January 21, 2026 in the Chinese Calendar
January 21, 2026 is a Wednesday; in the Chinese lunar calendar it is day 3 of the 12th month of the Year of the Wood Snake (腊月初三). The day pillar is 乙未 (Yi Wei), a Wood Goat day, number 32 in the sixty-day cycle. The Day Officer is Destruction and the day spirit is Black Tortoise: a Black Path day.
Date: January 21, 2026, Wednesday.
In the lunar calendar this is day 3 of the 12th month (腊月初三). The lunar year of the Wood Snake began on January 29, 2025.
Pillars: year 乙巳, month 己丑, day 乙未. Counted from Lichun, this is the Year of the Wood Snake.
Solar term: “Major Cold” since January 20, 2026 at 09:45; next: “Start of Spring” on February 4, 2026 at 04:02.
Almanac for the Day
- Day Officer: Destruction (破). Traditionally good for: demolishing and dismantling the old. Not good for: almost everything else.
- Lunar mansion: Wall · Bi (壁), auspicious in the traditional list.
- Day spirit: Black Tortoise (玄武) — Black Path (inauspicious).
- Clash with the Ox (丑): traditionally an unlucky day for people born in the Year of the Ox. Sha direction: west.
- Flying stars: 2 for the year, 9 for the month.
The Twelve Hours of the Day
| Hour | Clock time | Pillar | Hour spirit | Clash |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rat 子 | 23:00–01:00 from the evening before | 丙子 | Heavenly Punishment ○ | Horse |
| Ox 丑 | 01:00–03:00 | 丁丑 | Vermilion Bird ○ | Goat |
| Tiger 寅 | 03:00–05:00 | 戊寅 | Golden Coffer ● | Monkey |
| Rabbit 卯 | 05:00–07:00 | 己卯 | Heavenly Virtue ● | Rooster |
| Dragon 辰 | 07:00–09:00 | 庚辰 | White Tiger ○ | Dog |
| Snake 巳 | 09:00–11:00 | 辛巳 | Jade Hall ● | Pig |
| Horse 午 | 11:00–13:00 | 壬午 | Heavenly Prison ○ | Rat |
| Goat 未 | 13:00–15:00 | 癸未 | Black Tortoise ○ | Ox |
| Monkey 申 | 15:00–17:00 | 甲申 | Life Governor ● | Tiger |
| Rooster 酉 | 17:00–19:00 | 乙酉 | Hooked Array ○ | Rabbit |
| Dog 戌 | 19:00–21:00 | 丙戌 | Azure Dragon ● | Dragon |
| Pig 亥 | 21:00–23:00 | 丁亥 | Bright Hall ● | Snake |
Times are local clock times without a longitude correction and are not converted to another time zone: Beijing time only determines the day itself. The Rat hour (23:00–01:00) begins on the evening before and opens the day. ● means the hour spirit is on the Yellow Path (auspicious), ○ on the Black Path. For exact hour boundaries in your city, use the Chinese hours calculator.
Lists of what a day is good or bad for vary from one almanac to another; the generally accepted meanings of the twelve officers are given here. The calendar is calculated in Beijing time, as in Chinese almanacs.
Yellow Path Hours
The almanac rates not only the day but each of its twelve two-hour periods. On this day the Yellow Path hours are: Tiger 寅 (03:00–05:00), Rabbit 卯 (05:00–07:00), Snake 巳 (09:00–11:00), Monkey 申 (15:00–17:00), Dog 戌 (19:00–21:00), Pig 亥 (21:00–23:00). As in the table above, times are given without a longitude correction.
How to Read the Almanac
The day pillar 乙未 pairs the Heavenly Stem 乙 with the Earthly Branch 未. The sixty-day cycle runs without a break and ignores months and years, so the same pillar returns exactly 60 days later, on March 22, 2026.
The Day Officer (Destruction, 破) is one of the twelve “spirits” of the Tong Shu almanac. It is set by the day branch 未 relative to the month branch 丑: on the day the two branches match, the officer is Establish, and the others follow in turn.
The day spirit Black Tortoise (玄武) is one of the six “black” spirits: the almanac advises against choosing Black Path days for important undertakings. The same scheme applies to hours: in the table above, ● marks Yellow Path hours and ○ Black Path hours.
The day branch 未 stands opposite the branch 丑, the sign of the Ox. That is why tradition advises people born in a Year of the Ox not to start anything important on this day. The Sha direction, unfavorable on this day, is west.
You can open any other date in the Chinese calendar, see the whole month as a table on the January 2026 page, and find exact hour boundaries for your city with the Chinese hours calculator.
To pick a day for a specific purpose — moving house, a wedding, opening a business or a trip — use the Chinese calendar date selection: it checks every day against the almanac rules and your birth dates.
An Honest Look at the Method
The dates here are calculated precisely: new moons and solar terms from astronomical tables, cycles by the rules of the tradition. The almanac's recommendations remain tradition: different editions of the Tong Shu have different “good for / bad for” lists, and there is no verifiable evidence that they work.