Began February 18, 1977 · 354 days long
1977: year of the Fire Snake
The Snake year started on February 18, not on January 1 — so anyone born in 1977 before that date is a Dragon.
- Opening new moon
- Feb 18, 1977 3:37 AM UTC
- In Beijing
- 11:37 AM Fri, Feb 18 · sets the date
- Year of the Snake
- 354 days 12 lunar months
- It ends
- Feb 7, 1978 2:54 PM UTC
New moons: NASA JPL DE440. New-year dates: Hong Kong Observatory.
Exact times
Chinese New Year 1977: the new moon in your city
The Fire Snake year opened with the new moon at 3:37 AM UTC on February 18, 1977 — 11:37 AM on February 18 in Beijing, the time the calendar reckons by, and 10:37 PM on February 17 in New York, 3:37 AM on February 18 in London and 2:37 PM on February 18 in Sydney.
| City | New moon that opens the year |
|---|---|
| UTC | Fri, Feb 18, 1977 |
| Honolulu United States | 5:37 PM Thu, Feb 17, 1977 · UTC−10 |
| Anchorage United States | 5:37 PM Thu, Feb 17, 1977 · UTC−10 |
| Los Angeles United States | 7:37 PM Thu, Feb 17, 1977 · UTC−8 |
| Phoenix United States | 8:37 PM Thu, Feb 17, 1977 · UTC−7 |
| Denver United States | 8:37 PM Thu, Feb 17, 1977 · UTC−7 |
| Chicago United States | 9:37 PM Thu, Feb 17, 1977 · UTC−6 |
| Mexico City Mexico | 9:37 PM Thu, Feb 17, 1977 · UTC−6 |
| New York United States | 10:37 PM Thu, Feb 17, 1977 · UTC−5 |
| Toronto Canada | 10:37 PM Thu, Feb 17, 1977 · UTC−5 |
| Bogotá Colombia | 10:37 PM Thu, Feb 17, 1977 · UTC−5 |
| Lima Peru | 10:37 PM Thu, Feb 17, 1977 · UTC−5 |
| Caracas Venezuela | 11:37 PM Thu, Feb 17, 1977 · UTC−4 |
| Santiago Chile | 12:37 AM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC−3 |
| Buenos Aires Argentina | 12:37 AM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC−3 |
| São Paulo Brazil | 12:37 AM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC−3 |
| Reykjavík Iceland | 3:37 AM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC |
| London United Kingdom | 3:37 AM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC |
| Lagos Nigeria | 4:37 AM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC+1 |
| Paris France | 4:37 AM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC+1 |
| Berlin Germany | 4:37 AM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC+1 |
| Johannesburg South Africa | 5:37 AM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC+2 |
| Cairo Egypt | 5:37 AM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC+2 |
| Athens Greece | 5:37 AM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC+2 |
| Istanbul Turkey | 5:37 AM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC+2 |
| Moscow Russia | 6:37 AM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC+3 |
| Nairobi Kenya | 6:37 AM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC+3 |
| Tehran Iran | 7:07 AM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC+3:30 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | 7:37 AM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC+4 |
| Karachi Pakistan | 8:37 AM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC+5 |
| New Delhi India | 9:07 AM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC+5:30 |
| Kathmandu Nepal | 9:07 AM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC+5:30 |
| Dhaka Bangladesh | 9:37 AM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC+6 |
| Bangkok Thailand | 10:37 AM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC+7 |
| Jakarta Indonesia | 10:37 AM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC+7 |
| Singapore | 11:07 AM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC+7:30 |
| Beijing China | 11:37 AM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC+8 |
| Manila Philippines | 11:37 AM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC+8 |
| Perth Australia | 11:37 AM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC+8 |
| Seoul South Korea | 12:37 PM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC+9 |
| Tokyo Japan | 12:37 PM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC+9 |
| Adelaide Australia | 2:07 PM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC+10:30 |
| Brisbane Australia | 1:37 PM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC+10 |
| Sydney Australia | 2:37 PM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC+11 |
| Auckland New Zealand | 4:37 PM Fri, Feb 18, 1977 · UTC+13 |
New moon: JPL DE440 (Swiss Ephemeris within 8 s); 1977 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 Snake personality
Anyone born from February 18, 1977 through February 6, 1978 is a Fire Snake: the yin fire stem 丁 over the 巳 branch.
Fire is already the Snake's own element, so here it is doubled and everything typical of the sign runs at full strength. Of the five Snakes this is the most perceptive, and the least inclined to compromise.
Stem and branch
1977 is 丁巳 (Dīngsì)
Na yin — the sounding element
Earth in the Sand 沙中土
Loose earth mixed with sand. Readings describe adaptability and potential that needs binding — ground that can be shaped into something firm with the right support.
1977 therefore carries fire from its stem and earth from its na yin. What na yin is →
Li Chun inside the year
An ordinary single-spring year
The two Li Chun dates around it are February 4, 1977 and February 4, 1978, Beijing time. The Snake year spans February 18, 1977 to February 6, 1978, so exactly one of them sits inside it. What double spring and blind years mean →
Who clashes with a 1977 Snake
The 巳 branch puts a 1977 Snake opposite the Pig on the wheel, the traditional clash; the nearest Pig year after it was 1983. Its harmony partner is the Monkey, whose year came round 3 years later, in 1980. How the Snake and Pig get on →
Snakes born in 1977 turn 49 in 2026 — 50 by the traditional count, which starts at one.
If you were born in 1977
- Born January 1 – February 17, 1977: a Fire Dragon, the animal of 1976.
- Born February 18, 1977 or later in the year: a Fire Snake.
This is one of the late new years: 48 days, from New Year's Day to February 17, still belong to the Dragon. That is about one US birth in 8 (12.7%, SSA records 2000–2014). Check your exact date →
The Snake across the cycle
The animal returns every 12 years but the element every 60, so each of these years is a different Snake.
The lunar calendar of 1977
Why 354 days, and not 365
No leap month this time: from February 18, 1977 to February 6, 1978, 1977 ran twelve months, six of 30 days and six of 29 — 354 days.
The 30-day months were the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 8th and 10th.
Festival dates in the 1977 lunar year
| Festival | Lunar date | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Lantern Festival 元宵节 | first month, day 15 | Fri, Mar 4, 1977 |
| Dragon Boat Festival 端午节 | fifth month, day 5 | Tue, Jun 21, 1977 |
| Qixi, the Double Seventh 七夕 | seventh month, day 7 | Sun, Aug 21, 1977 |
| Ghost Festival 中元节 | seventh month, day 15 | Mon, Aug 29, 1977 |
| Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 | eighth month, day 15 | Tue, Sep 27, 1977 |
| Double Ninth Festival 重阳节 | ninth month, day 9 | Fri, Oct 21, 1977 |
| Winter solstice 冬至 | solar term, Sun at 270° | Thu, Dec 22, 1977 |
| Laba Festival 腊八节 | twelfth month, day 8 | Mon, Jan 16, 1978 |
The year's first full moon arrived at 1:13 AM on March 6, 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 4:17 PM Beijing time on September 27.
Dates follow Beijing time (UTC+8), the reference clock of the Chinese calendar. Why lunar years differ in length →
Lunar years around 1977
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 later in the calendar than February 18. Two other years share the date. Twelve years earlier, 1965 began on February 2; twelve years later, 1989 began on February 6 — both marked in lavender with the other Snake years.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Chinese Horoscope 1977: Zodiac Year of the Fire Snake.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1977/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Chinese Horoscope 1977: Zodiac Year of the Fire Snake |url=https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1977/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-28}}