What is the Chinese zodiac sign for 1978?

1978 is the Year of the Earth Horse, a Yang year. It covers people born from Chinese New Year 1978 until the next Chinese New Year.

I was born in January or February 1978. Which animal am I?

Chinese New Year falls in late January or February and moves from year to year. If your birthday is before it, your sign is the previous year's: the Fire Snake. Look up the New Year date for 1978 to be sure.

How are the animal and the element worked out?

The animal comes from a cycle of 12 years and the element from a cycle of 10 years, two years per element. The two cycles line up again every 60 years, so the same animal and element pair returns after 60 years.

Is the Chinese zodiac the same as my Western zodiac sign?

No. The Chinese zodiac goes by birth year, while the Western sign goes by birth day and month. You have one of each, and the zodiac sign calculator shows the Western one.

Is this free? Do I need to sign up?

Yes, it is free. No signup, no login, no app install. The API and MCP server are free too.

Chinese zodiac 1978: the Earth Horse

1978 is the Year of the Earth Horse in the Chinese zodiac. Chinese New Year falls in late January or February, so anyone born before it that year belongs to the previous year's sign: the Fire Snake of 1977.

1978: Earth Horse

Born in January or February? Check the date of Chinese New Year for 1978. Before that date your sign is the Fire Snake.

Chinese zodiac facts for 1978
Item	Value
Birth year	1978
Animal	Horse
Element	Earth
Yin or Yang	Yang
Sign if born before Chinese New Year	Fire Snake

The animal follows a 12-year cycle: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, pig. The element follows the last digit of the year, two years each: metal, water, wood, fire, earth. Together they repeat every 60 years.

Other Horse years from 1950 to 2010: 1954, 1966, 1990, 2002.

The Chinese zodiac goes by birth year. Your Western sign goes by birth day and month. Find it with the zodiac sign calculator.

Animal and element worked out from the standard 12-animal and 10-stem cycles. Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_zodiac. Checked 2026-10-30.

Common questions

What is the Chinese zodiac sign for 1978?: 1978 is the Year of the Earth Horse, a Yang year. It covers people born from Chinese New Year 1978 until the next Chinese New Year.
I was born in January or February 1978. Which animal am I?: Chinese New Year falls in late January or February and moves from year to year. If your birthday is before it, your sign is the previous year's: the Fire Snake. Look up the New Year date for 1978 to be sure.
How are the animal and the element worked out?: The animal comes from a cycle of 12 years and the element from a cycle of 10 years, two years per element. The two cycles line up again every 60 years, so the same animal and element pair returns after 60 years.
Is the Chinese zodiac the same as my Western zodiac sign?: No. The Chinese zodiac goes by birth year, while the Western sign goes by birth day and month. You have one of each, and the zodiac sign calculator shows the Western one.
Is this free? Do I need to sign up?: Yes, it is free. No signup, no login, no app install. The API and MCP server are free too.