2027, the Year of the Fire Goat: Stem and Branch, Na Yin, the Start of Spring and the Year's Tai Sui

What kind of year is 2027?

In the traditional stem-and-branch calendar, 2027 is a Ding Wei year: the Heavenly Stem is Ding, the Earthly Branch is Wei, and the zodiac animal is the Goat. It is the 44th year of the sixty-year cycle.

Ding is Yin Fire and Wei is Yin Earth. Hidden inside Wei are Ji Earth, Ding Fire and Yi Wood. Wei is the Earth of late summer, still holding warmth — a dry Earth.

The Na Yin element of Ding Wei is Heavenly River Water, the same as the year before it, Bing Wu.

The year turns at the Start of Spring

In Chinese metaphysics a year begins at the Start of Spring (Li Chun), not on 1 January and not on Lunar New Year's Day. In 2027 the Start of Spring falls on 4 February at 09:46 (Beijing and Taipei time).

Lunar New Year's Day in 2027 is 6 February, which creates a short window that is easy to get wrong:

• ✦Born before 09:46 on 4 February: the year pillar is Bing Wu — the Horse.
• ✦Born after 09:46 on 4 February but before Lunar New Year on 6 February: still the Horse by the lunar calendar, but already a Ding Wei year — the Goat — for a BaZi chart.
• ✦Born on or after 6 February: the Goat either way.

The same boundary applies in every year: a BaZi chart always uses the exact moment of the Start of Spring. If you were born outside China, convert your local birth time first.

The year's Tai Sui: General Miao Bing

Each of the sixty years has its own presiding Tai Sui general. For Ding Wei it is General Miao Bing.

Miao Bing, born Miao Jian, courtesy name Junbao and literary name Taishi, was a scholar-recluse of Jiangyin at the turn of the Song and Yuan dynasties. A collection of his poems, Xiao Pin Ji, survives.

For anyone born in a Ding Wei year (1907, 1967 or 2027, after the Start of Spring), Miao Bing is their birth-year Tai Sui. You can read about all sixty generals in our Guardian Stars article.

Which signs are affected by Tai Sui in 2027?

• ✦Ox: clashes with Tai Sui
• ✦Dog: Punishment and Destruction with Tai Sui
• ✦Goat: facing Tai Sui (your birth-sign year)
• ✦Rat: Harm with Tai Sui

What each of these means, and which birth years they cover, is explained in our article on the 2027 Tai Sui signs.

The elements of a Ding Wei year

Ding Fire sits on the stem and Wei Earth on the branch. Fire produces Earth, so the two support each other; the Na Yin is Heavenly River Water.

What such a year means for a particular person depends on how it interacts with the elements in that person's chart. Someone whose chart welcomes Fire and Earth can experience Ding Wei very differently from someone whose chart does not — which is why the zodiac sign alone is never enough.

How 2027 relates to you

Set out your birth year, month, day and hour as a BaZi chart, then place the Ding Wei year against it — only then can you see whether the year works with you or tests you. Our free chart and yearly outlook tools give a first impression.

For cultural reference and self-reflection only. Not medical, legal or financial advice.