Began January 23, 1974 · 384 days long
1974: year of the Wood Tiger
The Tiger year started on January 23, not on January 1 — so anyone born in 1974 before that date is an Ox.
- Opening new moon
- Jan 23, 1974 11:02 AM UTC
- In Beijing
- 7:02 PM Wed, Jan 23 · sets the date
- Year of the Tiger
- 384 days 13 lunar months, one of them leap
- It ends
- Feb 11, 1975 5:17 AM UTC
New moons: NASA JPL DE440. New-year dates: Hong Kong Observatory.
Exact times
Chinese New Year 1974: the new moon in your city
The Wood Tiger year opened with the new moon at 11:02 AM UTC on January 23, 1974 — 7:02 PM on January 23 in Beijing, the time the calendar reckons by, and 7:02 AM on January 23 in New York, 11:02 AM on January 23 in London and 10:02 PM on January 23 in Sydney.
| City | New moon that opens the year |
|---|---|
| UTC | Wed, Jan 23, 1974 |
| Honolulu United States | 1:02 AM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC−10 |
| Anchorage United States | 2:02 AM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC−9 |
| Los Angeles United States | 4:02 AM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC−7 |
| Phoenix United States | 4:02 AM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC−7 |
| Denver United States | 5:02 AM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC−6 |
| Chicago United States | 6:02 AM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC−5 |
| Mexico City Mexico | 5:02 AM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC−6 |
| New York United States | 7:02 AM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC−4 |
| Toronto Canada | 6:02 AM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC−5 |
| Bogotá Colombia | 6:02 AM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC−5 |
| Lima Peru | 6:02 AM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC−5 |
| Caracas Venezuela | 7:02 AM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC−4 |
| Santiago Chile | 8:02 AM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC−3 |
| Buenos Aires Argentina | 9:02 AM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC−2 |
| São Paulo Brazil | 8:02 AM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC−3 |
| Reykjavík Iceland | 11:02 AM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC |
| London United Kingdom | 11:02 AM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC |
| Lagos Nigeria | 12:02 PM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC+1 |
| Paris France | 12:02 PM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC+1 |
| Berlin Germany | 12:02 PM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC+1 |
| Johannesburg South Africa | 1:02 PM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC+2 |
| Cairo Egypt | 1:02 PM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC+2 |
| Athens Greece | 1:02 PM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC+2 |
| Istanbul Turkey | 1:02 PM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC+2 |
| Moscow Russia | 2:02 PM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC+3 |
| Nairobi Kenya | 2:02 PM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC+3 |
| Tehran Iran | 2:32 PM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC+3:30 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | 3:02 PM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC+4 |
| Karachi Pakistan | 4:02 PM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC+5 |
| New Delhi India | 4:32 PM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC+5:30 |
| Kathmandu Nepal | 4:32 PM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC+5:30 |
| Dhaka Bangladesh | 5:02 PM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC+6 |
| Bangkok Thailand | 6:02 PM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC+7 |
| Jakarta Indonesia | 6:02 PM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC+7 |
| Singapore | 6:32 PM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC+7:30 |
| Beijing China | 7:02 PM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC+8 |
| Manila Philippines | 7:02 PM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC+8 |
| Perth Australia | 7:02 PM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC+8 |
| Seoul South Korea | 8:02 PM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC+9 |
| Tokyo Japan | 8:02 PM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC+9 |
| Adelaide Australia | 9:32 PM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC+10:30 |
| Brisbane Australia | 9:02 PM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC+10 |
| Sydney Australia | 10:02 PM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC+11 |
| Auckland New Zealand | 11:02 PM Wed, Jan 23, 1974 · UTC+12 |
New moon: JPL DE440 (Swiss Ephemeris within 8 s); 1974 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 Wood Tiger personality
Anyone born from January 23, 1974 through February 10, 1975 is a Wood Tiger: the yang wood stem 甲 over the 寅 branch.
Wood is already the Tiger's own element, so here it is doubled and everything typical of the sign runs at full strength. Of the five Tigers this is the bravest, and the least inclined to compromise.
Stem and branch
1974 is 甲寅 (Jiǎyín)
Na yin — the sounding element
Water of the Great Stream 大溪水
A wide stream running fast between valleys. Associated with momentum and energy that gathers smaller streams as it goes — movement with direction.
1974 therefore carries wood from its stem and water from its na yin. What na yin is →
Li Chun inside the year
A double spring year
The two Li Chun dates around it are February 4, 1974 and February 4, 1975, Beijing time. The Tiger year spans January 23, 1974 to February 10, 1975, so both dates sit inside it: a double spring year (双春). What double spring and blind years mean →
Who clashes with a 1974 Tiger
The 寅 branch puts a 1974 Tiger opposite the Monkey on the wheel, the traditional clash; the nearest Monkey year after it was 1980. Its harmony partner is the Pig, whose year came round 9 years later, in 1983. How the Tiger and Monkey get on →
Tigers born in 1974 turn 52 in 2026 — 53 by the traditional count, which starts at one.
If you were born in 1974
- Born January 1 – January 22, 1974: a Water Ox, the animal of 1973.
- Born January 23, 1974 or later in the year: a Wood Tiger.
Only the first 22 days of 1974 belong to the Ox, yet a year-only calculator still calls them Tigers. Those dates hold 5.8% of US births (SSA, 2000–2014). Check your exact date →
The Tiger across the cycle
The animal returns every 12 years but the element every 60, so each of these years is a different Tiger.
The lunar calendar of 1974
Why 384 days, and not 365
1974 repeated its fourth month: the leap month 闰四月 ran from May 22 to June 19 and stretched the year to 384 days. Seven of the 13 months had 30 days.
The 30-day months were the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 9th, 10th and 12th.
Festival dates in the 1974 lunar year
| Festival | Lunar date | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Lantern Festival 元宵节 | first month, day 15 | Wed, Feb 6, 1974 |
| Dragon Boat Festival 端午节 | fifth month, day 5 | Mon, Jun 24, 1974 |
| Qixi, the Double Seventh 七夕 | seventh month, day 7 | Sat, Aug 24, 1974 |
| Ghost Festival 中元节 | seventh month, day 15 | Sun, Sep 1, 1974 |
| Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 | eighth month, day 15 | Mon, Sep 30, 1974 |
| Double Ninth Festival 重阳节 | ninth month, day 9 | Wed, Oct 23, 1974 |
| Winter solstice 冬至 | solar term, Sun at 270° | Sun, Dec 22, 1974 |
| Laba Festival 腊八节 | twelfth month, day 8 | Sun, Jan 19, 1975 |
The year's first full moon arrived at 7:24 AM on February 7, the day after the Lantern Festival. The festival night of September 30 fell a day before the true full moon, which came at 6:37 PM Beijing time on October 1 — 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 1974
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 four of the 110 new years in the table fall earlier in the calendar than January 23. Four other years share the date. Twelve years earlier, 1962 began on February 5; twelve years later, 1986 began on February 9 — both marked in lavender with the other Tiger years.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Chinese Horoscope 1974: Zodiac Year of the Wood Tiger.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1974/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Chinese Horoscope 1974: Zodiac Year of the Wood Tiger |url=https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1974/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-28}}