2009: Year of the Earth Ox
2009 is the Year of the Ox, 牛 , an Earth year. It starts at Chinese New Year on 26 January 2009 and runs to 13 February 2010. Born from 1 January to 25 January 2009? You are a Rat, 2008.
2009 in the Chinese zodiac
牛
Earth Ox
- Animal
- 牛 Ox
- Element
- 土 Earth, yin
- Cycle name
- 己丑年
- Starts
- 26 January 2009
- Ends
- 13 February 2010
- Matches
- Snake, Rooster and Rat; clashes with Goat
- Age
- Born in 2009? You turn 17 in 2026.
Say 2009 in Chinese
A year is read digit by digit, then 年 : no “nineteen eighty-three”.
- 二〇〇九年 2009
- 己丑年 the 己丑 year, its name in the sixty-year cycle
- 我是二〇〇九年出生的 I was born in 2009.
- 我属牛 I'm a Ox.
- 土牛 Earth Ox
What Earth means
土Earth is the ground everything stands on, at the centre of the five. People born in an Earth year are said to be steady and patient, the friend everyone leans on.
- Season
- 长夏 late summer
- Direction
- 中 the centre
- Colour
- 黄 yellow
Words for an Earth Ox
- 勤劳 hard-working
- 稳重 steady
- 可靠 reliable
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 2009?
2009 is the Year of the Ox, 牛 (niú), from Chinese New Year on 26 January 2009 to 13 February 2010. Its element is Earth, so people born in it are Earth Oxs.
What if I was born in January or early February 2009?
The zodiac year starts at Chinese New Year, not on 1 January. Born from 1 January to 25 January 2009? You belong to 2008, the Year of the Earth Rat.
What element is 2009 in the Chinese zodiac?
Earth, 土 (tǔ). 2009 is 己丑 (jǐ chǒu) in the sixty-year cycle, a yin Earth year; the Earth Ox comes round once every sixty years.
How do you say 2009 in Chinese?
Read the digits one by one and add 年 (nián, year): 二〇〇九年 (èr líng líng jiǔ nián). “I was born in 2009” is 我是二〇〇九年出生的 (wǒ shì èr líng líng jiǔ nián chū shēng de), and “I'm a Ox” is 我属牛 (wǒ shǔ niú).