What it is
The 1st of the twelve signs, and the favoured one. Its number, 1, gives it drive.
Rat years add up to 1, 4, 7 or 22.
Its hours each day: 11 pm to 1 am.
As a person
Very intelligent, and seeks out people who know things.
Talks people into things and outsmarts rather than fights.
Senses danger in the gut. Often leaves home early.
Not a fighter: it gets others to fight, unless it carries 1 or 11 energy.
Can be manipulative, often for the good of its group.
As a year
You are a Rat if you were born in one of these spans:
- 5 Feb 1924 to 23 Jan 1925
- 24 Jan 1936 to 10 Feb 1937
- 10 Feb 1948 to 28 Jan 1949
- 28 Jan 1960 to 14 Feb 1961
- 15 Feb 1972 to 2 Feb 1973
- 2 Feb 1984 to 19 Feb 1985
- 19 Feb 1996 to 6 Feb 1997
- 7 Feb 2008 to 25 Jan 2009
- 25 Jan 2020 to 11 Feb 2021
Each span runs from one Chinese New Year to the day before the next. New Year falls between 21 January and 20 February, so a birth date before 21 February can belong to the sign before.
A Rat year is the best year of all for the Ox, its soulmate.
Good for Rats, Dragons and Monkeys.
The enemy year of every Horse. Goats also have a hard time in it.
Next Rat years: 11 Feb 2032 to 30 Jan 2033; 30 Jan 2044 to 16 Feb 2045; 15 Feb 2056 to 3 Feb 2057.
As a month
The Rat month runs 7 Dec to 6 Jan each year. Anyone born in it carries a smaller dose of the Rat. It is the enemy month for everyone born in the Horse month.
Friends, enemy and soulmate
Friends: Dragon and Monkey, the other two corners of its triangle. Inside this triangle the Dragon gets on better with the Monkey than with the Rat.
Enemy: Horse, straight across the wheel. For a Rat, Horse years are for holding back. The Horse month is a lesser caution, unless the Rat was born in a Tiger, Horse or Dog month. For a Rat born in the Rat month it is the full enemy month: hold big starts in it.
Soulmate: Ox. Rat and Ox are the only soulmate pair. Their bond has rough patches, yet they keep finding their way back.
Friends
Enemy
Soulmate