2028 Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Earth Monkey
沉浸 TeamAugust 26, 20264 min readThe 2028 Chinese zodiac animal is the Monkey. More precisely, 2028 is the Year of the Earth Monkey (戊申 wùshēn): the zodiac year will run from January 26, 2028 to February 12, 2029. If you were born in that window, your Chinese zodiac sign is the Monkey (猴 hóu).
One catch before anything else: the zodiac year follows the lunar calendar, not January 1. Born in 2028 before January 26? Then you belong to the previous animal, the Fire Goat. The next section has the exact dates.
2028 Chinese zodiac at a glance
- Animal: Monkey (猴 hóu), the ninth of the 12 zodiac animals
- Element: Earth (土 tǔ)
- Traditional name: 戊申 (wùshēn) in the 60-year cycle
- Dates: January 26, 2028 to February 12, 2029
- Lucky numbers: 4, 9
- Lucky colors: white, blue, gold
Born in January or February 2028?
Chinese New Year fell on January 26 in 2028. So:
- Born January 1 to January 25, 2028: you're a Fire Goat (goat year 2027), not a Monkey.
- Born January 26 or later in 2028: you're a Earth Monkey.
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 Earth Monkey personality
Monkeys are the zodiac's clever tricksters: curious, playful, and endlessly inventive. They learn anything fast, joke their way out of trouble, and get bored the moment a puzzle is solved. Life around a Monkey is never dull.
Earth is the element of stability. It adds patience, reliability, and a practical, grounded streak. In the 60-year cycle each animal pairs with one of five elements, so a Earth Monkey (born 2028) reads a little different from Monkeys of other years: the earth side colors how the monkey's core traits show up.
Strengths:
- Brilliant problem-solver
- Witty and fun
- Versatile and fast-learning
- Bounces back from anything
Watch out for:
- Mischievous with the truth
- Restless and scattered
- Can seem unserious
Monkeys excel in engineering, comedy, science, media, and startups, anywhere cleverness is the job.
2028 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 Monkey: the Rat and the Dragon (trine partners), plus the Snake, the Monkey's secret friend.
- Trickiest match: the Tiger, the Monkey'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
- 猴 (hóu): monkey
- 生肖 (shēngxiào): Chinese zodiac sign
- 我属猴 (wǒ shǔ hóu): "I'm a Monkey." The verb 属 (shǔ) means "to belong to"
- 本命年 (běnmìngnián): your own zodiac year, when your animal comes back around
Born in 2028? Your next 本命年 is 2028, the next Monkey 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 猴 and 生肖 pronounced by native-quality audio, save them as flashcards, and start reading real Chinese stories at your level.
Other Monkey years
- 1968: Earth Monkey (January 30, 1968 to February 16, 1969)
- 1980: Metal Monkey (February 16, 1980 to February 4, 1981)
- 1992: Water Monkey (February 4, 1992 to January 22, 1993)
- 2004: Wood Monkey (January 22, 2004 to February 8, 2005)
- 2016: Fire Monkey (February 8, 2016 to January 27, 2017)
Read the full Year of the Monkey guide for the personality in depth, or look up a different birth year on the Chinese zodiac overview.
2028 Chinese zodiac FAQ
What animal is 2028 in the Chinese zodiac?
2028 is the Year of the Monkey. Anyone born from January 26, 2028 to February 12, 2029 is a Monkey; a birthday earlier in 2028 belongs to the Year of the Goat.
What element is 2028?
Earth. The full sign for 2028 is the Earth Monkey (戊申 wùshēn), a combination that repeats only once every 60 years.
When does the 2028 zodiac year start?
It starts on January 26, 2028, the day of Chinese New Year, and ends on February 12, 2029. Until then, the zodiac is still in the Year of the Goat.
Who is the 2028 Monkey compatible with?
The Monkey's traditional best matches are the Rat, the Dragon, and the Snake. The Tiger is considered the most challenging pairing.
