1971 Chinese Zodiac: The Year of the Metal Pig

Detail	1971
Animal	Pig (猪)
Element	Metal, yin
Stem and branch	Xin Hai (辛亥)
Year starts	January 27, 1971
Year ends	February 14, 1972
Year before	1970, Metal Dog
Year after	1972, Water Rat

Born in January or February 1971?

The Chinese year does not start on January 1. It starts at Chinese New Year, which follows the Moon and usually falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice, somewhere between January 21 and February 20. In 1971 it fell on January 27 (China time), so the Pig starts with births on that day and everyone born before it in 1971 is still a Metal Dog. If your birthday sits close to the line, the Chinese zodiac calculator checks the exact date for you.

The Pig in Chinese astrology

Warm, generous and easygoing, the Pig closes the twelve-year cycle. Pig people are described as sincere, good-natured and appreciative of life's pleasures, from a good meal to a long conversation. They are read as hardworking when they care about something, honest to the point of naivety, and unusually tolerant of other people's flaws. Others experience a Pig as comfortable company, someone who makes room at the table and rarely keeps score.

The classical reading does name some risks. A Pig may trust too quickly, spend more freely than planned, or avoid confrontation until it becomes unavoidable. A love of comfort can turn into procrastination, and a gentle nature may be taken advantage of by people with sharper elbows. If you are a Pig, tradition suggests pairing your openness with a little discernment, and saying no before resentment builds. Friends tend to describe Pigs as the ones who bring the food, forgive easily, and make a gathering feel like a holiday.

The Metal Pig

In Chinese astrology Metal is the element of clarity, discipline and resolve. Tradition links it to autumn, to the blade and the bell, and reads a Metal year as adding firmness and a taste for precision to the animal it touches. Metal people are described as determined, principled and economical with words. The classical shadow is rigidity: a tendency to hold a position after the situation has changed, and to keep feelings polished and out of view. Metal asks the animal to be exact.

The Metal Pig keeps the generous heart and adds a firmer hand on the wallet and the calendar. Tradition describes the most disciplined of the Pigs: sincere, hardworking and willing to say no where other Pigs would not. It budgets, finishes what it begins and still sets a generous table. Friends find a dependable person with a quiet stubborn streak. The shadow is resentment bottled behind a pleasant face, since a Pig that refuses rarely explains why. Speaking up earlier helps, and so does choosing indulgences on purpose. Metal is also credited with giving this Pig a sharper eye for character than the sign usually has.

The same pairing of element and animal returns every sixty years, so 1911 and 2031 are Metal Pig years as well. The other metal year next to 1971 is 1970, a Metal Dog, because each element lasts two years, one yang and one yin.

Pig compatibility

Tradition groups the twelve animals into four trines of three. The Pig shares its trine with the Rabbit and the Goat, the pairings read as the easiest. Its secret friend, a second close match, is the Tiger, while the Snake, six places away on the wheel, is read as its clash. These are tendencies of the tradition, not verdicts on any couple.

Warm, sincere and generous, the Pig loves hospitality, shared meals and affection that is easy to see. Pigs are slow to anger, quick to forgive and inclined to give a second chance. Trusting too freely and avoiding conflict until it grows large are the old cautions. A Pig does best with someone honest and appreciative, who does not take the generosity for granted.

The Pig at work

Diligent, honest and good at making colleagues feel at ease, the Pig suits hospitality, care, creative work or any field where sincerity counts. Pigs are credited with a willingness to work hard for what they care about, and with a love of good living that can make money slip away. Being talked into bad deals and delaying uncomfortable decisions are the usual pitfalls.

Other Pig years

The Pig comes back every twelve years, each time with the next element: 1935 Wood Pig, 1947 Fire Pig, 1959 Earth Pig, 1971 Metal Pig (this page), 1983 Water Pig, 1995 Wood Pig, 2007 Fire Pig, 2019 Earth Pig.

Your Western sign

Your Chinese sign comes from your birth year. Western astrology works from the sky on the day you were born instead: your Sun sign follows the date, and your Moon sign and rising sign also need the time and place. Two people born in 1971 share the Pig and can still have any of the twelve Western Sun signs. Draw your free birth chart to see your Sun, Moon and rising sign together, or look up your Sun sign by date with the zodiac sign dates calculator.

All twelve animals, the five elements and every year from 1930 to 2030 are listed in Chinese zodiac years.