Tiger 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 Tiger matches best with the Horse and the Dog, its two trine partners, and with the Pig, its secret friend; its most difficult match is the Monkey, the animal opposite it on the twelve-year cycle.
The Tiger is the third animal of the twelve-year cycle, and this page reads it against all twelve, the Tiger included, by the tradition's three relations: trine, secret friend and clash. To pair the Tiger with any other animal, use the Chinese zodiac compatibility calculator. The table below is the full answer; the sections explain it one relation at a time.
Which years are Tiger years?
Tiger 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 Tiger. Not sure you are a Tiger? Look up your Chinese zodiac animal by birth year, with the date each year begins.
Who is the Tiger's best match?
Best match. The tradition's easiest matches for the Tiger are the Horse and the Dog: the Tiger, Horse and Dog trine, animals four years apart. The secret friend, the Pig, makes one of the six harmony pairs with it.
Worst match. Tiger and Monkey 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 Tiger's two partners stand level. That also settles the "soulmate" question: the tradition names no single soulmate for the Tiger, only two trine partners and a secret friend.
Who is the Tiger's secret friend?
The Tiger's secret friend is the Pig: 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.
Who is the Tiger not compatible with?
The Tiger's one difficult match is the Monkey, 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 Tiger, and even the clash is a rating of two birth years rather than a ban.
How compatible is the Tiger 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. The relations follow the lists in Wikipedia's Chinese zodiac article and on yourchineseastrology.com, which agree on every pair. The first row of the Tiger's table is the animal pair people search for most, and it has a page of its own.
| Pair | Relation | What the tradition reads | Steps apart on the cycle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tiger and Horse | trine | one of the four trine groups, which the tradition reads as the easiest match | 4 |
| Tiger and Dog | trine | one of the four trine groups, which the tradition reads as the easiest match | 4 |
| Tiger and Pig | secret friend | one of the six harmony pairs | 3 |
| Tiger and Rat | neutral | no named relation | 2 |
| Tiger and Ox | neutral | no named relation | 1 |
| Tiger and Rabbit | neutral | no named relation | 1 |
| Tiger and Dragon | neutral | no named relation | 2 |
| Tiger and Snake | neutral | no named relation | 3 |
| Tiger and Goat | neutral | no named relation | 5 |
| Tiger and Rooster | neutral | no named relation | 5 |
| Tiger and Monkey | clash | one of the six clash pairs | 6 |
The same animal: Tiger and Tiger 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 Tiger and Tiger a good match?
Two Tigers 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 Tiger included. Two people share an animal when their Chinese birth years are the same or a multiple of twelve apart.
Who should a Tiger marry?
For marriage the tradition reads the same three relations, so the Tiger's best matches are still the Horse, the Dog and the Pig; nothing in it forbids any pairing. The reading takes two birth years and nothing else, so the answer for a Tiger woman is the same as for a Tiger 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 Tiger's best friends?
The Tiger'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 Tiger?
Some charts for the Tiger name three difficult animals where this page names one. This page reads three relations only. Charts that list more difficult matches for the Tiger 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 Tiger 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