Ancient Eighteen Flying Stars
Chinese New Year Date Calculator 1901–2100
Choose any year from 1901 through 2100 to find the Chinese New Year date, stem-branch name, annual animal, element, and Yin or Yang polarity.
Chinese New Year date
Find the Chinese New Year date for any year
Choose a Gregorian year from 1901 through 2100.
Direct answer
Chinese New Year does not fall on a fixed Gregorian date. Choose a year from 1901 through 2100 to look up the first day of that Chinese lunar year in the Hong Kong Observatory conversion tables. The result also identifies the public annual animal and stem-branch label that begin at this Lunar New Year boundary.
How to read it
Chinese New Year is the first day of the first month in the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar. Because lunar months begin with a new moon and leap months keep the calendar aligned with the seasons, its Gregorian date changes from year to year rather than repeating on one numbered day.
This calculator uses the dated Gregorian-lunar conversion tables published by the Hong Kong Observatory for 1901–2100. Select a Gregorian year and the tool returns the Observatory date for the first day of the first lunar month, together with the corresponding stem-branch year, annual animal, element, and polarity.
The result answers a public calendar question. Common Chinese-zodiac lists change the annual animal at Lunar New Year. Some named chart methods instead use Li Chun, the Start of Spring solar term, for the year stem and branch. Destin Field uses that separate Li Chun rule in its twelve-palace chart, so the chart boundary can occur before Lunar New Year.
Use the date for calendar reference and to check January or February zodiac lookups. It is not a universal holiday schedule, a birth-chart calculation, or a prediction. Public holidays and local observance dates remain subject to the relevant country or authority.
Five checks behind the Chinese New Year date
1. Choose a Gregorian year
Enter one whole year within the official 1901–2100 table range.
2. Read the dated boundary
The result is the Gregorian date of the first day of the first Chinese lunar month in the Observatory table.
3. Check the annual label
The animal, stem-branch name, element, and polarity belong to the lunar year beginning on that date.
4. Separate Li Chun
A Li-Chun-based chart can change its year stem and branch on a different date.
5. Check local holiday rules
The calendar date does not by itself state public-holiday arrangements in every country.
Example
The official table places Chinese New Year on 17 February in 2026, beginning the Bing-wu Fire Horse lunar year. In 2027 it falls on 6 February, beginning the Ding-wei Fire Goat lunar year.
Common misunderstandings
- Chinese New Year is not fixed on 1 January or one date in February.
- Lunar New Year and Li Chun are not the same boundary.
- A calendar year label does not predict personality, luck, health, relationships, or events.
Reading boundary
This is a sourced calendar lookup, not a holiday directive, chart calculation, personality assessment, or forecast.
Questions people ask
When is Chinese New Year?
Choose the year in the calculator. It returns the dated Lunar New Year boundary from the Hong Kong Observatory tables for 1901–2100.
Why does the date change every year?
The Chinese agricultural calendar is lunisolar. Months follow new moons, while leap months keep the calendar connected to the seasonal year.
Does the Chinese zodiac change on this date?
Under the common public animal-year convention, yes. A named chart method may instead use Li Chun, so always identify the convention.
Is this the public-holiday date everywhere?
Not necessarily. The tool returns a calendar date; each jurisdiction publishes its own holiday and observance rules.
Editorial record
Research sources
Chart positions are calculated from documented rules. The written interpretation explains those positions in modern language. A reply from the site owner is a separate human opinion; neither is presented as a quotation from the historical texts.
- System
- Textual Reconstruction of the Ancient Eighteen Flying Stars System
- Author
- Yilong Cheng
- Source review
- Destin Field source review
- Updated
- Wikisource — Purple Star Astrology, Xu Daozang edition
- Chinese Text Project — Purple Star Astrology, Volume One
- Historical edition — Complete Fine Manuscript of the Eighteen Flying Stars Purple Star Astrology, ISBN 9789866171680 (translated bibliographic title, not the Destin Field system name)
- Hong Kong Observatory — Gregorian–Lunar Calendar Conversion Table
- Hong Kong Observatory — The Chinese Agricultural Calendar
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