Lucky numbers
3 4 6
Most recent year
2023
Branch position
4
The rabbit in the cycle
The Year of the Rabbit is the fourth year of the twelve-year Chinese zodiac cycle, covering 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023 and 2035. Its branch is 卯 (mǎo), whose fixed element is Wood and whose polarity is yin. A zodiac year runs from one lunar new year to the next, never from 1 January. The 2023 Rabbit year began on 22 January, so a baby born on 15 January that year was still a Tiger.
卯 is the fourth of the twelve earthly branches. It covers the double hour from 5am to 7am, due east on the compass, and the middle of spring. In the Jade Emperor's race the Rabbit crossed the river on a floating log that the Dragon nudged ashore with a breath of wind, then sprinted the last stretch to finish fourth. The animal carries a second and much older association in Chinese culture: 玉兔 (yùtù), the jade rabbit that pounds the elixir of immortality on the moon.
Layered on top of the fixed Wood of 卯 is the year's own element, which rotates on a ten-year cycle keyed to the last digit of the Gregorian year. 4 or 5 is Wood, 6 or 7 Fire, 8 or 9 Earth, 0 or 1 Metal, 2 or 3 Water. That makes 2023 a Water Rabbit and 2011 a Metal Rabbit, while 1975 was a Wood Rabbit, doubling up on the branch's own element. The next Rabbit year opens in 2035.
- 兔 · tù
- 4 of 12
- Wood
- Yin
- 3, 4, 6
- 1, 7, 8
- Red, Pink, Purple, Blue
- Plantain lily, Jasmine
- East, South, Northwest
- Pisces — unrelated systems, see below
Rabbit years, and the date each one starts
1927
from 2 Feb
1939
from 19 Feb
1951
from 6 Feb
1963
from 25 Jan
1975
from 11 Feb
1987
from 29 Jan
1999
from 16 Feb
2011
from 3 Feb
2023
from 22 Jan
2035
from 8 Feb
Each rabbit year runs from the date shown until the day before the next lunar new year. Born on 10 January 2023? You are not a rabbit; that year had not started yet. The full year table covers 1924 to 2044 if you need to check a different year.
What the tradition says about rabbit people
Chinese astrology reads Rabbit people as gentle, quiet and alert, with an eye for detail and an instinct for avoiding a conflict rather than winning it. The tradition credits them with patience and tact, and often points them toward calligraphy, painting, cooking and other crafts that reward a steady hand. Sources describe them as faithful in friendship and slow to make enemies. Popular almanacs add that a Rabbit rarely raises their voice and rarely needs to.
The same sources are candid about the cost. A sign built around avoiding friction can concede ground it should have held, and traditional readings describe Rabbit people as reluctant to say what they actually think. Almanacs mention a tendency to retreat when pressed, to keep an opinion private long past the point where stating it would have helped, and to treat risk more cautiously than a situation warrants. None of that is a claim about anyone born in a Rabbit year. It is what the tradition says about the sign.
Why 3, 4, 6
Chinese sources list 3, 4 and 6 for the Rabbit, plus any number containing them, so 34 and 46 count. Two of the three have clear linguistic roots. 六 (liù), six, sits close to 溜 (liū), meaning smooth or free-running, which is where the toast 六六大顺 (liù liù dà shùn) comes from. 三 (sān), three, echoes 生 (shēng), to live or be born. That echo is stronger in Cantonese, where the two are saam and saang.
Four is the odd one out, and worth saying plainly. 四 (sì) is the number Chinese buildings routinely skip, because it sits one tone away from 死 (sǐ), death. The Rabbit lists include it anyway. It may be nothing more than the branch's own position, since the Rabbit is fourth of the twelve, but the sources that publish these correspondences do not say so. They give the number without a reason. The unlucky set here is 1, 7 and 8, and not every publisher agrees even about that: chinesenewyear.net drops the whole list and gives the Rabbit 0, 6 and 2 instead.
Lucky
3 4 6
Chinese number luck runs largely on homophones. 八 bā (8) sits close to 發 fā, to prosper; 四 sì (4) sits close to 死 sǐ, death. The Chinese numbers page works through the whole set.
Rabbit compatibility
Rabbit at work and in love
Rabbit — work and money
Traditional career readings put Rabbit people where care matters more than speed. The standard Chinese lists name teaching, medicine, nursing, religion, cultivation and breeding, along with legal and judicial work, on the reasoning that the sign is thorough and dislikes leaving a job half finished. The artistic strand shows up here too: calligraphy, painting, tailoring and cooking all appear. What the almanacs do not recommend is anything that runs on confrontation or hard bargaining.
At work, the tradition describes a Rabbit as the person who spots the error before it ships and mentions it quietly. Reliability is the stated strength. The stated weakness is a reluctance to press a case, which almanacs say can leave a Rabbit's contribution credited elsewhere. Older readings advise looking for a workplace with clear standards rather than one that rewards whoever argues loudest. None of it predicts anything about a real career.
Rabbit — love and family
Chinese astrology describes the Rabbit as a careful partner, slow to commit and steady once committed. Almanacs say a Rabbit reads a room well and will smooth over a disagreement before it turns into an argument, which the same sources flag as a mixed blessing, since things smoothed over do not always get settled. The tradition suggests a Rabbit does better with someone who asks direct questions, because a Rabbit will answer honestly but rarely volunteers first.
The Rabbit's trine (三合) is Goat and Pig, the two branches four places away in either direction: 亥卯未, the Wood group. Branches spaced four apart share a seasonal quality, and the tradition treats them as natural allies for that reason. The clash (六冲) is the Rooster, exactly six places away and therefore directly opposite on the twelve-point circle, 卯 against 酉. Opposite branches sit at opposite hours and opposite compass points, which the tradition reads as friction to manage rather than a verdict.
The Pisces question
Charts that pair the rabbit with Pisces are matching the rabbit's earthly branch to the solar month it governs in the traditional calendar. That is a real correspondence inside Chinese timekeeping. It is not a claim that the two astrologies agree, because they were built in different places for different purposes and neither borrowed from the other. Treat it as a curiosity rather than a second opinion on your western sign.
Year of the Rabbit — frequently asked
1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023 and 2035. Each one starts on that year's lunar new year, not on 1 January.
Chinese sources list 3, 4 and 6, plus numbers containing them such as 34 and 46. The set to avoid is given as 1, 7 and 8. These are traditional correspondences. They have no effect on any outcome, a lottery draw included.
Only if you were born on or after 22 January, the day the 2023 lunar year began. A birth on 15 January 2023 falls inside the Tiger year that started on 1 February 2022.
It is a real inconsistency in the tradition. 四 (sì) is avoided across Chinese-speaking regions for its closeness to 死 (sǐ), death, and buildings often skip the fourth floor. The published Rabbit lists include 4 anyway and give no reason for it.
It is a correspondence someone drew by lining the twelve earthly branches up against the twelve solar months. The two systems developed separately and have nothing to do with each other, so treat the pairing as a filing convenience and not as a shared meaning.