Chinese zodiac 1984
Year of the Wood Rat
2 February 1984 to 19 February 1985
Born in 1984? Your sign depends on the day
The animal changes at Lunar New Year, not on 1 January. In 1984 it falls on 2 February 1984.
- 2 February to 31 December 1984
- π Wood Rat
- and on to 19 Feb 1985
Check an exact birth date
The Wood Rat at a glance
Animal
π Rat
Said to be quick-witted, resourceful, adaptable.
Element
ζ¨ Yang Wood
Linked with growth and generosity. Each element rules two years in a row.
Length
384 days
A long year: the calendar adds a thirteenth, leap month.
Other Rat years
The 60-year cycle
Animal and element line up again only every 60 years. The Wood Rat years nearest to this one are 1924 and 2044.
Who gets on with the Rat
Allies
Four years apart. The three animals of a trine are said to share a temperament.
Secret friend
One of six fixed pairs said to complement each other.
Opposite
Six years apart, directly across the wheel. Tradition calls this the hardest pairing.
Friction
One of six fixed pairs said to rub each other the wrong way.
Bonds come from each animal's position among the twelve, as tradition sets them. They describe the Rat sign in general, not any one person.
Dates are computed estimates from the Hong Kong Observatory's calendar tables, counted in China's time zone. Some traditions change the animal at the start of spring (around 4 February) instead of at Lunar New Year.