Began January 28, 1998 · 384 days long
1998: year of the Earth Tiger
The Tiger year started on January 28, not on January 1 — so anyone born in 1998 before that date is an Ox.
- Opening new moon
- Jan 28, 1998 6:01 AM UTC
- In Beijing
- 2:01 PM Wed, Jan 28 · sets the date
- Year of the Tiger
- 384 days 13 lunar months, one of them leap
- It ends
- Feb 16, 1999 6:39 AM UTC
New moons: NASA JPL DE440. New-year dates: Hong Kong Observatory.
Exact times
Chinese New Year 1998: the new moon in your city
The Earth Tiger year opened with the new moon at 6:01 AM UTC on January 28, 1998 — 2:01 PM on January 28 in Beijing, the time the calendar reckons by, and 1:01 AM on January 28 in New York, 6:01 AM on January 28 in London and 5:01 PM on January 28 in Sydney.
| City | New moon that opens the year |
|---|---|
| UTC | Wed, Jan 28, 1998 |
| Honolulu United States | 8:01 PM Tue, Jan 27, 1998 · UTC−10 |
| Anchorage United States | 9:01 PM Tue, Jan 27, 1998 · UTC−9 |
| Los Angeles United States | 10:01 PM Tue, Jan 27, 1998 · UTC−8 |
| Phoenix United States | 11:01 PM Tue, Jan 27, 1998 · UTC−7 |
| Denver United States | 11:01 PM Tue, Jan 27, 1998 · UTC−7 |
| Chicago United States | 12:01 AM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC−6 |
| Mexico City Mexico | 12:01 AM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC−6 |
| New York United States | 1:01 AM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC−5 |
| Toronto Canada | 1:01 AM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC−5 |
| Bogotá Colombia | 1:01 AM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC−5 |
| Lima Peru | 1:01 AM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC−5 |
| Caracas Venezuela | 2:01 AM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC−4 |
| Santiago Chile | 3:01 AM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC−3 |
| Buenos Aires Argentina | 3:01 AM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC−3 |
| São Paulo Brazil | 4:01 AM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC−2 |
| Reykjavík Iceland | 6:01 AM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC |
| London United Kingdom | 6:01 AM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC |
| Lagos Nigeria | 7:01 AM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC+1 |
| Paris France | 7:01 AM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC+1 |
| Berlin Germany | 7:01 AM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC+1 |
| Johannesburg South Africa | 8:01 AM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC+2 |
| Cairo Egypt | 8:01 AM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC+2 |
| Athens Greece | 8:01 AM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC+2 |
| Istanbul Turkey | 8:01 AM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC+2 |
| Moscow Russia | 9:01 AM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC+3 |
| Nairobi Kenya | 9:01 AM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC+3 |
| Tehran Iran | 9:31 AM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC+3:30 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | 10:01 AM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC+4 |
| Karachi Pakistan | 11:01 AM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC+5 |
| New Delhi India | 11:31 AM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC+5:30 |
| Kathmandu Nepal | 11:46 AM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC+5:45 |
| Dhaka Bangladesh | 12:01 PM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC+6 |
| Bangkok Thailand | 1:01 PM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC+7 |
| Jakarta Indonesia | 1:01 PM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC+7 |
| Singapore | 2:01 PM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC+8 |
| Beijing China | 2:01 PM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC+8 |
| Manila Philippines | 2:01 PM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC+8 |
| Perth Australia | 2:01 PM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC+8 |
| Seoul South Korea | 3:01 PM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC+9 |
| Tokyo Japan | 3:01 PM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC+9 |
| Adelaide Australia | 4:31 PM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC+10:30 |
| Brisbane Australia | 4:01 PM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC+10 |
| Sydney Australia | 5:01 PM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC+11 |
| Auckland New Zealand | 7:01 PM Wed, Jan 28, 1998 · UTC+13 |
New moon: JPL DE440 (Swiss Ephemeris within 8 s); 1998 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 Tiger personality
Anyone born from January 28, 1998 through February 15, 1999 is an Earth Tiger: the yang earth stem 戊 over the 寅 branch.
The Tiger's own Wood controls Earth here, so the sign keeps the upper hand over the year's element. Earth brings steadiness, practicality and patience — traditionally the most reliable version, and the slowest to change direction.
Stem and branch
1998 is 戊寅 (Wùyín)
Na yin — the sounding element
Earth on the City Wall 城頭土
Packed earth forming a city's defenses. Associated with protection, structure and responsibility for others — the kind of strength that exists to keep something safe.
1998 therefore carries earth from its stem and earth from its na yin — the same element twice. What na yin is →
Li Chun inside the year
A double spring year
The two Li Chun dates around it are February 4, 1998 and February 4, 1999, Beijing time. The Tiger year spans January 28, 1998 to February 15, 1999, so both dates sit inside it: a double spring year (双春). What double spring and blind years mean →
Who clashes with a 1998 Tiger
The 寅 branch puts a 1998 Tiger opposite the Monkey on the wheel, the traditional clash; the nearest Monkey year after it was 2004. Its harmony partner is the Pig, whose year came round 9 years later, in 2007. How the Tiger and Monkey get on →
Tigers born in 1998 turn 28 in 2026 — 29 by the traditional count, which starts at one.
If you were born in 1998
- Born January 1 – January 27, 1998: a Fire Ox, the animal of 1997.
- Born January 28, 1998 or later in the year: an Earth Tiger.
A year-only calculator mislabels 27 days of 1998, everything from January 1 to January 27. Those dates hold 7.1% 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 1998
Why 384 days, and not 365
1998 repeated its fifth month: the leap month 闰五月 ran from June 24 to July 22 and stretched the year to 384 days. Seven of the 13 months had 30 days.
The 30-day months were the 1st, 4th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 10th and 12th.
Festival dates in the 1998 lunar year
| Festival | Lunar date | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Lantern Festival 元宵节 | first month, day 15 | Wed, Feb 11, 1998 |
| Dragon Boat Festival 端午节 | fifth month, day 5 | Sat, May 30, 1998 |
| Qixi, the Double Seventh 七夕 | seventh month, day 7 | Fri, Aug 28, 1998 |
| Ghost Festival 中元节 | seventh month, day 15 | Sat, Sep 5, 1998 |
| Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 | eighth month, day 15 | Mon, Oct 5, 1998 |
| Double Ninth Festival 重阳节 | ninth month, day 9 | Wed, Oct 28, 1998 |
| Winter solstice 冬至 | solar term, Sun at 270° | Tue, Dec 22, 1998 |
| Laba Festival 腊八节 | twelfth month, day 8 | Sun, Jan 24, 1999 |
At the Lantern Festival on February 11 the year's first full moon came that same day, at 6:22 PM Beijing time. The festival night of October 5 fell a day before the true full moon, which came at 4:11 AM Beijing time on October 6 — 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 1998
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 24 of the 110 new years in the table fall earlier in the calendar than January 28. Three other years share the date. Twelve years earlier, 1986 began on February 9; twelve years later, 2010 began on February 14 — both marked in lavender with the other Tiger years.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Chinese Horoscope 1998: Zodiac Year of the Earth Tiger.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1998/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Chinese Horoscope 1998: Zodiac Year of the Earth Tiger |url=https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/year/1998/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-28}}