The Goat (未, Mi) in Korean Saju: Goat or Sheep Years Explained

Mi (미 未) is the eighth Earthly Branch (지지 地支 jiji) in Korean Saju (사주), and its animal is the Goat. English sources also call it the Sheep or Ram, because the Korean word yang (양) and the Chinese character for this animal cover all three. They are the same branch. Mi is Yin Earth in the hottest, driest part of summer, and its Goat years include 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015 and 2027.

The branch behind the animal

Mi is Earth with Yin polarity. Its month opens at Soseo (소서 小暑, Minor Heat) around July 7 and runs to about August 7, the sixth month of the Saju year and the last month of summer. Its hour is 13:00 to 15:00, the early afternoon when the ground has soaked up the most heat.

Like the other three Earth branches, Mi stores a little of what came before it. Its hidden stems (지장간 支藏干 jijanggan) are:

• Jeong (丁) Yin Fire, 9 days, the leftover heat of the Horse month
• Eul (乙) Yin Wood, 3 days, a stored trace of Wood
• Gi (己) Yin Earth, 18 days, the main qi

Notice that all three are Yin stems. Mi is a consistently Yin branch, soft and absorbent. The short Eul layer is why Mi is called the "wood storehouse" (목고 木庫) and why it closes the Wood triple frame. Its Jeong layer makes it warm and dry Earth, the opposite of the cold, wet Earth of the Ox. Those textures matter in practice: a reader balancing a chart full of Water treats Mi very differently from Chuk, even though both are Yin Earth. The Five Elements guide covers that kind of balancing.

As your year branch, and as your day branch

Korean tti (띠), the animal you name when someone asks your sign, is the branch of your year pillar. In a reading the year branch shows the outer layer of your life: the family you come from, how you were raised, and the reputation you build in groups. The Goat year is traditionally associated with gentleness, care and an artistic streak. Because the whole Saju year shares one branch, readers do not lean on it for personal detail.

The day branch (일지 日支 ilji), beneath your Day Master, is the spouse palace (배우자궁 配偶者宮). It speaks to marriage, partnership and private habits. A Mi day branch gives the self a warm, nurturing base with Fire and Wood tucked inside. For Gye Water, Mi's main qi Gi is Seven Killings, a source of pressure; for Eul Wood, the stored Eul inside Mi gives a small root. The stem above always decides how this branch is read.

Harmony, triple frame and clash

These are traditional notes, useful for reading a chart's internal dynamics. None of them is a compatibility guarantee.

Earth-to-Earth clashes like Goat and Ox are usually read as friction around duties, property or family arrangements rather than sudden events. Readers also note that this clash "opens" the storehouses on both sides, so the Wood in Mi and the Metal in Chuk come into play.

Why your Saju year may differ from your zodiac year

The Saju year begins at Ipchun (입춘 立春), around February 4, while the popular zodiac follows Lunar New Year. In 2015 the gap between them was unusually long.

Ipchun 2015 came on February 4, but Lunar New Year fell on February 19. A child born on February 10, 2015 is therefore an Eul-mi (乙未) Goat in Saju, while a lunar zodiac chart would call them a Horse from 2014's Gap-o (甲午) year. Births in the first days of January raise the opposite question: someone born on January 3, 1991 belongs to the Gyeong-o (庚午) Horse year of 1990 in Saju, not to the Goat year of 1991.

The five Goat day pillars

Mi is Yin and appears with the five Yin stems: Eul-mi (乙未), Jeong-mi (丁未), Gi-mi (己未), Sin-mi (辛未) and Gye-mi (癸未). Gi-mi is Yin Earth on Yin Earth, the most concentrated of the five.

FAQ

Is it the Year of the Goat or the Sheep?

Both names translate the same branch, Mi (未). Korean uses yang (양), which can mean goat or sheep, so either English name is correct.

Which years are Goat years?

Goat years include 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003 and 2015, with 2027 next. Each one starts at Ipchun around February 4.

What does the Goat clash with?

Mi clashes with Chuk, the Ox. Its six-harmony partner is the Horse, and it forms a Wood triple frame with the Pig and Rabbit.

Hidden stems

Goat years

Years whose pillar carries this branch. A Saju year starts at Ipchun, around February 4, so anyone born before that in January or early February belongs to the previous year.

Day pillars on the Goat

Other branches