Chinese Zodiac Compatibility Concepts

It is the clock, the elements and the animal signs that determine your level of compatibility based on the concepts of Chinese Astrology.

Chinese Astrology is as ancient as the Chinese civilization itself. Known for its rich mythology and fascination with animals, Chinese astrologers categorized the Chinese zodiac, symbolizing it with the 12 most popular animals. According to Chinese Astrology, the birth year of a person is represented by one of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac and one of the 5 elements i.e. wood, fire, earth, metal and water.

As per the Chinese mythical belief, each of the animal symbols corresponds with a particular element which in turn has a polarity of 'Yin and Yang'. For example, you can be born in the year of the Horse with the element of Yang Fire. This calculation typically follows the Chinese system of counting the years known as the '60 year cycle'. As per this cycle and the calculations of the Chinese lunar calendar, the years are formed by the combination of the 10 celestial stems and 12 terrestrial branches.

These are also known as the heavenly stems and earthly branches. The Chinese believes that human luck is partly dependant on the heaven's decree and partly governed by his/her action. The 60 year cycle is an integral part of Chinese Zodiac signs popularly known as the 'Four Pillars of Destiny' that takes into account the year, month, day and hour of birth.

The 12 familiar animal signs of the Chinese zodiac are Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig.

Like other forms of astrology like Western, Celtic and Vedic, the question of compatibility does also prevail in Chinese astrology. It is the positions of the 12 animals of the zodiac in relation to one another on the face of a clock, which calculates their level of Chinese compatibility with each other.

For instance, a Rat person goes along well with the Dragon and the Monkey. The astrological definition of it is as follows. It is known to all of us that a clock has 12 divisions based on the hour hand. If the Rat at 12 o'clock, the Dragon and the Monkey will automatically be placed in the 5th and 9th house based on the order of placement in the Chinese Horoscope.

On the face of the clock, this kind of Chinese love calculator shows that they formed a "triangle of compatibility" also known as 3 harmonies based on the Four Pillars of Destiny. Hence, these animals get along well with one another. By extension, all animal signs that are 4 numbers apart in the zodiac are considered most compatible with one another.

Compatible animal signs and their universal elements that form the 'triangles of compatibility' are as follows:

Pig (Yin Water) - Rabbit (Yin Wood) - Goat (Yin Earth)

Tiger (Yang Wood) - Horse (Yang Fire) - Dog (Yang Earth)

Snake (Yin Fire) - Rooster (Yin Metal) - Ox (Yin Earth)

Monkey (Yang Metal) - Rat (Yang Water) - Dragon (Yang Earth)

A close observation reveals that in the above case, each of the animals are placed 4 numbers apart in the zodiac and correspondingly, 4 hourly apart on the face of the clock.

If seen from a different perspective, if the animal signs are directly opposite to each other or are 6 numbers apart from each other, they are considered to be most incompatible. For example, if the Rat is in the 1st house and the Horse is in the 7th, the Rat and the Horse becomes the most incompatible pair. In other words, these two animal signs will clash with one another.

The following are the 6 incompatible animal signs in the zodiac:-

Rat - Horse

Ox - Goat

Tiger - Monkey

Rabbit - Rooster

Dragon - Dog

Snake - Pig

Thus, it is clear from the above discussion that based on animal signs under which we are born with and their relative positions in the zodiac or on the face of the clock, we will get to know our level of compatibility and incompatibility with each other. It is thus an excellent case of animal magnetism or the 'law of the jungle'!