1908 Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Earth Monkey
Born in 1908? You’re an Earth Monkey — but only if your birthday falls on February 2, 1908 or later. The Monkey year ran from February 2, 1908 through January 21, 1909.
1908 opened early: the lunar new year on February 2 arrived three days ahead of Start-of-Spring on February 5. That leaves a brief window at the start of February where the two datings disagree — the wrinkle we sort out first.
1908 Chinese Zodiac Sign: The Quick Answer
Still the 1907 zodiac year, which did not close until February 1. A birthday in January 1908 lands here, in Goat, not Monkey.
The 1908 zodiac year, stem-branch 戊申. Watch the far end too: a child born in the first three weeks of 1909, up to January 21, is still an Earth Monkey, not yet an Earth Rooster.
1908 at a glance
| Detail | 1908 |
|---|---|
| Zodiac animal | Monkey (猴 hóu) |
| Element | Earth (Yang) |
| Stem-branch | 戊申 (wù shēn) |
| Exact dates | February 2, 1908 – January 21, 1909 |
| Sign before | Fire Goat (until February 1, 1908) |
| Sign after | Earth Rooster (from January 22, 1909) |
| Age in 2026 (if born during calendar year 1908) | 117 or 118 |
| Traditional allies | Rat, Dragon (trine), Snake (six-harmony) |
| Clash sign | Tiger |
Born in January or early February 1908?
On the lunar-year convention this page uses — the standard for looking up a birth-year sign — the Monkey year runs from February 2, 1908 to January 21, 1909. Anyone born between January 1 and February 1, 1908 is a Fire Goat held over from 1907. The same rule runs at the closing end: a birth in early 1909, up to January 21, still counts as a 1908 Earth Monkey rather than an Earth Rooster.
Many BaZi practitioners use Lìchūn, the Start-of-Spring solar term, as the year boundary. In 1908, the lunar new year opened on February 2, while Lìchūn followed on February 5, both dates recorded in the Hong Kong Observatory’s 1908 almanac. Births from February 2 through February 4 therefore fall in the Earth Monkey year by the lunar convention but remain in the previous Fire Goat year under the solar convention. For a birth on February 5 itself, a precise BaZi calculation uses the exact moment of Lìchūn and therefore needs the birth time and location. The January–February boundary guide lays both methods side by side.
What an Earth Monkey actually is
“Monkey” fixes the animal; the element fixes the year. The twelve animals and the five elements turn on separate wheels, and the pairing of Earth with Monkey returns only once in sixty years. 1908 is written 戊申 (wù shēn), a Yang Earth year. There is a quiet mechanism in that name: the stem 戊 is earth, the branch 申 belongs to metal, and in the five-element cycle earth produces metal — so the year’s earth is feeding the metal underneath it rather than sitting against it. The pairing pulls in one direction instead of grinding.
In folklore the Monkey is the wheel’s quick wit — inventive, restless, hard to corner in an argument. Earth is said to ground that quickness rather than speed it: the same cleverness, but applied to something practical, steadier about staying with a problem. Read that as the sketch tradition offers, not a finding about anyone. Plenty of people born in 1908 fit none of it.
The partner that is also the friction
The Monkey and Snake occupy two different relationships in traditional branch theory. 巳申 forms one of the six-harmony pairings, while the same branches also appear within the 寅巳申 punishment sequence. These ideas come from different layers of the system and do not collapse into a simple “good match” or “bad match.” They are a useful reminder that traditional compatibility was never built from one rule alone. As always, this is folklore rather than a rule about real people.
The pillar 1908 shares with 1968
The stem-branch of 1908, 戊申, is one of the sixty combinations on the sexagenary cycle, and it returns on a fixed sixty-year beat:
| Earth Monkey year | Age in 2026 for calendar-year births |
|---|---|
| 1848 | A historical cohort; no longer living |
| 1908 | 117 or 118 years old |
| 1968 | 57 or 58 years old |
A person born during the 1968 Earth Monkey year carries the same 戊申 pillar as someone born during the 1908 Earth Monkey year — the same stem and branch, one complete sixty-year turn later. The dates and ages differ, but the position in the sexagenary cycle is exact. The Earth Monkey element page follows what that pairing is traditionally said to mean.
Traditional Monkey pairings
In traditional zodiac groupings, the Monkey forms a three-harmony trine with the Rat and Dragon, pairs with the Snake in six-harmony, and clashes with the Tiger. These fixed animal relationships do not change with the Earth element; the Monkey compatibility guide works through each pairing in full.
The years on either side
| Year | Sign | Zodiac dates |
|---|---|---|
| 1907 | Fire Goat | Feb 13, 1907 – Feb 1, 1908 |
| 1908 | Earth Monkey | Feb 2, 1908 – Jan 21, 1909 |
| 1909 | Earth Rooster | from Jan 22, 1909 |
Watch the opening date jump: February 13 one year, February 2 the next, January 22 the year after. The lunar new year slides across a three-week band, and 1908 sat near the early edge of it — which is why the two datings crossed over and a plain birth-year lookup goes wrong so easily around the turn of the year. The Monkey animal guide collects the Monkey years and follows the five elements through them.
1908 Chinese zodiac: common questions
What is the Chinese zodiac sign for 1908?
1908 is a Monkey year — the Earth Monkey — for anyone born on or after February 2, 1908.
What are the exact 1908 Earth Monkey dates?
February 2, 1908 to January 21, 1909. Anything earlier in 1908 belongs to the Fire Goat year of 1907.
What element is 1908 in the Chinese zodiac?
Earth. The full stem-branch name is 戊申 (wù shēn), a Yang Earth year.
Is everyone born in 1908 an Earth Monkey?
No. Births from January 1 to February 1, 1908 fall in the previous Fire Goat year. And someone born in early 1909, up to January 21, is still a 1908 Earth Monkey.
Why does the new year fall before Start-of-Spring in 1908?
The lunar new year opened on February 2, while Start-of-Spring fell on February 5. Births from February 2 through February 4 count as Earth Monkey by the lunar convention but remain in the previous Fire Goat year under the solar convention. A birth on February 5 itself needs a time-based BaZi calculation because Lìchūn occurs at a specific moment.
What years share the 1908 Earth Monkey pillar?
The 戊申 Earth Monkey pillar returns every sixty years: 1848, 1908 and 1968. A person born during the 1968 Earth Monkey year shares the exact stem-branch with someone born during the 1908 Earth Monkey year.
How old is someone born in 1908 in 2026?
117 or 118 in 2026, depending on whether their birthday has passed.
Looking this up for someone born in 1908?
A public page stops at the general facts. If what brought you here is an ancestor’s papers, a name in an old register, or a family history you’re piecing together, two things carry further than a page like this can:
Where to go next
Editorial note
The calendar side of this page — the February 2, 1908 start, the January 21, 1909 close, the February 5 Start of Spring, and the 戊申 (wù shēn) stem-branch — can be checked against the Hong Kong Observatory almanac or any sexagenary table. Everything about character, compatibility and fortune is symbolic tradition, shared for cultural interest. It is not a prediction, and it is not medical, financial or relationship advice.