Lucky numbers
2 3
Most recent year
2020
Branch position
1
The rat in the cycle
A Year of the Rat is any year governed by 子 (zǐ), the first of the twelve earthly branches. The recent ones are 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008 and 2020, and the next arrives in 2032. The Rat's fixed element is Water and its polarity is yang. One catch trips people up constantly: the zodiac year begins at the lunar new year, not on 1 January. The 2020 Rat year did not open until 25 January, so a baby born that 10 January was still a Pig.
子 sits at the top of the cycle. It holds due north on the compass and the double hour from 11pm to 1am, the hinge where one day turns into the next. The Great Race legend explains the ranking in character terms. The Rat could not swim the river, so it crossed on the Ox's back and jumped ashore at the last moment to reach the Jade Emperor first. Cleverness beat strength, and the Rat took the opening year.
On top of the fixed element sits the year's own element, rotating every ten years by the last digit. Years ending 4 or 5 are Wood, 6 or 7 Fire, 8 or 9 Earth, 0 or 1 Metal, 2 or 3 Water. That makes 2020 a Metal Rat, 2008 an Earth Rat and 1996 a Fire Rat. Water on a Water sign happened in 1972, and readers of the tradition treat that doubling as an intensifier rather than a separate sign.
- 鼠 · shǔ
- 1 of 12
- Water
- Yang
- 2, 3
- 5, 9
- Blue, Gold, Green
- Lily, African violet
- West, Northwest, Southwest
- Sagittarius — unrelated systems, see below
Rat years, and the date each one starts
1924
from 5 Feb
1936
from 24 Jan
1948
from 10 Feb
1960
from 28 Jan
1972
from 15 Feb
1984
from 2 Feb
1996
from 19 Feb
2008
from 7 Feb
2020
from 25 Jan
2032
from 11 Feb
2044
from 30 Jan
Each rat year runs from the date shown until the day before the next lunar new year. Born on 10 January 2020? You are not a rat; 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 rat people
Chinese astrology describes Rat-year people as quick-witted and unusually observant, good at spotting an opening before anyone else has named it. Sources put resourcefulness ahead of force: the Rat reads a room, adapts, and arrives by a side route. Thrift and an instinct for putting something aside come up in almost every traditional description, as does sociability. The tradition also credits the Rat with a strong imagination, which is why writing, broadcasting and research show up so often on Rat career lists.
The honest half of the reading is less flattering. The tradition has the Rat short on courage in a real confrontation, fast to start things and slow to finish them, and prone to hoarding once thrift tips over. Rat descriptions mention a stubborn streak too, and a guardedness that holds back what the person actually thinks until saying it is safe. Timidity dressed as caution is the recurring criticism. None of this is a claim about anyone born in 1984. It is what the tradition says about a sign.
Why 2, 3
The numbers most often published for the Rat are 2 and 3, along with anything containing them, such as 23 or 32. Number 2 carries a general Chinese association rather than a Rat-specific one: good things are said to come in pairs, which is why 双喜 (shuāngxǐ), double happiness, is written twice on wedding decorations. Number 3, 三 (sān), sits close in sound to 生 (shēng), meaning to be born or to grow. Neither association comes from the 子 branch itself.
The unlucky pair, 5 and 9, is harder to source. 五 (wǔ) has a widely cited negative echo, sounding like 无 (wú), nothing or without. 九 (jiǔ) is the odd one out, because in ordinary Chinese usage 9 is auspicious, a homophone of 久 (jiǔ), long-lasting. The sign lists put it in the Rat's avoid column without giving a reason. Publishers also disagree with each other: some print 1, 4, 6 and 9 as the Rat's lucky set, so treat any single list as one tradition's version.
Lucky
2 3
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.
Rat compatibility
Rat at work and in love
Rat — work and money
The tradition reads the Rat as an opportunist in the working sense of the word. Descriptions stress fast pattern recognition, comfort with talking to strangers, and a willingness to change tack when the situation shifts, which sources contrast with the Ox's straight-line persistence. The same readings warn that Rat-year people lose interest once a problem stops being interesting, and advise them to hand finished work to someone who enjoys maintenance.
Rat career lists lean toward roles built on quick thinking in front of an audience. Broadcasting, writing, music and stand-up appear on most of them, alongside law and politics. A second cluster covers administration and management, on the reading that the Rat keeps track of detail nobody asked it to track. Research turns up repeatedly too, and at least one widely copied list ends with racing driver, which no source bothers to explain.
Rat — love and family
Chinese astrology reads Rat-year people as charming early and cautious underneath. The descriptions have them enjoying the pursuit, making friends quickly, and then keeping a private reserve that partners take a long time to reach. Sources treat the reserve as the sign's real difficulty rather than any lack of warmth. Rat readings also mention a tendency to manage a relationship the way they manage a budget, carefully and slightly out of sight.
The Rat's traditional trine is Rat, Dragon and Monkey, the water trine (申子辰). Trine members sit four branches apart on the twelve-branch wheel, and the tradition groups them for a shared tempo rather than shared temperament. The clash animal is the Horse at 午, directly opposite 子 on the same wheel, the arrangement called 六冲 (liù chōng), six clashes. Chinese astrology reads that pairing as opposed instincts, restlessness against calculation, and describes it as friction to work with, not a verdict on a real couple.
The Sagittarius question
Charts that pair the rat with Sagittarius are matching the rat'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 Rat — frequently asked
1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008 and 2020, with 2032 next. Each of those begins at the lunar new year, not on 1 January.
Most published lists give 2 and 3, plus numbers containing them like 23 and 32, and put 5 and 9 in the unlucky column. The reasoning behind them is general Chinese number lore rather than anything drawn from the Rat branch, and different publishers print different sets. They are a tradition worth knowing, not a strategy. No number changes what a draw does.
Possibly not. Lunar new year 2020 fell on 25 January, so anyone born between 1 and 24 January that year belongs to the previous animal, the Pig. The 1996 Rat year started even later, on 19 February. Look up the lunar new year date for your birth year before you decide.
The trine is Rat, Dragon and Monkey, grouped as the water trine (申子辰) because the three branches sit four apart on the wheel. The clash is the Horse, directly opposite. The tradition reads the trine as easy alignment and the clash as a mismatch of pace.
The tradition says yes, and has a name for it: 本命年 (běn mìng nián), your own zodiac year, which comes round every twelfth year. It is treated as an exposed year rather than a lucky one. The customary counter is to wear red given by someone else, often a red belt or red socks from a relative.