The Rat in Chinese astrology

Twelve animals, twelve years, and of all creatures it is the Rat that stands at the head of the line. To Western ears that sounds like an insult at first. In China, Vietnam and Korea the opposite is true: the sign counts as clever, quick and remarkably successful. Anyone who wants to understand the Chinese zodiac does best to start here – and to set aside the images the word immediately calls up in the West.

A name that grates in the West

In the West the animal goes with spoiled stores, plague and dark cellars. Those images are cultural, not astrological. The East Asian tradition looks at other qualities of the same animal: it gets in everywhere, always finds something to eat, remembers its routes and survives conditions that finish off larger animals. Out of that observation grew a sign for resourcefulness and prosperity. Translate it in your head as “the clever one” and you will catch the intended tone better.

Why it opens the sequence

The best-known story about this tells of a race: all the animals were to cross a river, and the order of arrival fixed the order of the years. The Rat could not swim well, so along the way it settled on the back of the strong Ox and jumped off just short of the bank. That is how the smallest animal arrived first. The story is not a rule of interpretation, but it shows nicely what this sign is about: not strength, but the cleverer route.

Were you born in a Rat year?

These are 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008 and 2020. One reservation matters: the Chinese year does not begin on 1 January but, depending on the lunar calendar, somewhere between the end of January and the middle of February. Anyone with a birthday in January or in the first days of February may still belong to the preceding sign. In that case it is worth checking the exact New Year date of the year of birth before you file yourself anywhere.

The character the tradition draws

The tradition ascribes the following to the sign:

• Quick grasp. Connections are spotted early, often before they have been put into words at all.
• A taste for watching. Look first, gather impressions, then act – knowledge is laid in like a store to draw on later.
• Charm and a ready tongue. A good discussion is not avoided but sought out, and the tongue is faster than caution.
• A feeling for possessions. Money is earned gladly, spent aimlessly with reluctance and given away more reluctantly still.
• A dislike of boredom. With nothing to do, the sign grows restless and will find itself a task if it has to.

The tradition names the other side just as plainly: a wide-awake self-interest, a certain impatience with slower people and a tendency to keep up acquaintances for what they are worth rather than for how long they last.

The five elements make the difference

An animal sign on its own says little in Chinese astrology. Every year also carries one of the five elements. For one and the same animal it changes every twelve years, and only after sixty years is the round back at its starting point: 1972 was a water year, 1984 a wood year, 1996 stood under the sign of fire, 2008 under that of earth, 2020 under that of metal. A metal Rat is described as harder and more single-minded, a water Rat as more adaptable, a wood Rat as more sociable. Only animal and element together produce a picture that is more than a pigeonhole for one twelfth of humanity.

Who it gets on with and who not

Dragon and Monkey count as the best companions. All three belong to the same group of three, they are quick, enterprising and understand one another without long explanations. The difficult one is the opposite point on the circle, the Horse: it stands exactly opposite, it loves open country and going its own way, while the Rat values a full store and an overview. Such pairings are rules of thumb, not verdicts. They say where friction is likely, not whom you have to love.

How seriously you should take this

The Chinese system divides by year of birth, the Western one by month of birth. Both describe temperaments, not destinies, and neither of them can tell you who you are. As a mirror they are useful all the same: you read a description, you recognise something, you disagree somewhere else – and in doing so you have spent a quarter of an hour paying close attention to yourself. If you then want to know how the Western counterpart describes you, you will find the matching comparison at the zodiac signs.