1973 Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Water Ox
Year of the Water Ox
Animal
🐂 Ox
Element
Yin Water
Cycle position
#2 of 12
About the 1973 Ox year
- 1973 is a Yin Water year — the Water element colours the Ox's nature with intuition, adaptability, and empathy.
- The Ox is the second of the 12 zodiac animals. The previous Ox year was 1961 and the next is 1985.
- People born in the Year of the Ox are traditionally seen as diligent, dependable, and strong-willed. The Ox is said to pair most harmoniously with the Snake, Rooster, Rat.
Best matches for the Ox
Signs the Ox is traditionally most compatible with.
- Snake
- Rooster
- Rat
Frequently asked
1973 is the Year of the Water Ox — a Yin Water year. The animal sign is the Ox, the second of the 12-animal cycle.
1973 carries the Water element (Yin Water). Element is set by the year's heavenly stem and cycles every 10 years, so the full Water Ox combination returns only once every 60 years.
Those born in 1973, the Year of the Ox, are traditionally described as diligent, dependable, and strong-willed. With the Water element added, intuition, adaptability, and empathy are emphasised.
The Ox is traditionally most compatible with the Snake, Rooster, Rat.
Almost — but the Chinese zodiac year starts at Chinese New Year (late January or early February), not January 1. So someone born in early 1973, before that year's Chinese New Year, is actually a Rat (the 1972 sign). If your birthday is in late January or early February, enter your full date of birth in the Age Calculator to confirm your exact sign.
Want your exact age?
Enter your full date of birth in the Age Calculator for the exact years, months, and days — plus days lived, your next-birthday countdown, and both zodiac signs.
Open Age Calculator