Rat 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 Rat matches best with the Dragon and the Monkey, its two trine partners, and with the Ox, its secret friend; its most difficult match is the Horse, the animal opposite it on the twelve-year cycle.
The Rat opens the twelve-year cycle, and this page reads it against all twelve animals, the Rat included, by the tradition's three relations: trine, secret friend and clash. To pair the Rat with any other animal, go to the Chinese zodiac compatibility hub. The table further down is the whole answer; each section below explains one part of it.
Which years are Rat years?
Rat 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 Rat. Not sure you are a Rat? Look it up in Chinese zodiac compatibility by birth year, which gives the date each year begins.
Who is the Rat's best match?
Best match. The tradition's easiest matches for the Rat are the Dragon and the Monkey: the Rat, Dragon and Monkey trine, animals four years apart. The secret friend, the Ox, makes one of the six harmony pairs with it.
Worst match. Rat and Horse 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 Rat's two trine partners stand level. The search for the Rat's "soulmate" ends in the same place: the tradition names no single one, only two trine partners and a secret friend.
Who is the Rat's secret friend?
The Rat's secret friend is the Ox, its next-door neighbour at the start of the cycle: 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 Rat not compatible with?
The Horse sits directly opposite the Rat 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 Rat. Difficult is not forbidden: the tradition names the hardest pairing and leaves the choice with the two people.
How compatible is the Rat 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. The relations follow the lists in Wikipedia's Chinese zodiac article and on yourchineseastrology.com, which agree on every pair. The Rat has more pairings with pages of their own than any other animal, and the table shows the relation each one carries.
| Pair | Relation | What the tradition reads | Steps apart on the cycle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rat and Dragon | trine | one of the four trine groups, which the tradition reads as the easiest match | 4 |
| Rat and Monkey | trine | one of the four trine groups, which the tradition reads as the easiest match | 4 |
| Rat and Ox | secret friend | one of the six harmony pairs | 1 |
| Rat and Tiger | neutral | no named relation | 2 |
| Rat and Rabbit | neutral | no named relation | 3 |
| Rat and Snake | neutral | no named relation | 5 |
| Rat and Goat | neutral | no named relation | 5 |
| Rat and Rooster | neutral | no named relation | 3 |
| Rat and Dog | neutral | no named relation | 2 |
| Rat and Pig | neutral | no named relation | 1 |
| Rat and Horse | clash | one of the six clash pairs | 6 |
The same animal: Rat and Rat 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 Rat and Rat a good match?
Two Rats are their own relation here, the same animal. The one reference that rules on same-animal pairs, yourchineseastrology.com, reads most of them as compatible, the Rat included. Two people share an animal when their Chinese birth years are the same or a multiple of twelve apart.
Who should a Rat marry?
For marriage the tradition reads the same three relations, so the Rat's best matches are still the Dragon, the Monkey and the Ox; nothing in it forbids any pairing. The reading takes two birth years and nothing else, so the answer for a Rat woman is the same as for a Rat 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 Rat's best friends?
The Rat'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 Rat?
Some charts for the Rat agree on its best matches and its clash, then add one more animal to handle with care. This page reads three relations only. Charts that list more difficult matches for the Rat 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 Rat 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