Pick two animals and this tool gives you the relationship the traditional tables assign them — secret friends, trine allies, neutral, or one of the three friction patterns. It reports the classification, not a verdict: the tables describe tendencies between temperaments, and no table knows two specific people.
The full matrix
Every pairing at a glance. Read down a row and across a column to find the same pair twice — the relationship is symmetric in the traditional tables, which is itself worth noticing.
Rows and columns are the same twelve animals. 5 = secret friends, 4 = trine or same animal, 3 = neutral, 2 = harm or punishment, 1 = clash.
| Rat | Ox | Tig | Rab | Dra | Sna | Hor | Goa | Mon | Roo | Dog | Pig | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rat | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Ox | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| Tiger | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Rabbit | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 4 |
| Dragon | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 3 |
| Snake | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| Horse | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| Goat | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| Monkey | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Rooster | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| Dog | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| Pig | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
The six relationships, explained
Chinese compatibility is not scored on a single axis. It uses named relationships, each describing a different failure mode:
- 六合 Liùhé — secret friends. Six fixed pairs that complete each other. The least effortful pairing in the system.
- 三合 Sānhé — trine. Four groups of three animals spaced four years apart. Alliance rather than complement: same direction, same pace.
- 相冲 Xiāngchōng — clash. The animal directly opposite on the wheel. Opposite rhythms, often strong pull, high maintenance.
- 相害 Xiānghài — harm. Quiet erosion rather than open conflict: the pairing where one person consistently feels overlooked.
- 相刑 Xiāngxíng — punishment. Friction born of intensity — two people who want the same thing and disagree about method.
- 相破 Xiāngpò — destruction. A narrower, sharper form of disruption, usually read year by year rather than as a fixed pairing.
How to use this honestly
Three cautions, because compatibility content is where zodiac writing most often becomes fortune-telling:
- These tables describe types, not people. Two Rats born twenty-four years apart share an animal and little else once element and upbringing are counted.
- A clash is not a prohibition. Traditional readings treat clashes as relationships that need structure — explicit agreements, separate finances, deliberate space — rather than relationships to avoid.
- Element changes the reading. A Wood Dragon and a Metal Dragon are the same animal with different temperaments; our deep-dive reports work the pair out at the element level, which is where the differences actually live.
Keep going
- Zodiac sign calculator — date of birth to animal, element and polarity.
- Chinese zodiac years chart — the full table from 1924 to 2043.
- Compatibility deep-dive — one document, two signs, element-level analysis.
Pair-by-pair readings
Fifteen pairings written out in full, starting with the six harmony pairs and the clashes people ask about most. Each one reads the animal relationship and the element relationship together.
- Rat and Ox
- Tiger and Pig
- Rabbit and Dog
- Dragon and Rooster
- Snake and Monkey
- Horse and Goat
- Rat and Horse
- Ox and Goat
- Tiger and Monkey
- Rabbit and Rooster
- Dragon and Dog
- Snake and Pig
- Tiger and Snake
- Rabbit and Dragon
- Rooster and Dog
If one pairing matters more than the rest, the compatibility report runs both birth dates through the same tables and writes out the specific places the two of you will have to work.