Chinese Zodiac Compatibility Chart
Choose two animal signs to look up their traditional branch relationship. This is a sign-level guide, not a relationship score or a full Bazi comparison.
Rat子
Ox丑
Every pairing has a context.
Begin with the signs. Keep the whole person in view.
Three ways the signs relate
Chinese zodiac animals name the twelve Earthly Branches. The chart above looks up three traditional patterns between those branches. Each tells you something about the pattern; none can settle a relationship.
Rat子
Ox丑
A paired connection
Rat and Ox belong to one of the six traditional branch pairs. You may see these called “harmonious” combinations in a zodiac compatibility chart.
A combination describes a pairing. It does not make two people a perfect match, and it does not establish an elemental transformation in a full Bazi chart.
Monkey申
Rat子
Dragon辰
Two members of a wider group
Monkey, Rat and Dragon make up one of the four three-branch groups. Select Rat and Dragon and you are looking at two members of that group.
The full group has three distinct branches. Two animal selections do not form a complete combination, or show how that pattern functions in either person’s chart.
Rat子
Horse午
Opposite positions in the cycle
Rat and Horse sit opposite one another in the twelve-branch cycle. That position is called a clash.
In this lookup, “clash” names the structural relationship. It does not predict conflict, rule out love or marriage, or give a reason to dismiss someone.
The twelve-sign reference
Open a sign to browse its relationships. These are categories, not a ranking of best and worst partners. Goat, Sheep and Ram are English names for the same sign.
子RatZi · Earthly Branch
- Six-combination partner
- Ox
- Other members of its three-branch group
- Monkey · Dragon
- Clash partner
- Horse
丑OxChou · Earthly Branch
- Six-combination partner
- Rat
- Other members of its three-branch group
- Snake · Rooster
- Clash partner
- Goat
寅TigerYin · Earthly Branch
- Six-combination partner
- Pig
- Other members of its three-branch group
- Horse · Dog
- Clash partner
- Monkey
卯RabbitMao · Earthly Branch
- Six-combination partner
- Dog
- Other members of its three-branch group
- Pig · Goat
- Clash partner
- Rooster
辰DragonChen · Earthly Branch
- Six-combination partner
- Rooster
- Other members of its three-branch group
- Monkey · Rat
- Clash partner
- Dog
巳SnakeSi · Earthly Branch
- Six-combination partner
- Monkey
- Other members of its three-branch group
- Rooster · Ox
- Clash partner
- Pig
午HorseWu · Earthly Branch
- Six-combination partner
- Goat
- Other members of its three-branch group
- Tiger · Dog
- Clash partner
- Rat
未GoatWei · Earthly Branch
- Six-combination partner
- Horse
- Other members of its three-branch group
- Pig · Rabbit
- Clash partner
- Ox
申MonkeyShen · Earthly Branch
- Six-combination partner
- Snake
- Other members of its three-branch group
- Rat · Dragon
- Clash partner
- Tiger
酉RoosterYou · Earthly Branch
- Six-combination partner
- Dragon
- Other members of its three-branch group
- Snake · Ox
- Clash partner
- Rabbit
戌DogXu · Earthly Branch
- Six-combination partner
- Rabbit
- Other members of its three-branch group
- Tiger · Horse
- Clash partner
- Dragon
亥PigHai · Earthly Branch
- Six-combination partner
- Tiger
- Other members of its three-branch group
- Rabbit · Goat
- Clash partner
- Snake
This reference covers six combinations, six clashes and membership of the three-branch groups. Other traditional patterns are outside its scope. An unlisted pair has no score here.
Born near the new year?
Start by checking which year boundary your animal sign uses. January 1 is not the cutover for either convention.
Find your sign by birth date- Popular Chinese zodiac
- Changes on Lunar New Year. This is the convention used by our animal-sign calculator and this guide.
- Bazi Year Pillar
- Changes at Lichun. A full Bazi chart checks the birth moment against that solar-term boundary.
An animal sign is a starting point
A full Bazi comparison considers both people’s Four Pillars and each chart’s own context. The year animal is only one part. A fuller chart still cannot provide a marriage-success percentage or a guaranteed outcome.
Questions about zodiac compatibility
Sources & scope
The relationship groups follow the traditional branch patterns discussed in Sanming Tonghui. We checked a public transcription against our documented rule list; the English explanations here are our own, rather than quotations from the classical text.
- Sanming Tonghui, volume 2 — public transcription
The sections on six combinations, three-branch groups and clashes supply the branch rules. Checked against the public transcription; the English explanations here are our own, not quotations or marriage predictions.
- NSW Department of Education — Lunar New Year
Background on the twelve zodiac animals and the popular Lunar New Year convention; this cultural source does not validate Bazi relationship interpretation.
Published · BaziCalculator.ai editorial team