Chinese astrology · portrait
The Rabbit, gentle and cautious.
The Rabbit is the fourth of the twelve signs of Chinese astrology. You are born a Rabbit in the years 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023, provided you were born after the lunar new year switch (between late January and mid-February). Tradition pairs it with the Goat and the Pig, and sets it in tension with the Rooster. Five elements shade it, from the Wood Rabbit to the Water Rabbit, and that combination only comes back around every sixty years.
The Rabbit at a glance
- Sign
- Rabbit
- Rank
- fourth of 12
- Character
- Gentle and Cautious
- Allies
- Goat, Pig
- Opposite
- Rooster
- Recent years
- 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023
The Rabbit: what kind of temperament?
The Rabbit moves through life with a gentleness that softens everything it touches, and that’s your true signature. You love peace, the beauty of things, the comfort of a home where you feel safe, and you can defuse tension with one well-chosen word. Your gift for diplomacy is a rare art, the kind that brings people together without ever raising your voice. Yet your love of calm can make you slip away from whatever unsettles you, out of a quiet fear of conflict. Honor your need for peace, and dare to stay too, when something needs to be said.
The five faces of the Rabbit
Each animal comes back around every twelve years, but its meeting with one of the five elements (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) only replays every sixty years. That is why two Rabbits born twelve years apart are not quite alike: the year’s element colors the animal.
Rabbit of Wood
The Wood Rabbit lets its gentleness bloom: your diplomacy goes to work for others, you connect, you grow bonds with a natural kindness. Just take care to dare to speak up when calm is no longer enough.
Rabbit of Fire
The Fire Rabbit warms its reserve with an endearing heat: you stay refined, but you come alive, you charm and you dare more. Your caution turns livelier, as long as you don’t get swept off by the impulse of the moment.
Rabbit of Earth
The Earth Rabbit grounds its gentleness in a stable home: you seek lasting comfort, the safety of bonds that hold, and you soothe everything you touch. Your lesson is to dare, sometimes, to step out of your cocoon.
Rabbit of Metal
The Metal Rabbit firms up its delicacy: behind your gentleness watches a quiet but clear will, and you can set your limits with elegance. Keep that structure, without letting rigor freeze your tenderness.
Rabbit of Water
The Water Rabbit takes its sensitivity to its peak: intuitive, thin-skinned, you sense others’ feelings before they do. That fineness is precious, just take care not to absorb what isn’t yours.
Who the Rabbit gets along with
Chinese tradition reads affinities by triads. The Rabbit forms a triad of natural understanding (San He) with the Goat and the Pig: bonds that come easily and grow stronger over time.
Its opposite on the wheel is the Rooster: different rhythms, sometimes a sharp attraction. Nothing forbidden, just an invitation to flexibility and to respect the other’s way of being. An “opposite” sign is not a bad sign, it is a contrasting mirror.
For a reading of two people, cross your two signs and your two elements: compatibility on the Western zodiac side follows the same mirror logic.
Are you a Rabbit? The birth years
You are born a Rabbit in the years 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023. But the sign switches at the lunar new year, not on January 1: born in January or early February, you may belong to the previous year’s animal. It’s the most common mistake the quick converters make.
Frequently asked questions
Which years correspond to the sign of the Rabbit?
You are born a Rabbit in the years 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023, provided you were born after the lunar new year, which falls between late January and mid-February. If you were born in January or early February, check your year’s switch date: before it, you belong to the previous sign.
Which signs is the Rabbit most compatible with?
Tradition gathers the Rabbit, the Goat and the Pig into the same affinity triad (San He): a natural understanding. Its opposite on the wheel is the Rooster, which forbids no bond: it is an invitation to flexibility, never a verdict.
How do I find the element of my Rabbit?
Your element comes from the last digit of your birth year, among Metal, Water, Wood, Fire and Earth. The Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water Rabbit are not quite alike: that is the nuance you will read below.