1997: Year of the Fire Ox
1997 is the Year of the Ox, 牛 , a Fire year. It starts at Chinese New Year on 7 February 1997 and runs to 27 January 1998. Born from 1 January to 6 February 1997? You are a Rat, 1996.
1997 in the Chinese zodiac
牛
Fire Ox
- Animal
- 牛 Ox
- Element
- 火 Fire, yin
- Cycle name
- 丁丑年
- Starts
- 7 February 1997
- Ends
- 27 January 1998
- Matches
- Snake, Rooster and Rat; clashes with Goat
- Age
- Born in 1997? You turn 29 in 2026.
Say 1997 in Chinese
A year is read digit by digit, then 年 : no “nineteen eighty-three”.
- 一九九七年 1997
- 丁丑年 the 丁丑 year, its name in the sixty-year cycle
- 我是一九九七年出生的 I was born in 1997.
- 我属牛 I'm a Ox.
- 火牛 Fire Ox
What Fire means
火Fire is warmth and light at the height of summer. People born in a Fire year are said to be passionate and bold, the first to start and the last to give up.
- Season
- 夏 summer
- Direction
- 南 south
- Colour
- 红 red
Words for a Fire Ox
- 勤劳 hard-working
- 热情 warm-hearted
- 乐观 optimistic
Each year has one of five elements, 五行 , two years each, so the same animal and element meet once every sixty years. The traits are what tradition says, for fun.
The Ox, 牛
The Ox carried the Rat across the river and came in second. People born in an Ox year are said to be patient, honest and hard-working: slow to start, and then impossible to stop.
Questions
What Chinese zodiac animal is 1997?
1997 is the Year of the Ox, 牛 (niú), from Chinese New Year on 7 February 1997 to 27 January 1998. Its element is Fire, so people born in it are Fire Oxs.
What if I was born in January or early February 1997?
The zodiac year starts at Chinese New Year, not on 1 January. Born from 1 January to 6 February 1997? You belong to 1996, the Year of the Fire Rat.
What element is 1997 in the Chinese zodiac?
Fire, 火 (huǒ). 1997 is 丁丑 (dīng chǒu) in the sixty-year cycle, a yin Fire year; the Fire Ox comes round once every sixty years.
How do you say 1997 in Chinese?
Read the digits one by one and add 年 (nián, year): 一九九七年 (yī jiǔ jiǔ qī nián). “I was born in 1997” is 我是一九九七年出生的 (wǒ shì yī jiǔ jiǔ qī nián chū shēng de), and “I'm a Ox” is 我属牛 (wǒ shǔ niú).