The Year of the Fire Horse 2026 signals speed, intensity and rapid change in both personal and global spheres. Photo / Getty Images
By Ruth Kuo of RNZ
As New Zealand’s Asian communities celebrate the Lunar New Year today,what can we expect from the Year of the Horse?
The horse ranks seventh of the 12 animals in the traditional Chinese zodiac, symbolising vitality, speed, independence and an unrestrained spirit.
Courage, passion and a refusal to be confined are characteristics commonly associated with the horse.
As a result, a horse year is seen as a year of movement, pursuit and breakthrough.
It favours action over hesitation, momentum over stasis, yet also carries connotations of volatility, outward expression and intensity.
2026 is known as a “bingwu year”, which is commonly translated as the Year of the Fire Horse.
In China’s traditional Five Elements system, bing represents the sun, the most yang form of energy in terms of yin-yang theory, and is associated with the colour red.
As a result, 2026 is also the Year of the Crimson Horse.
The horse appears every 12 years, but a “bingwu fire” horse year occurs only once every 60 years within the traditional sexagenary cycle.
Some Chinese metaphysics suggest that fire horse years - combining the dynamism of fire and the energy of the horse - tend to be marked by forceful change.
Heat and acceleration dominate, while transitions can be rapid and difficult to moderate.
This intensity is generally believed to spill over into the following year, which in 2027 will be a Year of the Red Goat.
In popular folklore, the pairing is sometimes described as the “crimson horse, red goat” sequence, a phrase historically associated with upheaval.
Historically minded observers often point to earlier fire horse and fire goat sequences.
The last Year of the Fire Horse was 1966, when China’s Cultural Revolution began in full force.
The following Year of the Fire Goat had widespread armed factional struggles and social turmoil in China.
The decade that followed is often referred to as the “10 years of catastrophe”, reshaping countless lives and altering the course of modern Chinese history.
In the United States, protests escalated as the civil rights movement gained strength and anti-war sentiment increased over the country’s involvement in Vietnam.
Further back in time, the Jingkang Incident of 1126-27, in which the Northern Song capital of Kaifeng fell to invading Jurchen forces, occurred during a fire horse-fire goat sequence.
The eventual collapse of the Northern Song dynasty led to mass displacement, prolonged warfare and a profound transformation of Chinese civilisation.
Modern historians do not attribute such events to zodiac cycles.
Yet from a structural perspective, periods of concentrated social tension, high mobilisation and ideological fervour can ignite rapidly when conditions align.
Fire, as a metaphor, captures this dynamic. It spreads when fed.
A Year of the Fire Horse may therefore be regarded as more of an atmosphere than destiny.
It suggests a climate in which contradictions surface quickly and transitions accelerate.
From 2024, feng shui theory suggests that we have entered the so-called ninth period, a 20-year cycle governed by the trigram Li that is associated with fire.
If one follows this framework, 2026 does not stand alone.
It sits within a broader era of fire energy lasting from 2024 to 2043, and the Year of the Fire Horse becomes a section of a longer arc.
In the previous eighth period, which was associated with earth, sectors such as real estate, construction, mining and asset-based industries were typically considered emblematic of the time.
The ninth period, aligned with fire, is traditionally linked to illumination, visibility and transformation.
Within this symbolic system, industries connected to beauty, entertainment, art, design, culture, philosophy, spirituality and advanced technology are believed to be favoured.
Fire also corresponds to the heart in traditional Chinese medicine.
By extension, fields related to cognition, emotion and artificial intelligence are frequently believed to belong to this fire domain.
The trigram Li is sometimes further associated with women.
In recent years, the growing visibility of women across politics, business and culture has been interpreted by some as resonant of this symbolism.
Taken together, 2026 appears as a year layered with fire upon fire, and the next two decades could be defined by intense light and surging energy.
Whether one responds with composure and balance, or chooses to ride the crest of transformation, ultimately becomes a personal decision.
Celebrities born in the Year of the Horse include Brigitte Lin (1954), Joey Wong (1967), Song Zuying (1966), Qin Hailu (1978), Jackie Chan (1954) and Leon Lai (1966), among others.
Traditional astrology suggests that fire horse years stimulate initiative and transformation but also volatility and conflict. Patience and judgment are often advised.
Folklore suggests that anyone born in the same zodiac year as the current year could face heightened challenges.
To ease anxiety, some take such measures as wearing red underwear, carrying amulets or making symbolic offerings.
The horse is traditionally believed to clash with the rat, ox and rabbit, which suggests some challenges might lie ahead.
Conversely, the horse is believed to get along with the tiger, dog and goat, which may bring better luck.
That said, these generalisations are only one layer of interpretation.
In the more intricate system of Four Pillars astrology, a person’s destiny is calculated from the year, month, day and hour of birth.
The zodiac year represents only two of eight characters in the complete chart.
The balance of elements in the remaining six can significantly alter one’s response to heat we can expect in the fire year ahead.
An individual whose chart “favours heat” may thrive in a fire horse year, even if their zodiac sign is usually considered to be in conflict.
Conversely, an individual who “fears heat” may find the same year destabilising, despite being born in a compatible sign.
Stripped of metaphysical language, such frameworks function as a reminder that different individuals carry and metabolise intensity in different ways.
For some, 2026 may be a time to advance boldly and initiate new ventures.
For others, it may be wiser to consolidate, slow down, regulate emotion and manage risk.
And for some, financial discipline, health routines and relationship boundaries may matter more than grand gestures.
If a single Chinese character were to capture the mood of 2026, it might be “火” (huǒ, fire).
Fire illuminates and destroys. It signals danger and renewal. It powers innovation and burns through old structures.
And this metaphor would still work regardless of whether the year is ultimately remembered for artificial intelligence breakthroughs, cultural movements, geopolitical shifts or new energy industries.
According to traditional wisdom, the question is actually not whether fire will eventuate this year, but how we will respond to it.
-RNZ