2019 Year of the Pig (Earth): Dates & Li Chun

2019 is an Earth Pig year (Ji-Hai, 己亥) in the Chinese zodiac calendar. The name comes from the year’s stem-branch pair: the Heavenly Stem Ji supplies the earth element, and the Hai Earthly Branch supplies the Pig. The same pair returns once every 60 years.

Earth adds stability, nurturing, and practical generosity. An Earth Pig year tends to be community-focused, comfortable, and materially grounded. For people born in this year, the earth modifier shapes how the Pig’s traditional traits (generous, sincere, and comfort-seeking) express themselves.

In a Bazi chart, Ji-Hai (己亥)would be only the year pillar, one of four. The day pillar’s stem (the Day Master) is the reference point of the reading, so two people born in 2019 can have very different charts.

Read the Pig zodiac page for the base Pig personality, or use the Bazi calculator to see how this year pillar interacts with your full chart.

The 2019 Year of the Pig (Earth Pig, Ji-Hai 己亥) runs from February 5, 2019 to January 24, 2020, while Li Chun, the year-pillar boundary used by many Bazi schools, falls on February 4, 2019.

If your birthday falls before February 5, 2019, the popular zodiac places you in the previous sign, the Dog. Many Bazi schools use Li Chun (February 4, 2019, 11:14 China Standard Time) as the year-pillar boundary instead, so a birth between Li Chun and Lunar New Year can have a Pig year pillar in a Li Chun-based chart but is usually listed as a Dog in popular zodiac charts. Check which boundary a calculator uses before comparing results. The Lunar New Year date can fall one day earlier in the Americas because of time zones.

The Pig repeats every 12 years in the zodiac cycle. Each occurrence carries a different Heavenly Stem that modifies the year energy. Recent Pig years include 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019, 2031. The full sexagenary cycle produces five Pig types — Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water.

In Five Element theory, the earth element generates Metal, controls Water, and is controlled by Wood. In a Bazi reading, whether more earth helps or strains a chart depends on the balance of the other seven characters, which the year label alone does not show.

By branch, Pig combines with Tiger, shares a Wood triad with Rabbit and Goat, and clashes with Snake. Those patterns are the same in every Pig year; the earth stem does not change them.

For a complete compatibility check, use the zodiac compatibility tool or generate a full Bazi chart.