Year of the Rabbit
The Rabbit is read as the gentle diplomat of the zodiac: kind, elegant and skilled at keeping the peace.
| Fixed element | Wood |
|---|---|
| Yin or yang | Yin |
| Best matches | Goat, Pig |
| Clashes with | Rooster |
| Current or next year | Wood Rabbit (2035) |
Rabbit personality
People born in a Rabbit year are said to be graceful, considerate and quietly perceptive. They tend to have good taste, a calm manner and a knack for smoothing over conflict. Their wish for harmony can make them avoid hard conversations or worry about what could go wrong. At their best they make any place feel welcoming.
The Rabbit in love
In love, the Rabbit is read as tender, romantic and devoted to a peaceful home. It wants a partner who is gentle and reliable. It may need to raise problems early instead of hoping they fade.
The Rabbit at work
At work, the Rabbit often does well in design, the arts, diplomacy, counselling, teaching or anything that needs tact and detail. It works best in a calm, respectful setting.
Room to grow
The growth edge for a Rabbit is courage. Saying what it really thinks, even when it risks a little friction, helps it get the life it wants and not only the quiet one.
Rabbit compatibility
In the tradition, the Rabbit gets on best with the Goat and the Pig, the other two animals of its group of three, and clashes with the Rooster, the animal opposite it on the wheel. These are traditional pairings, not rules: any two people can make it work.
The Rabbit making decisions
A Rabbit decides by avoiding the worst outcome. It senses risk early, looks for the option nobody will fight about and prefers to keep a way out. That instinct has kept many Rabbits out of trouble, and the tradition respects it. The cost is a good chance let go because it seemed loud. A Rabbit does well to ask whether it's walking away from a danger or just from a disagreement.
The Rabbit as a friend
As a friend, the Rabbit is thoughtful and easy to be around. It remembers how you take your tea, notices when you are off and avoids saying the thing that would hurt. Its home tends to be pleasant and it likes having people in it. It can go quiet rather than complain, so friends may not hear about a problem until it's been settled.
The Rabbit with every other animal
The Goat and the Pig are the Rabbit's allies: they share its taste for peace and comfort. The Dog is its secret friend and offers a loyalty it trusts. The Rooster sits across the wheel, and its bluntness tends to feel like an attack. The Dragon is the pairing the tradition warns about, because a Rabbit finds that much noise exhausting.
| With the | Rabbit reads as |
|---|---|
| Rat | No special tie |
| Ox | No special tie |
| Tiger | No special tie |
| Dragon | Harm |
| Snake | No special tie |
| Horse | No special tie |
| Goat | Ally |
| Monkey | No special tie |
| Rooster | Clash |
| Dog | Secret friend |
| Pig | Ally |
The five kinds of Rabbit
Each kind of Rabbit returns every 60 years. Find your birth year:
- Wood Rabbit: 1975, 2035. A Wood Rabbit is the animal in its home element, read as generous and kind, and the most likely to give too much away.
- Fire Rabbit: 1927, 1987. A Fire Rabbit is read as livelier and more outspoken than the rest, with a warmth that draws people to it.
- Earth Rabbit: 1939, 1999. An Earth Rabbit is read as grounded and careful with resources, a homemaker who plans a long way ahead.
- Metal Rabbit: 1951, 2011. A Metal Rabbit is read as more determined and more guarded than the others, with fine taste and firm boundaries.
- Water Rabbit: 1963, 2023. A Water Rabbit is read as highly sensitive and intuitive, quick to absorb the mood around it and to need a retreat.
Are you really a Rabbit?
Since 1930, Rabbit years have started as early as January 22 and as late as February 19. Born before your Rabbit year's start in the table below? Then you are a Tiger, the animal before it.
This Chinese year, Rabbits are turning 3, 15, 27, 39, 51, 63.
The Rabbit's hour and month
The Rabbit's hour runs from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m., and its month is the second month of the lunar year. Anyone born in that hour has the Rabbit as a second animal, read as how they behave in private.
What people get wrong about the Rabbit
The Rabbit is often read as timid. The tradition reads a person with very good judgement about people and a long-term view, who doesn't see the point of a fight it can avoid. Its calm isn't weakness. Rabbits often get what they want, slowly and without anyone noticing, and many of them are far more ambitious than they look.
Questions about the Rabbit
Is the Rabbit the luckiest animal?
Some sayings call it that, and the tradition does link it with gentleness and good taste. Its results tend to come from careful judgement rather than chance.
What is the Rabbit like in love?
Tender, attentive and slow to commit. It wants peace at home and can take a raised voice very much to heart, so a calm partner suits it best.
What jobs suit a Rabbit?
Work that uses taste and tact: design, diplomacy, teaching, hospitality, counselling or anything with a careful eye. It tends to wilt in openly combative settings.
Years of the Rabbit
| Year | Element | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| 1939 | Earth | February 19, 1939 to February 7, 1940 |
| 1951 | Metal | February 6, 1951 to January 26, 1952 |
| 1963 | Water | January 25, 1963 to February 12, 1964 |
| 1975 | Wood | February 11, 1975 to January 30, 1976 |
| 1987 | Fire | January 29, 1987 to February 16, 1988 |
| 1999 | Earth | February 16, 1999 to February 4, 2000 |
| 2011 | Metal | February 3, 2011 to January 22, 2012 |
| 2023 | Water | January 22, 2023 to February 9, 2024 |
| 2035 | Wood | February 8, 2035 to January 27, 2036 |
Find your animal from your date of birth