Selenarium · Chinese zodiac by year of birth
Rat Chinese Zodiac Sign: Traits, Love, Compatibility
The Rat is one of the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac, earthly branch 子 (zǐ), the one of the double hour 23:00-01:00. Wit and resourcefulness - that is the heart of the character of anyone born in its year.
Rat
The Rat is wit, charm and resourcefulness. You think fast, you sense an opening before it opens, and you know how to win people over. Thrifty and well stocked, you find a way out of a tight spot where others give up.
In love
In love you are charming and attentive, and you value closeness you can rely on. You need a partner who is warm to be with and never dull.
In work
You are strong where quick thinking, timing and hustle pay off: trade, ideas, connections. Routine wears you down.
Strengths and weak spots
The 子 branch: hour, direction and element
In the Chinese cycle this is the first of the twelve earthly branches, 子 (zǐ). Tied to it are the double hour 23:00-01:00, the direction north and the fixed element Water - standing correspondences that do not move with the element of the year. Its season is winter, and in the solar calendar of the four pillars the year starts at the beginning of spring rather than on the first of January.
The links are read off the branch. The trine of affinity gathers on a single element, here Water: Dragon and Monkey. The pair of the six harmonies gives the Ox instead, which is a separate tradition. Straight across, six steps around the circle, stands the Horse: the clash of branches, the most charged link of all.
What to keep in mind
The branch 子 (zǐ) is a yearly measure: it is the same for everyone born between two Chinese New Years. The element of the year adds the shading - suppleness, intuition, diplomacy for Water - while the hour and the city only show on a chart of the sky. For the year 2020 the switch falls on January 25: born before that date, you still count as the Pig. Your branch hands out no fate at all.
FAQ
Three questions about the branch 子 (zǐ): its years, its affinities and its hour.
Which years are Rat years, counting 2020?
1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020, 2032. The wheel brings the branch 子 back every twelve years, while the element of the year turns on ten - so the pairing of animal and element only returns after sixty. If you were born in January or early February, check against the date of Chinese New Year: in 2020 it falls on January 25, and before that date the year still counts as the Pig.
Who does the Rat get on with, Dragon and Monkey or Horse?
The best understanding comes from the trine of affinity, Dragon and Monkey: all three resting on the element Water. Apart from the trine, the pair of the six harmonies gives the Ox. The biggest snag comes from the opposite branch, six steps further: the Horse. That said, the branch 子 stays a yearly measure, and real understanding reads off two whole charts of the sky.
What hour and what direction belong to the branch 子?
The double hour 23:00-01:00 and the direction north, with the fixed element Water. Those correspondences belong to the branch itself: they do not move when the element of the year changes, the one that brings suppleness, intuition, diplomacy.
Rat is only the year you were born. The Moon, the ascendant and the planets are waiting in the full chart.
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