Chinese zodiac 1996
Year of the Fire Rat
19 February 1996 to 6 February 1997
Born in 1996? Your sign depends on the day
The animal changes at Lunar New Year, not on 1 January. In 1996 it falls on 19 February 1996.
- 19 February to 31 December 1996
- π Fire Rat
- and on to 6 Feb 1997
Check an exact birth date
The Fire Rat at a glance
Animal
π Rat
Said to be quick-witted, resourceful, adaptable.
Element
η« Yang Fire
Linked with passion and drive. Each element rules two years in a row.
Length
354 days
A regular year of twelve lunar months.
Other Rat years
The 60-year cycle
Animal and element line up again only every 60 years. The Fire Rat years nearest to this one are 1936 and 2056.
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.