Earth · Yin
Ox
Brings. Finishes what it starts, without supervision and without complaint.
Struggles with. Immovable once decided, and reads flexibility as weakness.
Sextile — easy
Ox and Rabbit
Sextile — easy
78%
Two apart. Comfortable and cooperative without being identical.
Wood · Yin
Rabbit
Brings. Keeps the peace intelligently and notices what everyone needs before it is said.
Struggles with. Avoids confrontation past the point of usefulness, and withdraws instead of arguing.
Distance on the wheel2 of 12
RelationSextile — easy
Same fixed elementNo
How Chinese compatibility works
The rule is positional. Animals four apart form an affinity triangle and are read as natural allies — they share instincts and pace. Animals six apart sit directly opposite and are the traditional clash: each values what the other neglects.
This differs from Western astrology, which uses angles on a 360-degree circle. Here the wheel has twelve positions and the relationships are counted in steps, not degrees.
Traditional pairings sometimes override the geometry — a few combinations are named explicitly as friends or enemies in the old texts, and those take precedence.
Computed from 110 years of real lunar new year dates
The arithmetic behind this pairing
Chinese years run 354 or 384 days, so each animal collects a different number of days across the century — the shares below are not 8.33% each.
Positions apart on the cycle
2
Pairings at this distance
12 of 78
Days assigned to Ox
3,279 · 8.24%
Days assigned to Rabbit
3,278 · 8.23%
Share of all pairings
1.356%
2 positions apart · 12 of 78 pairings share that distance · 1.356% of all pairings. Neither trine nor clash, where most pairings sit.
Possible age gaps — fixed by the cycle
Because the animals sit at fixed positions, two people with these signs can only differ in age by certain numbers of years. Not approximately — exactly these:
2
years apart
10
years apart
14
years apart
22
years apart
26
years apart
34
years apart
38
years apart
46
years apart
Recent birth-year combinations
Metal Ox 2021 & Metal Rabbit 2011
10 years apart
Metal Ox 2021 & Water Rabbit 2023
2 years apart
Earth Ox 2009 & Earth Rabbit 1999
10 years apart
Earth Ox 2009 & Metal Rabbit 2011
2 years apart
Fire Ox 1997 & Fire Rabbit 1987
10 years apart
Fire Ox 1997 & Earth Rabbit 1999
2 years apart
Wood Ox 1985 & Wood Rabbit 1975
10 years apart
Wood Ox 1985 & Fire Rabbit 1987
2 years apart
The five versions of each animal
The animal repeats every 12 years but the element every 60, so each partner comes in five variants — and the combination you actually have is one of 25.
Wood Ox
1985
Fire Ox
1997
Earth Ox
2009
Metal Ox
2021
Water Ox
2033
Fire Rabbit
1987
Earth Rabbit
1999
Metal Rabbit
2011
Water Rabbit
2023
Wood Rabbit
1975
Birth years for this pairing
⚠️ Each year starts at the lunar new year, not 1 January — if either of you was born in January or early February, check the exact date before trusting the animal.
Ox
1961 · 1973 · 1985 · 1997 · 2009 · 2021Rabbit
1963 · 1975 · 1987 · 1999 · 2011 · 2023