Began February 15, 1991 · 354 days long
1991: year of the Metal Goat
The Goat year started on February 15, not on January 1 — so anyone born in 1991 before that date is a Horse.
- Opening new moon
- Feb 14, 1991 5:32 PM UTC
- In Beijing
- 1:32 AM Fri, Feb 15 · sets the date
- Year of the Goat
- 354 days 12 lunar months
- It ends
- Feb 3, 1992 7:00 PM UTC
New moons: NASA JPL DE440. New-year dates: Hong Kong Observatory.
Exact times
Chinese New Year 1991: the new moon in your city
The Metal Goat year opened with the new moon at 5:32 PM UTC on February 14, 1991 — 1:32 AM on February 15 in Beijing, the time the calendar reckons by, and 12:32 PM on February 14 in New York, 5:32 PM on February 14 in London and 4:32 AM on February 15 in Sydney.
| City | New moon that opens the year |
|---|---|
| UTC | Thu, Feb 14, 1991 |
| Honolulu United States | 7:32 AM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC−10 |
| Anchorage United States | 8:32 AM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC−9 |
| Los Angeles United States | 9:32 AM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC−8 |
| Phoenix United States | 10:32 AM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC−7 |
| Denver United States | 10:32 AM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC−7 |
| Chicago United States | 11:32 AM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC−6 |
| Mexico City Mexico | 11:32 AM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC−6 |
| New York United States | 12:32 PM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC−5 |
| Toronto Canada | 12:32 PM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC−5 |
| Bogotá Colombia | 12:32 PM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC−5 |
| Lima Peru | 12:32 PM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC−5 |
| Caracas Venezuela | 1:32 PM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC−4 |
| Santiago Chile | 2:32 PM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC−3 |
| Buenos Aires Argentina | 3:32 PM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC−2 |
| São Paulo Brazil | 3:32 PM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC−2 |
| Reykjavík Iceland | 5:32 PM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC |
| London United Kingdom | 5:32 PM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC |
| Lagos Nigeria | 6:32 PM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC+1 |
| Paris France | 6:32 PM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC+1 |
| Berlin Germany | 6:32 PM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC+1 |
| Johannesburg South Africa | 7:32 PM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC+2 |
| Cairo Egypt | 7:32 PM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC+2 |
| Athens Greece | 7:32 PM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC+2 |
| Istanbul Turkey | 7:32 PM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC+2 |
| Moscow Russia | 8:32 PM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC+3 |
| Nairobi Kenya | 8:32 PM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC+3 |
| Tehran Iran | 9:02 PM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC+3:30 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | 9:32 PM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC+4 |
| Karachi Pakistan | 10:32 PM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC+5 |
| New Delhi India | 11:02 PM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC+5:30 |
| Kathmandu Nepal | 11:17 PM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC+5:45 |
| Dhaka Bangladesh | 11:32 PM Thu, Feb 14, 1991 · UTC+6 |
| Bangkok Thailand | 12:32 AM Fri, Feb 15, 1991 · UTC+7 |
| Jakarta Indonesia | 12:32 AM Fri, Feb 15, 1991 · UTC+7 |
| Singapore | 1:32 AM Fri, Feb 15, 1991 · UTC+8 |
| Beijing China | 1:32 AM Fri, Feb 15, 1991 · UTC+8 |
| Manila Philippines | 1:32 AM Fri, Feb 15, 1991 · UTC+8 |
| Perth Australia | 1:32 AM Fri, Feb 15, 1991 · UTC+8 |
| Seoul South Korea | 2:32 AM Fri, Feb 15, 1991 · UTC+9 |
| Tokyo Japan | 2:32 AM Fri, Feb 15, 1991 · UTC+9 |
| Adelaide Australia | 4:02 AM Fri, Feb 15, 1991 · UTC+10:30 |
| Brisbane Australia | 4:32 AM Fri, Feb 15, 1991 · UTC+11 |
| Sydney Australia | 4:32 AM Fri, Feb 15, 1991 · UTC+11 |
| Auckland New Zealand | 6:32 AM Fri, Feb 15, 1991 · UTC+13 |
New moon: JPL DE440 (Swiss Ephemeris within 8 s); 1991 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 Metal Goat personality
Anyone born from February 15, 1991 through February 3, 1992 is a Metal Goat: the yin metal stem 辛 over the 未 branch.
