Wise, calm and elegant: the sixth animal of the Chinese zodiac, and the sign of the year that begins on 15 February 2037.
- Recent Snake years
- 2013 · 2025 · 2037
- Next Snake year begins
- 15 February 2037
- Fixed element
- Fire (yin)
- Best matches
- Ox · Rooster · Monkey
- Clashes with
- Pig
- The Snake’s hours
- 9 am – 11 am (巳时 sìshí)
Are you a Snake?
The zodiac year doesn’t start on 1 January. It starts at Chinese New Year, which falls anywhere from 21 January to 20 February. So if you were born in January or February, your birth year alone can’t tell you your animal. Enter your full date of birth for the exact answer.
Every Year of the Snake, with exact dates
| Year | Chinese name | Element | Begins | Ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1929 | 己巳 jǐsì | Earth Snake | 10 Feb 1929 | 29 Jan 1930 |
| 1941 | 辛巳 xīnsì | Metal Snake | 27 Jan 1941 | 14 Feb 1942 |
| 1953 | 癸巳 guǐsì | Water Snake | 14 Feb 1953 | 2 Feb 1954 |
| 1965 | 乙巳 yǐsì | Wood Snake | 2 Feb 1965 | 20 Jan 1966 |
| 1977 | 丁巳 dīngsì | Fire Snake | 18 Feb 1977 | 6 Feb 1978 |
| 1989 | 己巳 jǐsì | Earth Snake | 6 Feb 1989 | 26 Jan 1990 |
| 2001 | 辛巳 xīnsì | Metal Snake | 24 Jan 2001 | 11 Feb 2002 |
| 2013 | 癸巳 guǐsì | Water Snake | 10 Feb 2013 | 30 Jan 2014 |
| 2025 | 乙巳 yǐsì | Wood Snake | 29 Jan 2025 | 16 Feb 2026 |
| 2037 | 丁巳 dīngsì | Fire Snake | 15 Feb 2037 | 3 Feb 2038 |
| 2049 | 己巳 jǐsì | Earth Snake | 2 Feb 2049 | 22 Jan 2050 |
Dates follow the lunar calendar’s New Year, the convention used for the zodiac in everyday Chinese life. Some fortune-tellers instead start the year at 立春 (lìchūn, Start of Spring, around 4 February), so a few early-February birthdays get read differently. In 2037 the gap is unusually wide: 立春 falls on 3 February, but New Year not until the 15th.
How to write 蛇, and the older snake hiding inside it
蛇 (shé) contains two parts: 虫 (chóng, the radical for insects, worms and reptiles) on the left, and 它 on the right. The surprise is that 它 was the original snake. On Shang oracle bones it is a simple picture of a serpent with a big head and a curving body. The Shuowen Jiezi explains that people in ancient times lived among the grass and feared snakes, so they greeted each other with 无它乎 (wú tā hū), “no snakes?”, much as we ask “all well?”.
Once 它 was borrowed to mean “it” or “other”, scribes added 虫 to keep the animal clear, and 蛇 was born. Scholars still debate some of the earliest forms, but the line from 它 to 蛇 is widely accepted.
11 strokes · the six strokes of 虫 on the left first, then 它 on the right: the roof, then the final hooked stroke
3,000 years of 它 becoming 蛇
Oracle boneShang dynasty, c. 1250 BCE, written 它
BronzeWestern Zhou dynasty, written 它
Small sealRecorded in the Shuowen, c. 100 CE, now 蛇- 蛇TodaySame in simplified and traditional
Ancient forms: public-domain drawings from the Ancient Chinese Characters project on Wikimedia Commons.
Six characters built from 它, the original snake
Almost no common character uses 蛇 as a part, but its ancestor 它 turns up everywhere, nearly always as a sound element pronounced tuó or duò. It is a good lesson in how Chinese characters really work. Tap the speaker to hear each one.
Want the system behind cards like these? Read how Chinese characters actually work and the stroke order rules, then practise 蛇 on the free writing practice board.
