM UTC
New moons: NASA JPL DE440. New-year dates: Hong Kong Observatory.
Exact times
Chinese New Year 1972: the new moon in your city
The Water Rat year opened with the new moon at 12:29 AM UTC on February 15, 1972 — 8:29 AM on February 15 in Beijing, the time the calendar reckons by, and 7:29 PM on February 14 in New York, 12:29 AM on February 15 in London and 11:29 AM on February 15 in Sydney.
| City | New moon that opens the year |
|---|---|
| UTC | Tue, Feb 15, 1972 |
| Honolulu United States | 2:29 PM Mon, Feb 14, 1972 · UTC−10 |
| Anchorage United States | 2:29 PM Mon, Feb 14, 1972 · UTC−10 |
| Los Angeles United States | 4:29 PM Mon, Feb 14, 1972 · UTC−8 |
| Phoenix United States | 5:29 PM Mon, Feb 14, 1972 · UTC−7 |
| Denver United States | 5:29 PM Mon, Feb 14, 1972 · UTC−7 |
| Chicago United States | 6:29 PM Mon, Feb 14, 1972 · UTC−6 |
| Mexico City Mexico | 6:29 PM Mon, Feb 14, 1972 · UTC−6 |
| New York United States | 7:29 PM Mon, Feb 14, 1972 · UTC−5 |
| Toronto Canada | 7:29 PM Mon, Feb 14, 1972 · UTC−5 |
| Bogotá Colombia | 7:29 PM Mon, Feb 14, 1972 · UTC−5 |
| Lima Peru | 7:29 PM Mon, Feb 14, 1972 · UTC−5 |
| Caracas Venezuela | 8:29 PM Mon, Feb 14, 1972 · UTC−4 |
| Santiago Chile | 9:29 PM Mon, Feb 14, 1972 · UTC−3 |
| Buenos Aires Argentina | 9:29 PM Mon, Feb 14, 1972 · UTC−3 |
| São Paulo Brazil | 9:29 PM Mon, Feb 14, 1972 · UTC−3 |
| Reykjavík Iceland | 12:29 AM Tue, Feb 15, 1972 · UTC |
| London United Kingdom | 12:29 AM Tue, Feb 15, 1972 · UTC |
| Lagos Nigeria | 1:29 AM Tue, Feb 15, 1972 · UTC+1 |
| Paris France | 1:29 AM Tue, Feb 15, 1972 · UTC+1 |
| Berlin Germany | 1:29 AM Tue, Feb 15, 1972 · UTC+1 |
| Johannesburg South Africa | 2:29 AM Tue, Feb 15, 1972 · UTC+2 |
| Cairo Egypt | 2:29 AM Tue, Feb 15, 1972 · UTC+2 |
| Athens Greece | 2:29 AM Tue, Feb 15, 1972 · UTC+2 |
| Istanbul Turkey | 2:29 AM Tue, Feb 15, 1972 · UTC+2 |
| Moscow Russia | 3:29 AM Tue, Feb 15, 1972 · UTC+3 |
| Nairobi Kenya | 3:29 AM Tue, Feb 15, 1972 · UTC+3 |
| Tehran Iran | 3:59 AM Tue, Feb 15, 1972 · UTC+3:30 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | 4:29 AM Tue, Feb 15, 1972 · UTC+4 |
| Karachi Pakistan | 5:29 AM Tue, Feb 15, 1972 · UTC+5 |
| New Delhi India | 5:59 AM Tue, Feb 15, 1972 · UTC+5:30 |
| Kathmandu Nepal | 5:59 AM Tue, Feb 15, 1972 · UTC+5:30 |
| Dhaka Bangladesh | 6:29 AM Tue, Feb 15, 1972 · UTC+6 |
| Bangkok Thailand | 7:29 AM Tue, Feb 15, 1972 · UTC+7 |
| Jakarta Indonesia | 7:29 AM Tue, Feb 15, 1972 · UTC+7 |
| Singapore | 7:59 AM Tue, Feb 15, 1972 · UTC+7:30 |
| Beijing China | 8:29 AM Tue, Feb 15, 1972 · UTC+8 |
| Manila Philippines | 8:29 AM Tue, Feb 15, 1972 · UTC+8 |
| Perth Australia | 8:29 AM Tue, Feb 15, 1972 · UTC+8 |
| Seoul South Korea | 9:29 AM Tue, Feb 15, 1972 · UTC+9 |
| Tokyo Japan | 9:29 AM Tue, Feb 15, 1972 · UTC+9 |
| Adelaide Australia | 10:59 AM Tue, Feb 15, 1972 · UTC+10:30 |
| Brisbane Australia | 11:29 AM Tue, Feb 15, 1972 · UTC+11 |
| Sydney Australia | 11:29 AM Tue, Feb 15, 1972 · UTC+11 |
| Auckland New Zealand | 12:29 PM Tue, Feb 15, 1972 · UTC+12 |
New moon: JPL DE440 (Swiss Ephemeris within 8 s); 1972 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 Rat personality
Anyone born from February 15, 1972 through February 2, 1973 is a Water Rat: the yang water stem 壬 over the 子 branch.