The Goat's own Earth feeds Metal here, which drains as much as it gives: productive, but inclined to spend itself. Metal brings discipline, resolve and sharp edges — traditionally the most determined version, and the least willing to bend.
Stem and branch
1991 is 辛未 (Xīnwèi)
Na yin — the sounding element
Earth by the Roadside 路旁土
Soil beside a road, walked past by everyone. The image is usefulness without display — steady, available and easy to overlook, but the ground that everything else travels on.
1991 therefore carries metal from its stem and earth 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, 1991 and February 4, 1992, Beijing time. The Goat year spans February 15, 1991 to February 3, 1992, so neither date sits inside it: a blind year (无春年). What double spring and blind years mean →
Who clashes with a 1991 Goat
The 未 branch puts a 1991 Goat opposite the Ox on the wheel, the traditional clash; the nearest Ox year after it was 1997. Its harmony partner is the Horse, whose year came round 11 years later, in 2002. How the Goat and Ox get on →
Goats born in 1991 turn 35 in 2026 — 36 by the traditional count, which starts at one.
If you were born in 1991
- Born January 1 – February 14, 1991: a Metal Horse, the animal of 1990.
- Born February 15, 1991 or later in the year: a Metal Goat.
This is one of the late new years: 45 days, from New Year's Day to February 14, still belong to the Horse. That is about one US birth in 8 (11.9%, SSA records 2000–2014). Check your exact date →
The Goat across the cycle
The animal returns every 12 years but the element every 60, so each of these years is a different Goat.
The lunar calendar of 1991
Why 354 days, and not 365
No leap month this time: from February 15, 1991 to February 3, 1992, 1991 ran twelve months, six of 30 days and six of 29 — 354 days.
The 30-day months were the 2nd, 5th, 8th, 10th, 11th and 12th. Three 30-day months ran back to back, from month 10 to month 12.
Festival dates in the 1991 lunar year
| Festival | Lunar date | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Lantern Festival 元宵节 | first month, day 15 | Fri, Mar 1, 1991 |
| Dragon Boat Festival 端午节 | fifth month, day 5 | Sun, Jun 16, 1991 |
| Qixi, the Double Seventh 七夕 | seventh month, day 7 | Fri, Aug 16, 1991 |
| Ghost Festival 中元节 | seventh month, day 15 | Sat, Aug 24, 1991 |
| Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 | eighth month, day 15 | Sun, Sep 22, 1991 |
| Double Ninth Festival 重阳节 | ninth month, day 9 | Wed, Oct 16, 1991 |
| Winter solstice 冬至 | solar term, Sun at 270° | Sun, Dec 22, 1991 |
| Laba Festival 腊八节 | twelfth month, day 8 | Sun, Jan 12, 1992 |
At the Lantern Festival on March 1 the year's first full moon came that same day, at 2:24 AM Beijing time. The true full moon came two days after the Mid-Autumn Festival, at 6:39 AM Beijing time on September 24 — lunar day 17.
Dates follow Beijing time (UTC+8), the reference clock of the Chinese calendar. Why lunar years differ in length →
Lunar years around 1991
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, 1979 began on January 28; twelve years later, 2003 began on February 1 — both marked in lavender with the other Goat years.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Chinese Horoscope 1991: Zodiac Year of the Metal Goat.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1991/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Chinese Horoscope 1991: Zodiac Year of the Metal Goat |url=https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1991/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-28}}