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Chinese zodiac compatibility, as tradition tells it
Enter two birth dates. The tool finds each sign from the lunar new year tables, then names the relation that tradition sees between the two animals and their elements.
Chinese zodiac compatibility of two birth dates
Metal Horse and Water Monkey
No named relation
The two branches form none of the named relations. Folk tradition treats the pair as ordinary, neither favored nor warned against.
| Branches | Wu 午 and Shen 申 |
| Year elements | Metal feeds Water |
Chinese zodiac compatibility is a folk tradition built on the geometry of the twelve earthly branches, not on any study of couples. Placed on a circle, the branches form four triads of signs four years apart, called san he: Rat, Dragon and Monkey; Ox, Snake and Rooster; Tiger, Horse and Dog; Rabbit, Goat and Pig. Tradition counts a triad as the best match. Six harmony pairs, liu he, are also favored: Rat and Ox, Tiger and Pig, Rabbit and Dog, Dragon and Rooster, Snake and Monkey, Horse and Goat. Signs six years apart sit opposite each other and form the six clashes, liu chong, the match almanacs warned against; six harm pairs, liu hai, are a milder warning. The tool applies these rules to the signs of two exact birth dates, after reading each sign in the Hong Kong Observatory tables. It describes a custom and predicts nothing about anyone.
How does tradition pair these two signs?
Tiger and Monkey
Opposite signs (liu chong)
| Tiger triad | Horse, Dog |
| Tiger opposite | Monkey |
Folk tradition, not a prediction.
Dates read in the HKO tables by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources
How the pairings are built
The Hong Kong Observatory lists the twelve branches in order, from Zi to Hai, and the animals follow them. The pairings come from where branches sit on that circle. Branches four steps apart form a triangle, the triad; branches six steps apart face each other across the circle, the clash. The harmony and harm pairs are two sets of six pairs that join branches symmetrically, one set on each side of an axis through the circle. None of this depends on the animals: it is arithmetic on the branch numbers, which is why the tool can compute it exactly.
| Triad | Signs | Years four apart, e.g. |
|---|---|---|
| Water triad | Rat, Dragon, Monkey | 2020, 2024, 2028 |
| Metal triad | Ox, Snake, Rooster | 2021, 2025, 2029 |
| Fire triad | Tiger, Horse, Dog | 2022, 2026, 2030 |
| Wood triad | Rabbit, Goat, Pig | 2023, 2027, 2031 |
The elements of the two years
A second layer looks at the elements of the two birth years. Tradition orders the five elements in a generating cycle, wood feeds fire, fire makes earth, earth bears metal, metal carries water, water nourishes wood, and in a restraining cycle, wood parts earth, earth dams water, water quenches fire, fire melts metal, metal cuts wood. A pair whose elements follow the generating cycle is called supportive. The elements page explains how each year gets its element.
Element of a lunar year
Lunar year 1992
Water, yang
| Heavenly stem | Ren 壬 |
| Sign | Water Monkey |
| Next year of this element | 1993 |
| Next Water Monkey | 2052 |
Why exact dates matter here too
Couples often compare years, not dates, and get the signs wrong. A person born on February 1, 1992 is a Metal Goat of the 1991 year, because the 1992 new year fell on February 4, 1992. The tool reads each date in the tables before comparing.
What this page does not do
It does not score couples, sell readings or forecast anything. Some websites turn the same rules into percentages; there is no basis for a number, so this site gives the name of the traditional relation and what it means in folklore, nothing more.