1983 Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Water Pig

沉浸 TeamAugust 26, 20264 min read

The 1983 Chinese zodiac animal is the Pig. More precisely, 1983 was the Year of the Water Pig (癸亥 guǐhài): the zodiac year ran from February 13, 1983 to February 1, 1984. If you were born in that window, your Chinese zodiac sign is the Pig (猪 zhū).

One catch before anything else: the zodiac year follows the lunar calendar, not January 1. Born in 1983 before February 13? Then you belong to the previous animal, the Water Dog. The next section has the exact dates.

1983 Chinese zodiac at a glance

Animal: Pig (猪 zhū), the twelfth of the 12 zodiac animals
Element: Water (水 shuǐ)
Traditional name: 癸亥 (guǐhài) in the 60-year cycle
Dates: February 13, 1983 to February 1, 1984
Lucky numbers: 2, 5, 8
Lucky colors: yellow, grey, brown, gold

Born in January or February 1983?

Chinese New Year fell on February 13 in 1983. So:

Born January 1 to February 12, 1983: you're a Water Dog (dog year 1982), not a Pig.
Born February 13 or later in 1983: you're a Water Pig.

This is the single most common mistake people make with the Chinese zodiac. When a January or February birthday is involved, always check the new year date before assuming the animal.

The Water Pig personality

Pigs are the zodiac's good souls: generous, easygoing, and genuinely kind. They assume the best in people, share whatever they have, and enjoy life's comforts without guilt. Their trust gets tested; their warmth never runs out.

Water is the element of flow and feeling. It adds adaptability, intuition, and quiet persuasion. In the 60-year cycle each animal pairs with one of five elements, so a Water Pig (born 1983) reads a little different from Pigs of other years: the water side colors how the pig's core traits show up.

Strengths:

Generous and sincere
Easygoing and warm
Diligent when it counts
Great company

Watch out for:

Too trusting
Indulgent with comfort
Avoids hard conversations

Pigs flourish in hospitality, medicine, charity work, and creative fields with heart.

1983 zodiac compatibility

Traditional Chinese astrology groups the 12 animals into "trines" of three signs that share a temperament, and pairs each sign with a "secret friend" and one clash.

Best matches for the Pig: the Rabbit and the Goat (trine partners), plus the Tiger, the Pig's secret friend.
Trickiest match: the Snake, the Pig's opposite on the zodiac wheel.

Treat this as folk wisdom rather than fate. Plenty of happy couples "clash" on paper, and Chinese families today read these charts with a wink more often than a frown.

How to say it in Chinese

猪 (zhū): pig
生肖 (shēngxiào): Chinese zodiac sign
我属猪 (wǒ shǔ zhū): "I'm a Pig." The verb 属 (shǔ) means "to belong to"
本命年 (běnmìngnián): your own zodiac year, when your animal comes back around

Born in 1983? Your next 本命年 is 2031, the next Pig year after 2026. Tradition says to wear red that year for luck.

Want to go beyond the zodiac? Create a free Chenjin account to hear words like 猪 and 生肖 pronounced by native-quality audio, save them as flashcards, and start reading real Chinese stories at your level.

Other Pig years

1971: Metal Pig (January 27, 1971 to February 14, 1972)
1995: Wood Pig (January 31, 1995 to February 18, 1996)
2007: Fire Pig (February 18, 2007 to February 6, 2008)
2019: Earth Pig (February 5, 2019 to January 24, 2020)
2031: Metal Pig (January 23, 2031 to February 10, 2032)

Read the full Year of the Pig guide for the personality in depth, or look up a different birth year on the Chinese zodiac overview.

1983 Chinese zodiac FAQ

What animal is 1983 in the Chinese zodiac?

1983 is the Year of the Pig. Anyone born from February 13, 1983 to February 1, 1984 is a Pig; a birthday earlier in 1983 belongs to the Year of the Dog.

What element is 1983?

Water. The full sign for 1983 is the Water Pig (癸亥 guǐhài), a combination that repeats only once every 60 years.

How old is someone born in 1983?

Someone born in 1983 turns 43 in 2026, or is still 42 if their birthday hasn't come around yet this year. In traditional Chinese age counting (虚岁 xūsuì), you'd add one more, since babies are counted as one year old at birth.