Chinese zodiac compatibility
Two dates of birth and the Chinese zodiac says how you get along. This is not an invented matrix: these are the four classic relationships — the triangle of affinity, the secret friends, harm and the clash of opposites — plus the cycle of the five elements of the year.
Anyone born in January or early February usually belongs to the PREVIOUS year's animal: the exact date of Chinese New Year for each year is taken into account here.
compatibility
The full table: the twelve animals with one another
The 66 possible pairs under the four classic rules. This table does not depend on the year of birth — the element is added afterwards, in the calculation above.
| 鼠 | 牛 | 虎 | 兔 | 龙 | 蛇 | 马 | 羊 | 猴 | 鸡 | 狗 | 猪 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rat | The same animal | Secret friends | No marked bond | No marked bond | Triangle of affinity | No marked bond | Clash of opposites | Relationship of harm | Triangle of affinity | No marked bond | No marked bond | No marked bond |
| Ox | Secret friends | The same animal | No marked bond | No marked bond | No marked bond | Triangle of affinity | Relationship of harm | Clash of opposites | No marked bond | Triangle of affinity | No marked bond | No marked bond |
| Tiger | No marked bond | No marked bond | The same animal | No marked bond | No marked bond | Relationship of harm | Triangle of affinity | No marked bond | Clash of opposites | No marked bond | Triangle of affinity | Secret friends |
| Rabbit | No marked bond | No marked bond | No marked bond | The same animal | Relationship of harm | No marked bond | No marked bond | Triangle of affinity | No marked bond | Clash of opposites | Secret friends | Triangle of affinity |
| Dragon | Triangle of affinity | No marked bond | No marked bond | Relationship of harm | The same animal | No marked bond | No marked bond | No marked bond | Triangle of affinity | Secret friends | Clash of opposites | No marked bond |
| Snake | No marked bond | Triangle of affinity | Relationship of harm | No marked bond | No marked bond | The same animal | No marked bond | No marked bond | Secret friends | Triangle of affinity | No marked bond | Clash of opposites |
| Horse | Clash of opposites | Relationship of harm | Triangle of affinity | No marked bond | No marked bond | No marked bond | The same animal | Secret friends | No marked bond | No marked bond | Triangle of affinity | No marked bond |
| Goat | Relationship of harm | Clash of opposites | No marked bond | Triangle of affinity | No marked bond | No marked bond | Secret friends | The same animal | No marked bond | No marked bond | No marked bond | Triangle of affinity |
| Monkey | Triangle of affinity | No marked bond | Clash of opposites | No marked bond | Triangle of affinity | Secret friends | No marked bond | No marked bond | The same animal | No marked bond | No marked bond | Relationship of harm |
| Rooster | No marked bond | Triangle of affinity | No marked bond | Clash of opposites | Secret friends | Triangle of affinity | No marked bond | No marked bond | No marked bond | The same animal | Relationship of harm | No marked bond |
| Dog | No marked bond | No marked bond | Triangle of affinity | Secret friends | Clash of opposites | No marked bond | Triangle of affinity | No marked bond | No marked bond | Relationship of harm | The same animal | No marked bond |
| Pig | No marked bond | No marked bond | Secret friends | Triangle of affinity | No marked bond | Clash of opposites | No marked bond | Triangle of affinity | Relationship of harm | No marked bond | No marked bond | The same animal |
- Triangle of affinity 三合
- Secret friends 六合
- The same animal
- No marked bond
- Relationship of harm 六害
- Clash of opposites 六冲
The score comes from the relationship between the two animals and is adjusted by the one between your years' elements. These are all traditional rules: nothing here is invented and no cell was written by hand.
Compatibility in the Chinese zodiac is not a matter of opinion: it is a centuries-old set of rules that fits in four lines. The twelve animals sit in a wheel, and the only thing that counts is the distance between two of them. From that distance come the four classic relationships — and from those, everything shown above.
The triangle of affinity (三合) groups the animals every four steps: Rat, Dragon and Monkey; Ox, Snake and Rooster; Tiger, Horse and Dog; Rabbit, Goat and Pig. These get on best, and Chinese almanacs recommend them for marrying as much as for going into business. The secret friends (六合) are six pairs of quiet harmony — Rat and Ox, Tiger and Pig, Rabbit and Dog, Dragon and Rooster, Snake and Monkey, Horse and Goat: not the loud affinity of the triangle, but the support that turns up when it is needed.
On the other side sit harm (六害), a dull friction between six further pairs, and the clash of opposites (六冲), the famous one: the animals six years apart, directly across the wheel. Rat against Horse, Ox against Goat, Tiger against Monkey, and so on. It does not mean the thing is impossible; it means it takes work.
And on top of all that, the element. Every Chinese year has not only an animal but one of the five elements — metal, water, wood, fire, earth — taking turns in ten-year cycles. Between them run a generating cycle (water feeds wood, wood burns into fire, fire makes ash and earth, earth yields metal, metal condenses water) and a controlling one. Two Rats are therefore not the same Rat: one of water and one of wood get along differently, and that is taken into account here.
A practical warning that hardly any calculator gets right: if you were born in January or early February, your animal is usually the previous year's, because Chinese New Year falls somewhere between 21 January and 20 February depending on the year. That is why the full date is asked for here, not just the year.
Below is the complete table with all 66 possible pairs, in case you want to look up a combination without entering dates. And if the rest of the sky interests you: the Chinese horoscope for your animal and element, Western zodiac compatibility and the daily horoscope.