Cast & Chart

Rat and Dog

These are traditional rules about the twelve signs. No chart decides a relationship.

The traditional relations

  • 無 No listed relation

    None of the classical relations apply to this pair.

What tradition says

Only the Pig's branch stands between the Dog's 戌 and the Rat's 子, and no table in our sources connects the two. Both are yang branches. 戌 is earth in the fixed scheme and also the place where fire dies in the group 寅午戌, while 子 is water at its height, and earth dams water.

Popular zodiac books usually make the Dog the loyal worrier and the Rat the quick opportunist, then rate the pair as fair. That rating is popular tradition without a classical line behind it.

Damming implies someone saying wait, and the Dog of popular legend tends to be the one saying it. A good question here is what each of you counts as a fair deal, especially when a shortcut is on offer. Then ask what the other would need to hear before agreeing to it.

A Rat and a Dog have no traditional rule between them, and the modern ratings that fill the gap tell you about signs alone.

Where this text comes from

The relation tables follow 五行大義 volume 2 and 三命通會 volumes 2 and 3 on Wikisource. The popular readings are modern and come from neither.

The English here is our own plain wording, not a translation of a single source.