Our answer
Year of the Rat 属鼠
First of the 12 zodiac animals
The short answer
The Rat (鼠, shǔ) is the first of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals. Rat years include 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020 and 2032, each starting at Lunar New Year. Tradition calls Rat people quick-witted, adaptable and sociable, and pairs them best with the Dragon and Monkey.
| In Chinese | 鼠 (shǔ); earthly branch 子 |
|---|---|
| Place in the cycle | First of 12 |
| Recent Rat years | 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020 |
| Next Year of the Rat | 2032, from 11 Feb 2032 |
| Best matches | Dragon, Monkey, Ox; clashes with the Horse |
Year of the Rat: all the years and exact dates
Each Year of the Rat starts at Lunar New Year, so people born in January or early February belong to the previous animal. Check a birth date with our Chinese zodiac calculator.[1]
| Year | Element and animal | Starts | Ends |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | Earth Rat (土鼠) | 10 Feb 1948 | 28 Jan 1949 |
| 1960 | Metal Rat (金鼠) | 28 Jan 1960 | 14 Feb 1961 |
| 1972 | Water Rat (水鼠) | 15 Feb 1972 | 2 Feb 1973 |
| 1984 | Wood Rat (木鼠) | 2 Feb 1984 | 19 Feb 1985 |
| 1996 | Fire Rat (火鼠) | 19 Feb 1996 | 6 Feb 1997 |
| 2008 | Earth Rat (土鼠) | 7 Feb 2008 | 25 Jan 2009 |
| 2020 | Metal Rat (金鼠) | 25 Jan 2020 | 11 Feb 2021 |
Rat personality: traits tradition gives Rat people
Folk tradition says people born in a Rat year are quick-witted, adaptable and sociable, though sometimes careful with money. The lists differ from source to source, and there is no scientific evidence that birth year shapes personality.[2][3][4]
Rat compatibility: best and worst matches
Traditional matching, which some couples in China still take into account, uses three rules.[2][3][5][6]
| Rule | Match for the Rat | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 三合 (sānhé), trio | Dragon and Monkey | Animals four years apart; the most harmonious |
| 六合 (liùhé), pair | Ox | A secret friend; a good match |
| 六冲 (liùchōng), clash | Horse | Six years apart, opposite on the wheel; traditionally avoided |
What the Rat means in Chinese culture
The Rat comes first because, in the best-known folk tale, it rode on the Ox’s back across the river in the Jade Emperor’s race and jumped off just before the finish. A more down-to-earth explanation is the clock: the Rat’s branch 子 covers 11 pm to 1 am, when rats are most active.
鼠 (shǔ) covers both rats and mice. Calling someone a rat is an insult in Chinese too, but being born in a Rat year is not; the animal is also a symbol of fertility and appears in paper-cuts and ink paintings. The earliest written character for rat is on an oracle bone from the 13th century BC.[7][8][4][9]
How many babies are born in Rat years in China?
| Rat year | Births in China | Year before | Year after |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 16.08 million | 15.94 million (2007) | 16.15 million (2009) |
| 2020 | 12.00 million | 14.65 million (2019) | 10.62 million (2021) |
Calendar-year births from China’s National Bureau of Statistics, as first published. A zodiac year starts at Lunar New Year, so it overlaps two calendar years. The 2020 figure comes from the census and covers November 2019 to October 2020.
Questions readers ask
What years are the Year of the Rat?
Recent Rat years are 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020; the next is 2032, starting on 11 Feb 2032. Each year starts at Lunar New Year, not 1 January.
What is the Rat compatible with?
Traditionally the Dragon and Monkey (its 三合 trio) and the Ox (its 六合 pair). Its clash animal is the Horse.
Why is the Rat first in the Chinese zodiac?
In the folk tale of the Great Race, the Rat rode across the river on the Ox and jumped ahead at the finish. Another explanation is the clock: the Rat’s hour, 11 pm to 1 am, comes first, and it is when rats are most active.
Sources
- Hong Kong Observatory, Gregorian-Lunar calendar conversion tables, 1901–2100 · accessed 31 Oct 2026
- China Daily, The 12 Chinese zodiac animals and their best matches (2016), part 2 · accessed 31 Oct 2026
- China Daily, The 12 Chinese zodiac animals and their best matches (2016), part 3 · accessed 31 Oct 2026
- CGTN, The 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac: Rat (January 2020) · accessed 31 Oct 2026
- Wikipedia, Chinese zodiac (six harmonies and clashes) · accessed 31 Oct 2026
- Duke Kunshan University, Lingwei Wu (Fudan): zodiac compatibility and marriage matching in China · accessed 31 Oct 2026
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, Chinese zodiac · accessed 31 Oct 2026
- CGTN, Why is the Rat the first of the Chinese zodiac signs? (16 January 2020) · accessed 31 Oct 2026
- The Met, Celebrating the Year of the Rat (2020) · accessed 31 Oct 2026
- National Bureau of Statistics of China, statistical release for 2007 (births) · accessed 31 Oct 2026
- National Bureau of Statistics of China, statistical release for 2008 (births) · accessed 31 Oct 2026
- National Bureau of Statistics of China, statistical release for 2009 (births) · accessed 31 Oct 2026
- National Bureau of Statistics of China, statistical release for 2019 (births) · accessed 31 Oct 2026
- Caixin, Census shows China’s population grew above 1.4 billion (11 May 2021); 2020 births from the census · accessed 31 Oct 2026
- National Bureau of Statistics of China, statistical release for 2021 (births) · accessed 31 Oct 2026
Update log. 31 October 2026 — reviewed. Next review due 15 January 2027. Suggest a correction