New Year first-footer check
Find a well-matched person to invite as the first visitor of the lunar new year. Enter the host's birth year and all 60 stem-branch ages are ranked, with actual birth years so you can spot people you know, and the reason each one gains or loses points.
Where this comes from
First-footing is the custom of the first person to enter the home after midnight on New Year's Eve. The page weighs four things computed from the birth year: the branch relation, the Nạp Âm element, the three hazards Kim Lâu, Hoang Ốc and Tam Tai, and whether it is the person's own zodiac year. Sources name the same factors but none publishes weights, so the score is Nhật Nguyệt's own ranking.
Birth year only. All four criteria read the birth year; none uses the day, month or hour.
This tool is part of Feng shui. See every tool and article on Feng shui.
Classical allusion
“Trăm năm còn có gì đâu, chẳng qua một nấm cỏ khâu xanh rì.”
Translation: A hundred years, and what remains? Nothing but a green, grass-grown mound.
Nguyễn Gia Thiều · Lament of a Palace Concubine
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Also opening a business or setting out early in the year? Day picker by task finds days that suit it.
Open Best day for a purposeWhat no one has shown
No study has shown that the first-footer's age affects the family's year. Nor can the computation say whether that person is in mourning or glad to accept.
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How is a first visitor for Tết chosen?
Xông đất is the custom around the first person to step into the house after the New Year's Eve midnight. Folk belief holds that this person's luck touches the family's whole year, so many households choose someone of a suitable age in advance and arrange a time.
Four things are checked, all from birth years. First, the branch relation between the visitor and the host: Tam Hợp and Lục Hợp add points, Tứ Hành Xung and Lục Hại take them away. Second, the two people's nạp âm elements: generating beats shared, shared beats clashing. Third, whether the visitor is under Kim Lâu, Hoang Ốc or Tam Tai that year. Fourth, whether that year is the visitor's own zodiac year (Thái Tuế).
Each age in the list comes with solar birth years, for example 1990 for Canh Ngọ, so you can go straight to your contacts, and states which criteria gained or lost points. If you do not pick a year, next year is used.
Three things are deliberately left out. Gender: some texts advise choosing a man, but that is custom, not calculation. The visitor's presiding star: sources do not agree on which star set applies here. And weights: sources name the same factors but none publish weights, so the score here is the site's own ranking.
The calculation cannot tell you whether the person is in mourning, how their health and spirits are, whether their household is at peace, or whether they are happy to come. Someone of the right age who is pressed into coming on the first morning misses the point of the custom.
| Criterion | Gains points when | Loses points when |
|---|---|---|
| Branch relation to the host | Tam Hợp or Lục Hợp | The clashing four, or a Lục Hại pair |
| Nạp âm elements of the pair | Generating, then neutral | Clashing |
| The three taboos that year | Clear of all three | Under Kim Lâu, Hoang Ốc or Tam Tai |
| Thái Tuế | Not their own zodiac year | Their own zodiac year |
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a birth date and hour to choose a first visitor?
No. All four criteria come from birth years: the branch relation, the nạp âm element, the three taboos by lunar age, and the zodiac year.
Why does one age list several birth years?
Stems and branches repeat every 60 years, so the same age belongs to people exactly 60 years apart. Only birth years within a realistic age range are listed.
Does the first visitor have to be a man?
That is a custom in some places, not a calculation, so gender is not scored. Families who follow it can take it into account themselves.
What if nobody of a suitable age can come?
Many households do it themselves: a family member steps out before midnight and comes back in after the new year begins. Not finding a well-matched visitor does not mean a worse year.
Is the score here a shared standard?
No. Sources name the same factors but none publish weights, so every site sets its own scale. The scoring here is published so you can weigh it yourself.
When should the first visitor arrive?
By custom it is the first person in after midnight, so the visit is usually arranged right after the new year begins or early on the first morning, before any other guest. Arrange it ahead and ask them first.
Is there a scientific basis for this custom?
No. It is folk knowledge, best taken as a New Year cultural practice rather than a forecast.
Public API, returns JSON, no sign-in: GET https://api.nhatnguyet.org/api/v1/calc/xem-tuoi-xong-dat?namSinh=1990&nam=2027