Why the Snake is called the “little dragon”
Ask a Chinese friend their sign and a Snake will often answer 我属小龙 (wǒ shǔ xiǎolóng), “I’m a little dragon”. The Snake follows the Dragon in the zodiac, and folklore has long treated the two as relatives: the scholar Wen Yiduo argued that the dragon grew out of the snake, summed up in the saying “the dragon is a big snake, the snake a little dragon”. The nickname is also simply kinder. A snake is feared; a little dragon sounds lucky.
小龙
xiǎolóng
Little dragon. The polite, auspicious name for the Snake sign.
长虫
chángchong
Snake in northern colloquial speech. Literally “long creature”.
蟒蛇
mǎngshé
Python, the great constrictor.
地头蛇
dìtóushé
A local bully. Literally “the snake at the head of the land”.
So if someone tells you they’re a little dragon, don’t congratulate them on being a Dragon. They were born a year later, in a Snake year, and the nickname is a compliment they’ve given themselves.
The Snake personality
Zodiac personalities are folk tradition, not science, and Chinese people treat them much the way others treat star signs: half seriously, often with a smile. In Chinese tradition the Snake isn’t the villain it can be in Western stories. It stands for wisdom and quiet intuition, and the character traditionally given to Snake people is thoughtful, private and graceful.
Wise
cōngming. Clever and deep-thinking. Snakes are said to read situations quickly and think several moves ahead.
Calm
lěngjìng. Cool under pressure. A Snake rarely panics and prefers to act once, at the right moment.
Elegant
yōuyǎ. Graceful in manner and taste, with a quiet charm that draws people in.
Perceptive
mǐnruì. Sharp intuition: the friend who notices what nobody has said out loud.
And the other side
Suspicious
duōyí. Slow to trust. A Snake wants to know your motives before it lets you close.
Jealous
ài chīcù. Literally “loves eating vinegar”, the everyday Chinese way to say someone gets jealous easily.
Secretive
chéngfǔ shēn. Literally “a deep city wall”: Snakes keep their real thoughts well guarded.
Possessive
zhànyǒuyù qiáng. Loyal and devoted, but tradition says Snakes can hold on to people and things too tightly.
Lucky things, by tradition
Almanacs don’t fully agree on the Snake’s lucky charms, and we’d rather show you that than pretend otherwise. The major English-language sources line up closely; Chinese almanac sites are far less consistent. Here is what they share, and where they split.
| Lucky | What the sources say | Agreement |
|---|---|---|
| Numbers | 2, 8 and 9 in the main English-language lists, though some Chinese almanac sites give quite different numbers | Mostly |
| Flowers | Orchid and cactus | Agreed |
| Colours | Red, yellow and black | Agreed |
| Numbers and colours to avoid | 1, 6 and 7; white everywhere, then brown and gold or blue and dark green depending on the list | Mostly |
Which Snake are you? The five elements
Every animal returns once every 12 years, but it pairs with each of the five elements only once every 60. So a 1977 Snake and a 2037 Snake share both animal and element: both are Fire Snakes.
乙巳 yǐsì · 1965 · 2025
The Wood Snake is said to be the most creative and sociable of the five: warm, artistic and good with people. Its traditional caution is a taste for comfort that can tip into extravagance.
丁巳 dīngsì · 1977 · 2037
Fire is the Snake’s own fixed element, so the Fire Snake is doubly fiery: ambitious, magnetic and confident. It’s said to be a natural leader whose challenge is a quick temper. 2037 is a Fire Snake year.
己巳 jǐsì · 1929 · 1989 · 2049
The Earth Snake is said to be the steadiest Snake: patient, practical and reliable with money. It’s the Snake friends lean on when things go wrong.
辛巳 xīnsì · 1941 · 2001
The Metal Snake is said to be the most determined and independent of the five, with sharp judgement and high standards. Its traditional weakness is keeping others at arm’s length.
癸巳 guǐsì · 1953 · 2013
The Water Snake is the most intuitive Snake: clever, insightful and good at reading people. Tradition says it does best when it trusts its instincts and shares its plans.
Snake compatibility
Zodiac compatibility isn’t a list of opinions. It’s geometry. Place the twelve animals around a circle, and the classic matches form fixed shapes: triangles of allies, pairs of secret friends, and opposites that clash. Here is the Snake’s position.
