Animal 1 of 12 · Water · Yang
The Rat
Quick wit, resourcefulness and an eye for opportunity.
Strength. Spots an opening before anyone else and moves on it. Rarely caught unprepared.
Friction. Hoards — money, information, contacts — and can be quietly opportunistic about people.
Each animal also governs two hours of the day — the Rat holds 23:00–01:00. Someone born in those hours is said to carry the Rat as an inner sign regardless of their year.
Traits
Rat years
| Year | Element | New year began |
|---|---|---|
| 1936 | Fire Rat | 24 January |
| 1948 | Earth Rat | 10 February |
| 1960 | Metal Rat | 28 January |
| 1972 | Water Rat | 15 February |
| 1984 | Wood Rat | 2 February |
| 1996 | Fire Rat | 19 February |
| 2008 | Earth Rat | 7 February |
| 2020 | Metal Rat | 25 January |
| 2032 | Water Rat | 11 February |
Born in January or early February of one of these years? Check the new year date — you may belong to the previous animal.
The five Rats
The Rat's own fixed element is Water. The element of the year interacts with it differently each time, which is what separates the five versions — and why the cycle runs sixty years.
| Version | Years | Relation to Water |
|---|---|---|
| Wood Rat | 1924, 1984, 2044 | Drained by it — productive but costly |
| Fire Rat | 1936, 1996 | Dominated by it — most forceful |
| Earth Rat | 1948, 2008 | Controls it — most restrained |
| Metal Rat | 1960, 2020 | Feeds it — best supported |
| Water Rat | 1972, 2032 | Doubled — strongest expression |
Calculated from the lunar calendar
Not every Rat year is the same length
A lunisolar year runs 12 or 13 lunar months, so it lasts between 353 and 385 days rather than a fixed 365. That means the window for being born under a sign is genuinely wider in some years than others.
| Year | Ran from | To | Days | Lunar months |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1924 | 5 Feb 1924 | 23 Jan 1925 | 354 | 12 |
| 1936 | 24 Jan 1936 | 10 Feb 1937 | 384 | 13 — leap year |
| 1948 | 10 Feb 1948 | 28 Jan 1949 | 354 | 12 |
| 1960 | 28 Jan 1960 | 14 Feb 1961 | 384 | 13 — leap year |
| 1972 | 15 Feb 1972 | 2 Feb 1973 | 354 | 12 |
| 1984 | 2 Feb 1984 | 19 Feb 1985 | 384 | 13 — leap year |
| 1996 | 19 Feb 1996 | 6 Feb 1997 | 354 | 12 |
| 2008 | 7 Feb 2008 | 25 Jan 2009 | 354 | 12 |
| 2020 | 25 Jan 2020 | 11 Feb 2021 | 384 | 13 — leap year |
| 2032 | 11 Feb 2032 | 30 Jan 2033 | 355 | 12 |
A leap month is inserted seven times every nineteen years to keep the lunar calendar aligned with the seasons. Those are the 13-month years, and they run a full month longer than the others — a difference of about a month in how long a sign lasts.
The next Rat year is 2032
By tradition that is the year for a Rat to be careful in, not to celebrate. Why your own animal's year is considered unlucky.
Rat compatibility
| With | Relation | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Dragon | Traditional ally | 90% |
| Monkey | Traditional ally | 90% |
| Ox | Traditional ally | 88% |
| Tiger | Sextile — easy | 78% |
| Dog | Sextile — easy | 78% |
| Rat | Same sign | 72% |
| Snake | Neutral | 68% |
| Goat | Neutral | 68% |
| Pig | Neutral | 68% |
| Rabbit | Square — friction | 60% |
| Rooster | Square — friction | 60% |
| Horse | Traditional clash | 45% |