Dragon and Monkey in love
Playful, clever and exciting — one of the Dragon's best traditional matches.
Trine — natural allies
Dragon and Monkey Compatibility
Dragon and Monkey compatibility: they sit 4 apart in the twelve-year cycle, a pairing the tradition classes as “Trine — natural allies”. We score it 90%.
- Relation
- Trine San He, 三合
- Steps apart
- 4 in the twelve-year cycle
- Next Dragon year
- 2036 new year in late Jan or Feb
- Next Monkey year
- 2028 starts Jan 26, 2028
New-year dates: Hong Kong Observatory calendar.
Trine — natural allies
90%
Are the Dragon and Monkey compatible?
Dragon and Monkey share the Rat–Dragon–Monkey trine, the traditional group of doers and competitors. The Dragon brings vision and presence, the Monkey brings wit and inventive tactics. Each enjoys the other's brilliance, and together they are formidable.
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Working together
A superb strategic partnership: the Dragon leads, the Monkey finds the clever route.
Where it goes wrong
The Monkey's teasing can wound the Dragon's pride if it goes too far in public.
Over time
How a Dragon–Monkey relationship usually unfolds
- At first. Partners in the water triangle, they spark from the start: the Monkey's wit and the Dragon's nerve make a dazzling double act.
- Once settled. A clever, ambitious household where ideas turn into plans quickly.
- What keeps it working. The Monkey keeping its teasing private, since the Dragon minds an audience more than the joke.
Fixed elements
Earth Dragon, metal Monkey
generating · controlling
The Dragon’s earth bears the Monkey’s metal — the image is ore that forms inside the ground. On the generating cycle the Dragon gives and the Monkey receives.
The fixed element belongs to the animal and never changes; the element of a birth year (wood, fire, earth, metal or water) rotates every two years — see the years below.
On the twelve-year wheel
Where the Dragon and the Monkey sit on the wheel
- Dragon–Monkey, 4 steps apart: San He, the three harmonies.
- San He triangles. Monkey and Dragon share it, with Rat as the third corner.
- Clash axes. Monkey–Tiger; Dragon–Dog.
- Secret friends. In the Liu He list the Monkey pairs with the Snake; the Dragon pairs with the Rooster.
- Six harms. Dragon and Rabbit; Monkey and Pig — not drawn.
Computed from 108 years of real lunar new year dates
The arithmetic behind this pairing
How the Dragon and the Monkey sit on the cycle, and the share of the century each one actually holds.
The 108-year table gives the Dragon and the Monkey almost the same number of days, 3,308 and 3,310; four positions apart, they make up 1.406% of all pairings.
Possible age gaps — fixed by the cycle
A Dragon and a Monkey can only be these numbers of years apart:
4
years apart
8
years apart
16
years apart
20
years apart
28
years apart
32
years apart
40
years apart
44
years apart
Recent birth-year combinations
| Dragon | Monkey | Gap |
|---|---|---|
| Wood Dragon 2024 | Fire Monkey 2016 | 8 years apart |
| Water Dragon 2012 | Wood Monkey 2004 | 8 years apart |
| Water Dragon 2012 | Fire Monkey 2016 | 4 years apart |
| Metal Dragon 2000 | Water Monkey 1992 | 8 years apart |
| Metal Dragon 2000 | Wood Monkey 2004 | 4 years apart |
| Earth Dragon 1988 | Metal Monkey 1980 | 8 years apart |
| Earth Dragon 1988 | Water Monkey 1992 | 4 years apart |
| Fire Dragon 1976 | Earth Monkey 1968 | 8 years apart |
Birth years for this pairing
Born in January or early February? Check the date before counting yourself a Dragon or a Monkey.
Dragon
1964 · 1976 · 1988 · 2000 · 2012 · 2024Monkey
1956 · 1968 · 1980 · 1992 · 2004 · 2016Cite this page
AstroHot. “Dragon and Monkey Compatibility in the Chinese Zodiac.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/chinese-horoscope/compatibility/dragon/monkey/
For Wikipedia
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