- Best: Ox 牛 and Rooster 鸡The Three Harmonies (三合 sānhé), the green triangle. These three share a thoughtful, determined outlook and are traditionally the happiest pairing for friendship, business or marriage.
- Secret friend: Monkey 猴The Six Harmonies (六合 liùhé), the gold line. The Monkey’s quick wit and the Snake’s patient wisdom are said to complement each other.
- Clash: Pig 猪The Six Conflicts (六冲 liùchōng), straight across the circle. The open, easy-going Pig and the private, watchful Snake sit directly opposite on the wheel and tend to misread each other.
- Friction: Tiger 虎The Six Harms (六害 liùhài), the dashed line. A milder mismatch: tradition says the bold Tiger and the cautious Snake struggle to trust each other.
See the other pairings from each side: the Ox, the Rooster, the Monkey and the Pig.
The Snake in Chinese culture
白蛇传 The Legend of the White Snake
Báishé Zhuàn. One of China’s four great folk tales: Bai Suzhen, a white snake spirit, takes human form, falls in love with the young Xu Xian at West Lake and is finally imprisoned beneath Leifeng Pagoda. In one famous scene she drinks realgar wine at the Dragon Boat Festival and turns back into a snake. Visit the setting in our Zhejiang guide.
画蛇添足 Drawing legs on a snake
huà shé tiān zú. In a story from the Strategies of the Warring States, the first man to finish drawing a snake wins a jug of wine, but he stops to add feet and loses it. It means spoiling something by overdoing it. One of the best-known Chinese idioms. Read the full story of 画蛇添足.
杯弓蛇影 A snake in the wine cup
bēi gōng shé yǐng. “The bow in the cup, the snake’s shadow.” In the version told in the Book of Jin, a guest falls ill after seeing a snake in his wine, until his host shows him it was the reflection of a bow hanging on the wall. It describes needless fear and suspicion.
伏羲女娲 The snake-tailed creators
Fúxī Nǚwā. In Chinese myth, Nüwa shaped the first people from yellow clay, and she and Fuxi are often paired as the ancestors of humankind. Han-dynasty tomb carvings and Tang-dynasty silk paintings from Turpan show them with human bodies and long snake tails entwined, one of the oldest images of the snake as a creator rather than a threat.
Famous people born in the Year of the Snake
Snake people are said to be thoughtful, elegant and quietly determined. Here are nine whose work has reached around the world, from the cinema screen to the running track.
- I. M. Pei 贝聿铭Architect, born in GuangzhouBorn 26 Apr 1917 · Fire Snake
- Audrey HepburnActor, BritainBorn 4 May 1929 · Earth Snake
- Bob DylanSinger-songwriter, United StatesBorn 24 May 1941 · Metal Snake
- Stephen HawkingPhysicist and author, EnglandBorn 8 Jan 1942 · Metal SnakeBorn 38 days before Chinese New Year 1942, so many lists get this one wrong
- Oprah WinfreyTelevision host and producer, United StatesBorn 29 Jan 1954 · Water SnakeBorn 5 days before Chinese New Year 1954, so many lists get this one wrong
- Aaron Kwok 郭富城Singer, dancer and actor, Hong KongBorn 26 Oct 1965 · Wood Snake
- Gong Li 巩俐Actor, born in ShenyangBorn 31 Dec 1965 · Wood Snake
- Su Bingtian 苏炳添Sprinter, GuangdongBorn 29 Aug 1989 · Earth Snake
- Taylor SwiftSinger-songwriter, United StatesBorn 13 Dec 1989 · Earth Snake
We checked each full date of birth against the exact Chinese New Year date for that year, so January and early-February birthdays are placed in the right sign.
The Year of the Fire Snake, 2037
The next Snake year is a Fire Snake year, 丁巳年 (dīngsì nián), running from 15 February 2037 to 3 February 2038. Fire is the Snake’s own element, so tradition reads 2037 as a year of doubled energy: a time for ambition, study and long-laid plans. The last Snake year, the Wood Snake, ran from 29 January 2025 to 16 February 2026. For how the festival itself works, see our guide to the Spring Festival.
běnmìngnián, “your own zodiac year”. If you were born in a Snake year (2025, 2013, 2001, 1989, 1977…), 2037 is your 本命年. Tradition says it’s a year to be careful, so many people wear something red all year round, often red socks, a red string bracelet or red underwear, which shops sell in a rush before every New Year.
