Dragon Chinese Zodiac Compatibility
Tradition: Chinese zodiac. A tradition, not a forecast. The Chinese zodiac reads it this way; the evidence does not.
By Suraj Giri · Updated · Reviewer for this method: not yet appointed (see our editorial policy)
In the Chinese zodiac, the Dragon matches best with the Rat and the Monkey, its two trine partners, and with the Rooster, its secret friend; its most difficult match is the Dog, the animal opposite it on the twelve-year cycle.
The Dragon is the fifth animal of the twelve-year cycle, and this page reads it against all twelve, the Dragon included, by the tradition's three relations: trine, secret friend and clash. To pair the Dragon with any other animal, open the hub for Chinese astrology compatibility. The table below gives every pairing; the sections explain the three relations that sort it.
Which years are Dragon years?
Dragon years start at the lunar new year, not on 1 January. The Chinese year turns on a date between 21 January and 20 February that moves every year, so a birthday in January or early February can belong to the animal before the Dragon. Not sure you are a Dragon? Use the birth-year lookup, which shows the date each year begins.
Who is the Dragon's best match?
Best match. The tradition's easiest matches for the Dragon are the Rat and the Monkey: the Rat, Dragon and Monkey trine, animals four years apart. The secret friend, the Rooster, makes one of the six harmony pairs with it.
Worst match. Dragon and Dog is one of the six clash pairs: the two animals sit opposite each other, six years apart. A clash is the tradition's reading of two birth years, not a fact about two people.
The Dragon's two easiest matches share its trine, one of four groups of three animals the tradition calls San He. Inside a trine nobody is ranked, so neither partner comes first. Readers who ask for the Dragon's "soulmate" get the same answer here, because the tradition names no single soulmate: it names two trine partners and a secret friend.
Who is the Dragon's secret friend?
The Dragon's secret friend is the Rooster: together they make one of the six harmony pairs the tradition calls secret friends. Liu He, the Chinese name for the six pairs, is a fixed list rather than a spacing rule, because the pairs sit at different distances on the cycle. The site's ladder puts a secret friend one step below a trine.
Who is the Dragon not compatible with?
The Dog is the Dragon's clash, the animal directly opposite it on the twelve-year cycle and six years away, which the tradition reads as its most difficult match. Liu Chong, the Chinese name for the six opposite pairs, is the only negative relation this page reads, so this is the one difficult animal it names for the Dragon. The tradition rates that pairing; it does not rule it out.
How compatible is the Dragon with each animal?
The table groups the Dragon's eleven partners by relation, best first and the clash last, with the neutral rows in between. A neutral row means the tradition names no relation for that pair, which is neither praise nor a caution. The relations follow the lists in Wikipedia's Chinese zodiac article and on yourchineseastrology.com, which agree on every pair. None of the Dragon's pairings has a page of its own, so this table is the full reading for every one of them.
| Pair | Relation | What the tradition reads | Steps apart on the cycle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dragon and Rat | trine | one of the four trine groups, which the tradition reads as the easiest match | 4 |
| Dragon and Monkey | trine | one of the four trine groups, which the tradition reads as the easiest match | 4 |
| Dragon and Rooster | secret friend | one of the six harmony pairs | 5 |
| Dragon and Ox | neutral | no named relation | 3 |
| Dragon and Tiger | neutral | no named relation | 2 |
| Dragon and Rabbit | neutral | no named relation | 1 |
| Dragon and Snake | neutral | no named relation | 1 |
| Dragon and Horse | neutral | no named relation | 2 |
| Dragon and Goat | neutral | no named relation | 3 |
| Dragon and Pig | neutral | no named relation | 5 |
| Dragon and Dog | clash | one of the six clash pairs | 6 |
The same animal: Dragon and Dragon reads as same animal. One reference, yourchineseastrology.com, names the Dragon as one of four self-punishing animals and reads this doubled pair as a clash; we show it as its own relation and say so. Order: trine, secret friend, neutral, clash, and within each relation the cycle order counted from the Rat. Neutral means none of the three relations this site reads applies; the tradition's harms and punishments are outside this chart.
Is Dragon and Dragon a good match?
Two Dragons are their own relation here, the same animal. One reference, yourchineseastrology.com, counts the Dragon among four self-punishing animals and reads a doubled Dragon as a clash. We show the pair as its own relation instead, because we have found no second source for that reading.
Who should a Dragon marry?
For marriage the tradition reads the same three relations, so the Dragon's best matches are still the Rat, the Monkey and the Rooster; nothing in it forbids any pairing. The reading takes two birth years and nothing else, so the answer for a Dragon woman is the same as for a Dragon man. Chinese astrology also gives each year an element, and this reading leaves it out. Who marries whom stays a decision for two people; the tradition only says which pairings it reads as easiest.
Which animals are the Dragon's best friends?
The Dragon's best friends in the tradition are the same animals as its best matches in love, because one set of relations covers both. The secret friend carries the tradition's own word for it, and the trine partners stand beside it. Any other friendship is a row in the table above.
Why do other charts list different matches for the Dragon?
Some charts for the Dragon tell it to avoid three animals; this page names one difficult match and tells nobody to avoid anyone. This page reads three relations only. Charts that list more difficult matches for the Dragon usually add the tradition's harms and punishments, or describe personalities, and neither is part of this reading. A pairing this page calls neutral can be a harm pair on a fuller chart.
To read the Dragon against one other animal, pick both on the hub. The full chart of every pairing sits in the strip at the top of this page.
How we calculate it
- The birth year gives an animal, counted from the lunar new year rather than 1 January, so a birthday in January or early February may belong to the previous year's animal. The tool says so and offers both.
- The twelve animals sit in four trines of three, which the tradition reads as the easiest matches.
- Six harmony pairs, the secret friends, are read as good, and the six pairs opposite each other on the cycle are read as difficult.
- The verdict is the strongest of those readings that applies to the two animals, and neutral when none does.
The full rule, in plain words and in pseudocode, is on the methodology page.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Chinese zodiac: The San He, Liu He and Liu Chong lists, and the years table
- Your Chinese Astrology, Chinese Zodiac Compatibility: The three relation lists, and the self-punishment reading