TL;DR: By the lunar calendar the year of Đinh Mùi runs from 6/2/2027 to 25/1/2028, with no leap month, 12 months and 354 days. Bát Tự counts the year from the Lập Xuân solar term (8:42 on 4/2/2027) and changes months by the 12 solar terms, so a child born on 4 or 5 February 2027 is a Horse year by popular reckoning but already in the year of Đinh Mùi in Bát Tự. There is no single table of good months; each method rests on a different basis.
Which dates does the year of Đinh Mùi 2027 cover?
By the lunar calendar, the year of Đinh Mùi begins on the first day of Tet, 6 February 2027, and ends on 25 January 2028. Tet Mậu Thân falls on 26 January 2028. A child born in that span is counted as a Goat year by the popular reckoning.
Bát Tự (BaZi) draws the year boundary elsewhere: the Bát Tự year of Đinh Mùi begins at 8:42 on 4 February 2027, when the Lập Xuân solar term starts, and runs until 14:30 on 4 February 2028. All times in this article are Vietnam time.
What zodiac year are children born at the start and end of 2027?
Because the two year boundaries differ, there are two date ranges that each way of reckoning assigns to a different year.
- From 8:42 on 4 February to the end of 5 February 2027: Bát Tự is already in the year of Đinh Mùi, while the lunar calendar is still in the twelfth month of Bính Ngọ, so popular usage calls it a Horse year.
- From 26 January 2028 until before 14:30 on 4 February 2028: the lunar calendar has already moved into the year of Mậu Thân, that is, a Monkey year, while Bát Tự is still in the year of Đinh Mùi.
- A child born before 8:42 on 4 February 2027 belongs to the year of Bính Ngọ by both reckonings.
Table of the twelve lunar months of the year of Đinh Mùi 2027
The year of Đinh Mùi 2027 has no leap month. The first day of each month is the day of the new moon (điểm sóc), when the Moon lies between the Earth and the Sun, reckoned in Vietnam time; for example, the new moon that opens the first month falls at 15:56 on 6 February 2027 UTC[1].
| Lunar month | Month stem-branch | First day | Last day | Number of days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First month | Nhâm Dần | 6/2/2027 | 7/3/2027 | 30 |
| Second month | Quý Mão | 8/3/2027 | 6/4/2027 | 30 |
| Third month | Giáp Thìn | 7/4/2027 | 5/5/2027 | 29 |
| Fourth month | Ất Tỵ | 6/5/2027 | 4/6/2027 | 30 |
| Fifth month | Bính Ngọ | 5/6/2027 | 3/7/2027 | 29 |
| Sixth month | Đinh Mùi | 4/7/2027 | 1/8/2027 | 29 |
| Seventh month | Mậu Thân | 2/8/2027 | 31/8/2027 | 30 |
| Eighth month | Kỷ Dậu | 1/9/2027 | 29/9/2027 | 29 |
| Ninth month | Canh Tuất | 30/9/2027 | 28/10/2027 | 29 |
| Tenth month | Tân Hợi | 29/10/2027 | 27/11/2027 | 30 |
| Eleventh month | Nhâm Tý | 28/11/2027 | 27/12/2027 | 30 |
| Twelfth month | Quý Sửu | 28/12/2027 | 25/1/2028 | 29 |
How does the Bát Tự month differ from the lunar month?
Bát Tự changes months according to the 12 solar terms, not according to the first day of the lunar month. The stem-branch of the month matches the table above, but the month boundaries shift by anywhere from a few days to almost half a month.
| Bát Tự month | Stem-branch | Start (Vietnam time) | Solar term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dần month | Nhâm Dần | 8:42 on 4/2/2027 | Lập Xuân |
| Mão month | Quý Mão | 2:36 on 6/3/2027 | Kinh Trập |
| Thìn month | Giáp Thìn | 7:14 on 5/4/2027 | Thanh Minh |
| Tỵ month | Ất Tỵ | 0:22 on 6/5/2027 | Lập Hạ |
| Ngọ month | Bính Ngọ | 4:23 on 6/6/2027 | Mang Chủng |
| Mùi month | Đinh Mùi | 14:34 on 7/7/2027 | Tiểu Thử |
| Thân month | Mậu Thân | 0:25 on 8/8/2027 | Lập Thu |
| Dậu month | Kỷ Dậu | 3:27 on 8/9/2027 | Bạch Lộ |
| Tuất month | Canh Tuất | 19:15 on 8/10/2027 | Hàn Lộ |
| Hợi month | Tân Hợi | 22:38 on 7/11/2027 | Lập Đông |
| Tý month | Nhâm Tý | 15:37 on 7/12/2027 | Đại Tuyết |
| Sửu month | Quý Sửu | 2:54 on 6/1/2028 | Tiểu Hàn |
For example, a child born on 5/8/2027 is in the fourth day of the seventh lunar month, that is, the month of Mậu Thân, but the month pillar in Bát Tự is still Đinh Mùi, because the Lập Thu solar term does not begin until 0:25 on 8/8. For a child born right at the moment a solar term changes, the exact hour and minute are needed to know which month applies.
Are there good months to give birth in 2027?
There is no single table of good months that applies to every family. One way of looking at it is to set the branch of the month beside the Goat branch of the year:
- The Mão month and the Hợi month belong with the Hợi, Mão, Mùi triple harmony.
- The Ngọ month is in six harmony with Mùi.
- The Sửu month clashes with Mùi; the Sửu month and the Tuất month together with Mùi form the triple punishment.
- The Tý month harms Mùi.
Another way is to look at the parents' zodiac years, or at all four pillars of year, month, day and hour in Bát Tự. By the latter method, the birth month alone decides nothing. The article Which month to give birth explains why Bát Tự and Tử Vi (Vietnamese astrology) take the month from two different calendars.
A note from Nhật Nguyệt
A note from Nhật Nguyệt: the child's birth date is decided by the mother's health and the doctor's instructions. The table above is most useful after the child is born, to know which lunar month the child was born in, which Bát Tự month pillar applies, and whether the birth falls in either of the two year-boundary ranges.