Talk about your sign in Mandarin
Asking someone’s zodiac animal is one of the most natural small-talk questions in Chinese, and a polite way to guess an age without asking. Here is the whole conversation.
我属蛇
wǒ shǔ shé
“I’m a Snake,” literally “I belong to the snake”.
你属什么？
nǐ shǔ shénme?
“What’s your zodiac sign?”
你也属蛇吗？
nǐ yě shǔ shé ma?
“Are you a Snake too?”
今年是我的本命年。
jīnnián shì wǒ de běnmìngnián.
“This year is my zodiac year.”
Common misunderstandings
- “My baby was born in January 2026, so she’s a Horse.” Not yet: the Wood Snake year of 2025 ran until 16 February 2026, so anyone born from 1 January to 16 February 2026 is a Snake. Check any date with the tool above.
- “Someone who says 我属小龙 is a Dragon.” No, it’s the reverse. 小龙 (xiǎolóng, little dragon) is the polite nickname for the Snake. A Dragon says 我属龙 (wǒ shǔ lóng).
- “The Snake is the evil sign.” That’s a Western reading. In Chinese tradition the Snake stands for wisdom and intuition, and in myth the creators Fuxi and Nüwa have snake tails. People may fear snakes, but no Chinese family worries about a Snake baby.
- “Every Snake is a Fire Snake.” Fire is the Snake’s fixed element, but each Snake year also carries a rotating element: 2025 was Wood, 2013 was Water and 2037 will be Fire.
Quick quiz
1. Which older character was the original picture of a snake, inside 蛇?
2. Which sign is the Snake’s Six Harmonies “secret friend”?
3. A friend says 我属小龙. What is their zodiac sign?
FAQs
The Year of the Snake comes round every 12 years: 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025 and 2037. Each one starts at Chinese New Year rather than on 1 January. The most recent ran from 29 January 2025 to 16 February 2026; the next begins on 15 February 2037.
Yes. 2037 is a Fire Snake year (丁巳 dīngsì). It begins on 15 February 2037 and runs to 3 February 2038. Anyone born between 1 January and 14 February 2037 is still a Dragon, the sign of the year before.
In Chinese, Snake people often say 我属小龙 (wǒ shǔ xiǎolóng), “I’m a little dragon”. The Snake follows the Dragon in the zodiac, folklore treats the snake as the dragon’s smaller relative, and the nickname turns a feared animal into a lucky one. It is a polite name for the Snake sign, not the Dragon.
Traditionally the Ox and the Rooster, which form the Three Harmonies (三合) with the Snake, and the Monkey, its Six Harmonies (六合) partner. The Pig is the Snake’s clash sign, sitting directly opposite on the zodiac wheel.
The main English-language sources give 2, 8 and 9 as the Snake’s lucky numbers, red, yellow and black as its colours, and orchids and cacti as its flowers. Chinese almanac sites vary more, especially on numbers. These are folk associations, so treat them as tradition rather than rules.
The Snake’s fixed element is Fire, and it’s a yin sign. Each Snake year also carries a rotating element (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal or Water), set by the year’s heavenly stem. 2025 was Wood, 2013 was Water and 2037 will be Fire.
In the legend of the Great Race, the Jade Emperor ranked the animals by the order they crossed a great river. In the most popular telling, the Snake knew it could not outrun the bigger animals, so it hid coiled around the Horse’s hoof and sprang out just before the finish, startling the Horse and taking sixth place. Read the whole story on our Chinese zodiac guide.
Say 我属蛇 (wǒ shǔ shé), literally “I belong to the snake”, or the politer 我属小龙 (wǒ shǔ xiǎolóng), “I’m a little dragon”. To ask someone else, say 你属什么？ (nǐ shǔ shénme?), “What’s your sign?”.
Say “我属蛇” like a native
The zodiac is one of the easiest conversations to start in Mandarin. Learn the words, the tones and the stories behind them in 1-on-1 online lessons with a native speaker.
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