Rabbit 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 Rabbit matches best with the Goat and the Pig, its two trine partners, and with the Dog, its secret friend; its most difficult match is the Rooster, the animal opposite it on the twelve-year cycle.
The Rabbit is the fourth animal of the twelve-year cycle, and this page reads it against all twelve, the Rabbit included, by the tradition's three relations: trine, secret friend and clash. To pair the Rabbit with any other animal, use the Chinese zodiac compatibility calculator. The table below answers every pairing at once, and each section explains one relation behind it.
Which years are Rabbit years?
Rabbit 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 Rabbit. Not sure you are a Rabbit? Check your Chinese zodiac animal by birth year, where every year carries its start date.
Who is the Rabbit's best match?
Best match. The tradition's easiest matches for the Rabbit are the Goat and the Pig: the Rabbit, Goat and Pig trine, animals four years apart. The secret friend, the Dog, makes one of the six harmony pairs with it.
Worst match. Rabbit and Rooster 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.
A trine is one of four groups of three animals spaced evenly round the cycle, called San He in Chinese, and the tradition reads any two members of one as its easiest match. It ranks nobody inside the group, so the Rabbit's two trine partners stand level. The search for the Rabbit's "soulmate" ends in the same place: the tradition names no single one, only two trine partners and a secret friend.
Who is the Rabbit's secret friend?
The Rabbit's secret friend is the Dog: together they make one of the six harmony pairs the tradition calls secret friends. The six pairs sit at different distances on the cycle, so no count of years finds them; the list, Liu He in Chinese, does. On this site's ladder a secret friend is the second good relation, one step below a trine.
Who is the Rabbit not compatible with?
The Rooster sits directly opposite the Rabbit on the twelve-year cycle, six years apart, and the tradition reads that clash as its most difficult match. The six opposite pairs are called Liu Chong in Chinese. It is the only animal of the twelve that this reading marks as difficult for the Rabbit. Difficult is not forbidden: the tradition names the hardest pairing and leaves the choice with the two people.
How compatible is the Rabbit with each animal?
Every other animal has one row below, grouped by relation: the trine partners first, then the secret friend, then the animals with no named relation, and the clash last. Neutral means none of the three relations applies. It is not a middle grade and it is not a warning. Every relation in it matches the lists on Wikipedia's Chinese zodiac article and on yourchineseastrology.com; the two sources agree on all of them. One Rabbit pairing has a page of its own, and its row in the table links to it once that page is live.
| Pair | Relation | What the tradition reads | Steps apart on the cycle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rabbit and Goat | trine | one of the four trine groups, which the tradition reads as the easiest match | 4 |
| Rabbit and Pig | trine | one of the four trine groups, which the tradition reads as the easiest match | 4 |
| Rabbit and Dog | secret friend | one of the six harmony pairs | 5 |
| Rabbit and Rat | neutral | no named relation | 3 |
| Rabbit and Ox | neutral | no named relation | 2 |
| Rabbit and Tiger | neutral | no named relation | 1 |
| Rabbit and Dragon | neutral | no named relation | 1 |
| Rabbit and Snake | neutral | no named relation | 2 |
| Rabbit and Horse | neutral | no named relation | 3 |
| Rabbit and Monkey | neutral | no named relation | 5 |
| Rabbit and Rooster | clash | one of the six clash pairs | 6 |
The same animal: Rabbit and Rabbit reads as same animal. 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 Rabbit and Rabbit a good match?
A same-animal pair is its own relation on this page. The one reference that rules on doubled animals, yourchineseastrology.com, reads most of them as compatible, and the Rabbit is one of those. Two people are both Rabbits when their Chinese birth years match or sit a multiple of twelve apart.
Who should a Rabbit marry?
The Rabbit's best matches for marriage are the same as for love: the Goat, the Pig and the Dog, and the tradition forbids no pairing. Gender is not an input, so a Rabbit woman and a Rabbit man get the same answer. Chinese astrology also gives each year an element, which this reading does not use. The tradition names the easiest pairings and leaves the decision with the two people.
Which animals are the Rabbit's best friends?
Friendship reads the same relations as love. Secret friend is the tradition's own name for one of them, and the two trine partners read as easy company too. One chart covers love, marriage and friendship on this page, so any single friendship is a row in the table above.
Why do other charts list different matches for the Rabbit?
Some charts for the Rabbit add a second difficult animal to the one this page names, and some print the Goat as the Sheep. This page reads three relations and no more. Longer lists usually come from the tradition's harms and punishments, or from personality sketches, and this reading uses neither. That is why a pairing shown here as neutral can carry a harsher label on a fuller chart.
To check the Rabbit against any one animal, pick both on the hub; the chart in the strip at the top shows all twelve against each other. This page reads pairings only, so it makes no forecast for any Rabbit year.
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