The Ox (牛 · Niú) is the second animal of the cycle, and its fixed element is Earth. In the traditional reckoning the Ox is the branch 丑, the sign of steady labor, endurance, and the patient carrying of loads. Recent Ox years include 2021, 2009, 1997, 1985, and 1973.
The Ox and the Goat stand six animals apart, and in folk BaZi culture animals opposite each other are said to "clash" (丑未冲). Both are Earth branches, so the clash is not between opposite elements but between two kinds of Earth meeting head-on — the fixed, working Earth of the Ox against the softer, gathering Earth of the Goat. Traditional culture reads a clash year as one of movement and change: arrangements that have held may shift, and the Ox, who prefers a settled field, is asked to relocate, adjust, and rework what it had counted on.
In the Ox's 2027 the year's Yin Fire (丁) and the Goat's Earth (未) sit against the Ox's own Earth. Fire produces Earth, so the year strengthens Earth generally — which for the Ox means more of its own element, both a support and a crowding. The traditional counsel for a 冲 year is to keep movement deliberate rather than sudden, to double-check agreements, and to let the Ox's native steadiness carry it through a season of change without breaking under it.
A clash year (冲太岁) is one of the traditional "Tai Sui" relationships, and in folk custom it is treated as a time for care rather than for alarm — a year to plan changes well rather than to be taken by surprise by them. The Chinese year begins at Lì Chūn (立春), around February 3–5, 2027. For the Ox, the year's turning points are the Fire Goat year's own: a quiet spring for planning, a sustained summer, and an autumn and winter that favor consolidation over bold new starts.
See how the Fire Goat year lands on your personal Four Pillars.
Get Your Free BaZi Reading → Free · No sign-up