Which animals is the Rat most compatible with?

Traditionally the two animals four positions away — its trine. The twelve animals split into four trines of three, and members of the same trine are held to share temperament. All twelve pairings are listed here.

Which animal clashes with the Rat?

The animal six positions away, directly opposite on the twelve-year cycle. That pairing is the classical clash — though as with the zodiac opposition, the same geometry gets read as attraction depending on who is writing.

Rat Compatibility With All 12 Chinese Zodiac Animals

Where the trines come from

The twelve animals divide into four groups of three, each four positions apart on the cycle. That is the trine, and animals within one are said to share temperament — not because of anything about the animals, but because twelve divides by four.

The clash is the animal six positions away, directly opposite. Same arithmetic, opposite reading. Both rules are properties of the number twelve rather than observations about people, which is worth knowing before treating a clash as a verdict.

Rat compatibility

Same trine — 4 apart

The clash — 6 apart

Other positions

Where the trines come from

Other animals