Year of the Rat (子): Personality, Compatibility & Years
Born in the Year of the Rat? Personality, love, career, compatibility, lucky tips and a full list of years, from the Japanese and Chinese zodiac.
At a glance
- Order
- 1 / 12 · Ne (子)
- Branch element
- Water
- Yin / Yang
- Yang
- Direction
- North
- Hours
- 23:00–01:00
Personality
The Rat opens the cycle of twelve. The character 子 describes a seed in which new life is beginning to stir, and the rat has long stood for prosperity and many descendants.
Strengths
Quick-witted, sociable and charming. You sense trouble early and you are good at saving steadily.
Watch out for
You can worry about small things, and when profit comes first you may seem a little cool.
Love
Attentive and thoughtful, you remember what your partner likes and build a stable home.
Work
Information, finance, trade and IT, where quick judgment and being well informed pay off.
Compatibility
Based on the classical relationships between the twelve branches: the trine (three harmonies), the six harmonies and the six clashes.
Years of the Rat
| 1924 | Yang Wood Rat (甲子) |
| 1936 | Yang Fire Rat (丙子) |
| 1948 | Yang Earth Rat (戊子) |
| 1960 | Yang Metal Rat (庚子) |
| 1972 | Yang Water Rat (壬子) |
| 1984 | Yang Wood Rat (甲子) |
| 1996 | Yang Fire Rat (丙子) |
| 2008 | Yang Earth Rat (戊子) |
| 2020 | Yang Metal Rat (庚子) |
Each year begins at Risshun (around 4 February), the start of spring in the solar calendar. In China and Korea the animal is popularly counted from Lunar New Year instead, so people born between January and mid-February may see a different animal elsewhere.
Lucky tips
Keep the north side of your home tidy. In Japan the rat is the messenger of Daikoku, one of the Seven Lucky Gods.