Chinese Zodiac Compatibility: Your Best (and Worst) Match

If you have learned more about your zodiac animal, you will know that each sign is endowed with many unique personality traits. This means some of the signs are more likely to get along, while others clash no matter what type of relationship they may have.

Don’t know your sign? Use our online zodiac calculator to quickly find it by entering your birthday.

This compatibility is sometimes taken quite seriously in Chinese culture, more so than in western astrology. For example, when considering marriage, many Chinese people will still give consideration to how compatible their zodiac animal is with their partner’s.

Chinese Zodiac Compatibility Chart

How Does Zodiac Compatibility Work?

As you can see from the chart above, there are various degrees of compatibility between the zodiac animals. These are determined through several groupings known as the Three Harmonies, Six Harmonies, Six Conflicts, and Six Damages.

Three Harmonies: Best Matches

The 12 zodiac animals can be divided into four groups of three that get along especially well—the Three Harmonies. The three signs in each group make the best romantic matches, as they tend to think similarly and value the same things in life. They also bring luck to each other with plenty of mutual understanding. As colleagues and friends, they will work well together to reach the best outcome.

The Three Harmonies consists of four groups of three zodiac signs, with each sign spaced four years apart:

• Rat, Dragon and Monkey

• Ox, Snake and Rooster

• Tiger, Horse and Dog

• Rabbit, Goat and Pig

Six Harmonies: Most Supportive Matches

Unlike the Three Harmonies who are more outrightly compatible, these are six pairs of zodiac animals who can be mutually supportive. They tend to lend a helping hand at pivotal moments in each other’s life and make the best parents, colleagues and friends. The Six Harmonies pairs are

• Rat and Ox

• Tiger and Pig

• Rabbit and Dog

• Dragon and Rooster

• Snake and Monkey

• Horse and Goat

Six Conflicts: Opposites Attract

These are six pairings, just like the Six Harmonies. But these pairs have opposite personalities and tend to view the world in opposing ways. Precisely because of this, however, these pairs can share strong attractions and find the other person very intriguing from the start. Even so, with such different views on life, they may come together in a passionate relationship for a while before ultimately separating. The Six Conflict’s pairs are spaced six years apart, and include:

• Rat and Horse

• Ox and Goat

• Tiger and Monkey

• Rabbit and Rooster

• Dragon and Dog

• Snake and Pig

Six Damages: Worst Matches

The Six Damages take the Six Conflicts one step further. These pairs are so different that they are unlikely to ever see eye to eye. If they somehow end up in a marriage or important partnership, these pairs will be prone to catastrophic fights and damage their partner’s luck. The Six Damages are:

• Rat and Goat

• Ox and Horse

• Tiger and Snake

• Rabbit and Dragon

• Monkey and Pig

• Rooster and Dog

Compatibility Beyond Chinese Zodiac Signs

Zodiac signs are just one facet of compatibility in Chinese zodiacs, which can almost be considered an entire discipline. This is because, aside from calculating compatibility based on zodiac animals, you must also think about other factors, including the Five Elements Theory. As shown on the chart below, each zodiac animal belongs to one of the five elements, which will make them either “generating” or “overcoming” together.

The most comprehensive consideration of compatibility is done through Bazi, which incorporates the exact time, date and even location of each partner’s birth. Find out how Bazi works on our Chinese Fortune-telling page.