Rabbit strengths in tradition
- Kind and considerate
- Diplomatic and tactful
- Careful and observant
- Refined taste
2023 Chinese zodiac: Year of the Water Rabbit
The 2023 Chinese year ran from Sunday 22 January 2023 to Friday 9 February 2024.
Its sign is the Yin Water Rabbit: 癸卯 (Guǐ-mǎo) in the 60-year cycle.
Born 1–21 January 2023? Then you belong to the previous Chinese year: the Water Tiger of 2022.
Chinese New Year or Lichun?
Most calendars change the animal at Chinese New Year. Four Pillars (BaZi) astrology starts the year at Lichun, the Start of Spring, instead. For births around the turn of the year the two counts differ:
- 22 January – 3 February 2023: Water Rabbit by Chinese New Year, Water Tiger by Lichun.
- 4 February 2023 (Lichun day): by Lichun, Water Tiger before 10:42 China time and Water Rabbit from then on; by Chinese New Year, Water Rabbit.
- 4 February 2024 (Lichun day): by Lichun, Water Rabbit before 16:26 China time and Wood Dragon from then on; by Chinese New Year, Water Rabbit.
- 5–9 February 2024: Water Rabbit by Chinese New Year, Wood Dragon by Lichun.
Dates and times in China time. The Chinese zodiac calculator converts them for your birthplace and shows both counts.
The Water Rabbit in Chinese astrology
A Water Rabbit is associated with sensitivity and imagination, tuned in to moods and quick to sympathise.
The Rabbit is the fourth Chinese zodiac animal, associated in tradition with gentleness, tact and a quiet, elegant sense of style. Water is the element of depth and adaptability, linked in Chinese tradition with winter, intuition and quiet wisdom.
Rabbit challenges in tradition
- Avoids necessary conflict
- Can be overcautious
- Sensitive to criticism
- Slow to make decisions
Traditions, not predictions. The Rabbit in love and at work · The five elements
Other Rabbit years
The Water Rabbit every 60 years
← 2022 Water Tiger · 2024 Wood Dragon → · All years 1900–2100
Questions and answers
What Chinese zodiac is 2023?
2023 is the Year of the Water Rabbit (yin Water, 癸卯 Guǐ-mǎo), from 22 January 2023 to 9 February 2024. Anyone born 1–21 January 2023 belongs to the previous Chinese year, the Water Tiger.
What element is 2023 in the Chinese zodiac?
Water, in its yin form: the year’s Heavenly Stem is 癸 (Guǐ). Water years are years ending in 2 or 3 – counted by the Chinese year, which begins in late January or February.
I was born in January 2023 — which animal am I?
If you were born before 22 January 2023, the date of Chinese New Year, your sign is the Water Tiger of the 2022 Chinese year; from 22 January 2023 on, it is the Water Rabbit. Four Pillars (BaZi) astrology counts from Lichun instead (4 February 2023, 10:42 China time).
When was Chinese New Year 2023?
It was on Sunday 22 January 2023 (China time). The next one, on Saturday 10 February 2024, began the Year of the Wood Dragon.