Water is already the Rat's own element, so here it is doubled and everything typical of the sign runs at full strength. Of the five Rats this is the most adaptable, and the least inclined to compromise.
Stem and branch
1972 is 壬子 (Rénzǐ)
Na yin — the sounding element
Mulberry Wood 桑柘木
The mulberry, whose leaves feed silkworms. The image is quiet productivity: a plant valued not for itself but for what it makes possible for others.
1972 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 5, 1972 and February 4, 1973, Beijing time. The Rat year spans February 15, 1972 to February 2, 1973, so neither date sits inside it: a blind year (无春年). What double spring and blind years mean →
Who clashes with a 1972 Rat
The 子 branch puts a 1972 Rat opposite the Horse on the wheel, the traditional clash; the nearest Horse year after it was 1978. Its harmony partner is the Ox, whose year followed straight after, in 1973. How the Rat and Horse get on →
Rats born in 1972 turn 54 in 2026 — 55 by the traditional count, which starts at one.
If you were born in 1972
- Born January 1 – February 14, 1972: a Metal Pig, the animal of 1971.
- Born February 15, 1972 or later in the year: a Water Rat.
This is one of the late new years: 45 days, from New Year's Day to February 14, still belong to the Pig. That is about one US birth in 8 (11.9%, SSA records 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 1972
Why 354 days, and not 365
No leap month this time: from February 15, 1972 to February 2, 1973, 1972 ran twelve months, six of 30 days and six of 29 — 354 days.
The 30-day months were the 2nd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 10th and 12th.
Festival dates in the 1972 lunar year
| Festival | Lunar date | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Lantern Festival 元宵节 | first month, day 15 | Tue, Feb 29, 1972 |
| Dragon Boat Festival 端午节 | fifth month, day 5 | Thu, Jun 15, 1972 |
| Qixi, the Double Seventh 七夕 | seventh month, day 7 | Tue, Aug 15, 1972 |
| Ghost Festival 中元节 | seventh month, day 15 | Wed, Aug 23, 1972 |
| Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 | eighth month, day 15 | Fri, Sep 22, 1972 |
| Double Ninth Festival 重阳节 | ninth month, day 9 | Sun, Oct 15, 1972 |
| Winter solstice 冬至 | solar term, Sun at 270° | Fri, Dec 22, 1972 |
| Laba Festival 腊八节 | twelfth month, day 8 | Thu, Jan 11, 1973 |
At the Lantern Festival on February 29 the year's first full moon came that same day, at 11:11 AM Beijing time. The festival night of September 22 fell a day before the true full moon, which came at 12:06 PM Beijing time on September 23 — 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 1972
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, 1960 began on January 28; twelve years later, 1984 began on February 2 — both marked in lavender with the other Rat years.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Chinese Horoscope 1972: Zodiac Year of the Water Rat.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1972/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Chinese Horoscope 1972: Zodiac Year of the Water Rat |url=https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1972/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-28}}