Chinese zodiac compatibility tool. Two birth years → rating (六合 Best / 三合 Triple Harmony / 相冲 Clash / 相害 Harm / Neutral). Cultural reference.
Chinese Zodiac Compatibility (生肖配对)
How to use
Enter both birth years
Use Gregorian years (e.g. 1990, 1991). Edge case: people born before lunar new year traditionally use the prior year; adjust by hand if it matters.
View the zodiacs
The tool shows both zodiacs (rat/ox/tiger/rabbit/dragon/snake/horse/goat/monkey/rooster/dog/pig) + emoji.
Read the compatibility rating
六合 Best / 三合 Triple / 相冲 Clash / 相害 Harm / Same / Neutral — the 5 traditional categories of zodiac relationship reading.
Read the interpretation
Based on the rating, the tool gives a culture-aware interpretation. Useful for couples, business partners, family-dynamic conversations.
Chinese Zodiac Compatibility: Traditional Relationship Wisdom
The 12-zodiac compatibility system is one of the most widely-practised tools in Chinese relationship lore, especially around marriage matchmaking. It originated in the Han dynasty and was consolidated by the Tang and Song. By comparing two people\'s zodiacs in the 12-branch positional matrix, it derives 6 relationship categories: 六合 (perfect pair), 三合 (triple harmony), 相冲 (direct clash), 相害 (minor harm), 相刑 (penalty), and neutral — used as cultural references for interpersonal compatibility.
Best Pairs, Trinities, and Clashes
六合 (6 perfect pairs): 子-丑, 寅-亥, 卯-戌, 辰-酉, 巳-申, 午-未. 三合 (4 harmonious trinities): 申-子-辰, 亥-卯-未, 寅-午-戌, 巳-酉-丑 — stable + complementary. 相冲 (6 clash pairs): 子-午, 丑-未, 寅-申, 卯-酉, 辰-戌, 巳-亥 — traditionally the toughest combinations.
Practical use in ASEAN Chinese communities
Elders in HK, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia still consult zodiac compatibility for children\'s marriages and partnership decisions. The tool can support: pre-marriage family discussions, business-partnership cultural cross-check, family-gathering conversation. But we explicitly reject using zodiac alone to reject a relationship — this is cultural interest, not scientific prediction.
"Zodiac tells you the possible mode two people might interact in. Whether it lasts depends on both partners\' effort."
Disclaimer
This tool computes per traditional rules and does not constitute relationship, marriage, career, or life advice. Major decisions should integrate practical factors — personality, values, shared goals. If you find the zodiac system culturally interesting, use this as conversation material. Overseas Chinese (US/UK/AU/CA/SG/MY/ID/PH) with non-Chinese partners can use it as a cultural-input sharing tool.
10 Facts about Zodiac Compatibility
The 12-zodiac system dates to the Han dynasty (~200 BCE) — one of China's oldest combinations of calendrical and interpersonal-typology systems.
六合 pairs originate from the classical astronomical concept of "six harmonies" — 6 pairs of branches that align astronomically/directionally — later extended to zodiac compatibility.
三合 trinities are widely used in feng-shui and date-selection, not just marriage. For example "申子辰 water-trinity" is core to wealth-direction analysis.
相冲 is the most conflict-prone zodiac category, but tradition also says clashes can be resolved — through Five-Element balancing, careful date selection, and mutual accommodation.
Same-zodiac pairings are traditionally seen as "too similar" — pro: tacit understanding; con: lack of complementarity. About 1/12 = 8.3% of random pairings.
HK 2023 marriage data: clash-zodiac couples are ~8% (vs expected 16.7%) — Chinese couples do avoid clash pairings. But this is selection bias (only married people sampled); doesn't prove zodiac affects outcomes.
The pairing of 12 earth-branches with 12 animals was formalised by the Eastern Han at the latest — Wang Chong's 《论衡》 is the earliest systematic record.
Vietnamese zodiac parallels Chinese — but 卯 is cat (not rabbit) and 未 is water-buffalo (not goat). Others identical. Historical naming divergence.
This tool complements RT-CHN-002 (Bazi Compatibility). Zodiac compatibility = quick check (year pillar only); Bazi compatibility = full analysis (all 8 chars). The latter is more detailed but needs exact birth times.
Zodiac culture is stronger in SG/MY/ID Chinese diaspora than in mainland China — common at weddings, Lunar New Year decorations, business-opening ceremonies. This tool is most valuable to those communities.
Frequently Asked Questions
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No. 相冲 is a cultural classification, not a scientific verdict. HK + Singapore see plenty of clash-zodiac couples in happy marriages each year. Using this alone to reject a relationship is over-interpretation.
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Tradition offers remedies: (1) pick an auspicious wedding date avoiding the clash; (2) adjust home orientation; (3) wear ornaments with the other person's harmonising zodiac. But pragmatically — improved communication and mutual respect matter more than any of these.
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Lunar year. Zodiac changes on Lunar New Year (春节). E.g. 2026 CNY = Feb 17, so anyone born 2026-01-01 to 2026-02-16 is still 2025's zodiac (Snake); only from Feb 17 onward are they Horse. This tool uses Gregorian for simplicity — for precision, combine RT-CHN-014 + RT-CHN-010.
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No. Browser-local. No server calls.
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This tool checks year-pillar zodiac only (1-minute quick check). Bazi compatibility (RT-CHN-002) compares all 8 characters (more accurate; needs exact birth times). When they disagree, defer to the bazi version.
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The 6 "harm" pairs: 子-未, 丑-午, 寅-巳, 卯-辰, 申-亥, 酉-戌. Weaker than 相冲 but still indicates latent value differences. E.g. rat + goat tradition sees as "value-divergent" but not openly conflicting.
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Tradition says yes — Chinese-language business cultures still factor zodiac into partnership decisions. But modern statistics don't show correlation. Pragmatic approach: use zodiac as cultural ice-breaker, not as screening criterion. Skills, trust, and shared vision matter more.
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Mostly yes — except in Jan-Feb spanning lunar new year. Zodiac is by lunar year. In 2026, people born from Feb 17 onward are Horse; those born Jan 1 to Feb 16 are still 2025's Snake.
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Folk myth: the Jade Emperor called a great race; rat tricked ox into ferrying him then dashed ahead at the finish line, others arrived in the current zodiac order. This is folklore; the actual historical reason for the ordering remains debated.
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Structurally similar (both use 12-element typology), but the rules differ entirely. Zodiac is by birth YEAR (people 1 year apart have different zodiacs); Western signs are by birth MONTH. Not interchangeable.
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