LEARN · 60 YEARLY ENERGIES

The 60 Year Energy Cycle (流年)

The same sixty stem branch combinations that define the Jiazi pillars also describe the energetic signature of every year. Each year carries one of these sixty energies; the cycle returns every sixty years. Use this index to find the energy that any historical or future year carries.

Year Energy versus Pillar Personality

The sixty Jiazi combinations describe two different things. As natal pillars, they describe the personality of someone born under that combination. As yearly energy (流年, liunian), they describe the energetic tone of any year carrying that combination, regardless of who is reading the year. This page indexes the year level interpretation; for the personal natal pillar version, see the 60 Pillar Guide.

Filter by Stem Element

How to read a card: the element and the Yin or Yang shown on it come from the year stem, and the year stem changes every year. The animal is separate. Every animal carries its own fixed element that never changes, and that fixed element is often the opposite polarity. The Horse, for instance, is Yin Fire by its own fixed element even in a year whose stem is Yang.

The Pioneering Strategist

Year Element Yang Wood

Rat

1864 · 1924 · 1984

The Patient Cultivator

Year Element Yin Wood

1865 · 1925 · 1985

The Beacon Flame

Year Element Yang Fire

Tiger

1866 · 1926 · 1986

The Candle in the Garden

Year Element Yin Fire

Rabbit

1867 · 1927 · 1987

The Mountain Reservoir

Year Element Yang Earth

Dragon

1868 · 1928 · 1988

The Hidden Furnace

Year Element Yin Earth

Snake

1869 · 1929 · 1989

The Forged Edge

Year Element Yang Metal

Horse

1870 · 1930 · 1990

The Jeweler in the Garden

Year Element Yin Metal

Goat

1871 · 1931 · 1991

The Open Ocean

Year Element Yang Water

Monkey

1872 · 1932 · 1992

#10

The Dewdrop on a Blade

Year Element Yin Water

Year Element Yang Wood

Dog

1874 · 1934 · 1994

#12

The Rooted Floodplain

Year Element Yin Wood

Year Element Yang Fire

Year Element Yin Fire

1877 · 1937 · 1997

#15

The Mountain Forest

Year Element Yang Earth

Year Element Yin Earth

Rabbit

1879 · 1939 · 1999

#17

The Forged Foundation

Year Element Yang Metal

Year Element Yin Metal

Year Element Yang Water

Year Element Yin Water

Year Element Yang Wood

Year Element Yin Wood

Year Element Yang Fire

Year Element Yin Fire

Year Element Yang Earth

Year Element Yin Earth

1889 · 1949 · 2009

#27

The Axe in the Forest

Year Element Yang Metal

Year Element Yin Metal

Year Element Yang Water

Year Element Yin Water

Year Element Yang Wood

Year Element Yin Wood

Year Element Yang Fire

Year Element Yin Fire

Year Element Yang Earth

Year Element Yin Earth

Year Element Yang Metal

Year Element Yin Metal

1901 · 1961 · 2021

#39

The Rainforest

Year Element Yang Water

Year Element Yin Water

Year Element Yang Wood

Year Element Yin Wood

Year Element Yang Fire

Year Element Yin Fire

Year Element Yang Earth

Year Element Yin Earth

Year Element Yang Metal

Year Element Yin Metal

Year Element Yang Water

Year Element Yin Water

1913 · 1973 · 2033

#51

The Old Growth Forest

Year Element Yang Wood

Year Element Yin Wood

Year Element Yang Fire

Year Element Yin Fire

Snake

1917 · 1977 · 2037

#55

The Sun Touched Mountain

Year Element Yang Earth

Year Element Yin Earth

Year Element Yang Metal

Year Element Yin Metal

Year Element Yang Water

Year Element Yin Water

Pig

1923 · 1983 · 2043

Frequently asked questions

What is the 60-year energy cycle?

The 60-year energy cycle is the sexagenary cycle applied to time: the same sixty combinations of Heavenly Stem and Earthly Branch that name the pillars also describe the energetic signature of each year. Every year carries one of these sixty energies, and the full cycle returns to its start after sixty years.

What is the difference between yearly energy and a birth pillar?

The sixty stem-and-branch combinations describe two different things. As a birth pillar, a combination describes the personality of a person born under it. As yearly energy, also called liunian, the same combination describes the energetic tone of a whole year for everyone, regardless of when they were born. This hub indexes the year-level reading.

How do I find the energy of a particular year?

Every year maps to one of the sixty stem-and-branch combinations, so you can look up any past or future year by its energy. Use the index on this page, filter by the stem element if you like, and open a combination to see its archetype, its five-element makeup and the list of years that carry it.

How does yearly energy relate to your own chart?

Yearly energy interacts with the elements in your birth chart, which is what gives a year its personal flavour for you. The same year can feel supportive for one chart and demanding for another, depending on how the year's elements combine with or clash against your own balance of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water.

Why does the energy cycle repeat every 60 years?

The ten Heavenly Stems, which carry the five elements in yin and yang form, cycle alongside the twelve Earthly Branches, which carry the animals. Ten and twelve only realign after sixty steps, so the full combination of stem and branch repeats once every sixty years.

THE SYSTEM

Where this fits in Chinese astrology

The 60-year cycle each year draws its character from — the calendar behind every forecast.

Chinese Astrology Guide →Annual Forecasts The 60 Pillars