There are 3 "New Year's Days":
(i) 1st of January, 2022 (International Gregorian Calendar)
(ii) 1st of February, 2022 - Lunar New Year (based on the orbit of moon around earth), and
(iii) 4th of February, 2022 - Li Chun day or Spring Begins solar term, beginning of the solar calendar of the Chinese luni-solar calendar (based on the orbit of earth around the sun).
(Note) Although I use the word "orbit", the ancient Chinese mapped the path of the moon in its waxing and waning phases across the night sky, and likewise used the Gnomon stick's sun shadow to track the path of the sun across the sky.
For all of the three first-days of the year, you can construct a Ba Zi chart for the beginning hour of the day and analyse them for the 5 elements interaction. It means that there will be 3 different Ba Zi charts with different meanings and interpretations according to different masters. Confusing isn't it? Some masters prefer to just use the sexagenary pair of Tian Gan and Di Zi for the year to get a general "feel" of the elements for the year.
*add-edit (Dong Zhi/Winter Solstice on December 21st, 2021 was the start of Yang (Qi) and is also considered a new year of sorts by some)
(2) What are the elements of the Water (Black) Tiger year?
Using the 60 Jia Zi sexagenary pairs, the year of 2022 is rotated to the 39th pair of the 60 pairs cycle. (note the 60 pairs cycle are used on a rotation basis for the year, month, day and si-chen/2 hour pillars)
壬
ren (yang water)
寅
yin (Tiger)
甲
jia (yang wood)
丙
bing (yang fire)
戊
wu (yang earth)
The 4 elements present in the year are
Water
Wood
Fire, and
Earth
(3) Why is it a Black Tiger?
Each of the 5 elements are assigned an "official" colour, in ancient times, based on the availability of these colours in nature.
Water - Black
Wood - Green
Fire - Red
Earth - Yellow
Metal - White (or Gold)
As black is not considered an auspicious colour in Chinese customs, you will hardly hear any mention of 2022 as the year of the Black Tiger. Also, as gold is associated with money and wealth, every year's Zodiac is described auspiciously as "gold zodiac sign" year in Chinese, but that "gold" is more of a Chinese auspicious meaning word than referring to the actual element of the year.
If you are asking about what auspicious colours are for the Chinese Lunar New Year festivities, you are better off following these Chinese traditions and customs:
(i) It is called the Spring Festival - so your dress up theme is flowers and nature. Bright flowery prints and embroidery to symbolise Spring, new beginnings, rejuvenation and growth.
(ii) The Chinese colour of celebration and happiness is red. That is why you see so much red being used in the Chinese design and decorations.
(iii) Gold represents money and wealth, and so a prosperous colour is considered auspicious.
(iv) Auspicious words - we like to wish everyone a good start for the year, so the Chinese word 福 is always used. "Fu" is one of those Chinese words that gets lost in translation in English to mean good fortune, lucky, auspicious, etc. Like the word "Qi", it encompasses a whole concept.
(4) What is the year like for 2022?
The elements of the year are in harmony, in a productive cycle flow of water to wood to fire to earth, and (implied) earth to metal. On the surface the signs look good, and that is a welcome news for the current world situation. However (there is a however), the Tiger sign has its secret liaisons, friends and allies besides the usual harmonious connection to Horse, Dog and Pig zodiac signs.
Beware of the "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" of 2022. There is still an element of surprise.
Each year's sexagenary pair will meets its direct clash by count of six months in a year, and 2022's Ren Yin has direct element clashes when the autumn months come from 7th of August onwards. In Ba Zi birth chart analysis, clashes and combines can be double edged swords, but when just analysing for the year in general, clashes are taken to mean "not good". Care and caution advised especially for the Autumn months starting from August 7th (Solar term Autumn Begins is on this day) onwards.
(5) How is my zodiac sign going to do in 2022?
This is always a very popular topic during Chinese Lunar New Year time, you can see people stopping to read 12 zodiac predictions printed on the Lunar New Year decorations at shopping malls.
The thing is, what is given free is just very general advice based on data gathered from the Chinese Farmer's Almanac and ancient texts/formula.
The best way to get accurate information, personalised to you is get a Ba Zi birth chart reading based on your date of birth and time. You can get to know the 10 year and annual triggers that are influencing you and your decision making.
In the absence of a one-to-one consultation, when reading zodiac predictions for the year, just take them as light infotainment. They are written to be too general to be accurate, and are also too general to be wrong.
That being said, I do write such infotainment articles and this year, you can read it in print on the ANA inflight magazines if you read Japanese. Or, you can catch my tv interview on CNBC Asia.
In general:
Smooth ride in a turbulent water year for the following 5 zodiac signs
Pig
Ox
Tiger
Rabbit
Goat:
7 Zodiac signs with a bumpy ride
Monkey (direct clash with the Tiger)
Rat
Dragon
Snake
Rooster
Horse
Dog
