Snake 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 Snake matches best with the Ox and the Rooster, its two trine partners, and with the Monkey, its secret friend; its most difficult match is the Pig, the animal opposite it on the twelve-year cycle.
The Snake is the sixth animal of the twelve-year cycle, and this page reads it against all twelve, the Snake included, by the tradition's three relations: trine, secret friend and clash. To pair the Snake with any other animal, open the hub for Chinese astrology compatibility. The table below holds the whole answer, and the sections take its relations in turn.
Which years are Snake years?
Snake 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 Snake. Not sure you are a Snake? Look up your Chinese zodiac animal by birth year, with the date each year begins.
Who is the Snake's best match?
Best match. The tradition's easiest matches for the Snake are the Ox and the Rooster: the Ox, Snake and Rooster trine, animals four years apart. The secret friend, the Monkey, makes one of the six harmony pairs with it.
Worst match. Snake and Pig 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.
Trine partners are the tradition's first answer to any best-match question. The four trines, San He in Chinese, each join three animals spaced evenly round the cycle, and the tradition ranks nobody inside one, so the Snake's two partners stand level. That also settles the "soulmate" question: the tradition names no single soulmate for the Snake, only two trine partners and a secret friend.
Who is the Snake's secret friend?
The Snake's secret friend is the Monkey: together they make one of the six harmony pairs the tradition calls secret friends. The harmony pairs, Liu He in Chinese, are a fixed list: they sit at different distances round the cycle, so counting years never finds them. On this site a secret friend ranks one step below a trine. Some summaries of Snake compatibility leave the secret friend out of its best matches; the harmony list puts it there.
Who is the Snake not compatible with?
The Snake's one difficult match is the Pig, which sits opposite it on the twelve-year cycle, six years apart; the tradition reads that clash as its hardest pairing. The six opposite pairs are Liu Chong in Chinese. This reading marks no other animal against the Snake, and even the clash is a rating of two birth years rather than a ban.
How compatible is the Snake with each animal?
Each row below is one pairing, sorted by relation: trine, secret friend, neutral, then clash. Most rows are neutral, which means only that none of the three relations applies; it is not a halfway mark between good and bad. 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 Snake 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snake and Ox | trine | one of the four trine groups, which the tradition reads as the easiest match | 4 |
| Snake and Rooster | trine | one of the four trine groups, which the tradition reads as the easiest match | 4 |
| Snake and Monkey | secret friend | one of the six harmony pairs | 3 |
| Snake and Rat | neutral | no named relation | 5 |
| Snake and Tiger | neutral | no named relation | 3 |
| Snake and Rabbit | neutral | no named relation | 2 |
| Snake and Dragon | neutral | no named relation | 1 |
| Snake and Horse | neutral | no named relation | 1 |
| Snake and Goat | neutral | no named relation | 2 |
| Snake and Dog | neutral | no named relation | 5 |
| Snake and Pig | clash | one of the six clash pairs | 6 |
The same animal: Snake and Snake 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 Snake and Snake 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 Snake is one of those. Two people are both Snakes when their Chinese birth years match or sit a multiple of twelve apart.
Who should a Snake marry?
The Snake's best matches for marriage are the same as for love: the Ox, the Rooster and the Monkey, and the tradition forbids no pairing. Gender is not an input, so a Snake woman and a Snake 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 Snake'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 Snake?
Some charts for the Snake name two difficult animals where this page names one, and some drop its secret friend from the best matches. 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 Snake against any one animal, pick both on the hub; the chart in the strip at the top shows all twelve against each other.
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