Cast & Chart

Animal 1 of 12

Rat

鼠 shǔ, branch 子

In the classical sources

子亦水也，其禽鼠也

The branch 子, too, is water; its creature is the rat.

論衡 · 物勢篇第十四 (Wikisource 論衡/14, traditional script)

About this sign

The Rat belongs to 子, first of the twelve earthly branches and the place where the circle is counted from. 子 is a water branch and a yang one. The Lunheng of Wang Chong, an Eastern Han work, gives the element and the creature together in a single short clause.

Popular zodiac books describe Rat people as quick, careful with money and good at reading a room. Those portraits are modern, and this passage of the Lunheng has no interest in anyone's character. It brings the rat in as a move in an argument about which element beats which.

The relation tables give 子 a busy set of ties. Its Six Harmonies partner is 丑 next door, and 申 and 辰 join it in a water triad, one of the Three Harmonies. 午 stands straight across the circle as its Clash, 未 is its Harm, 酉 its Breaking and 卯 its Punishment, and each of those is a technical name for a pair of positions. If you are a Rat, pick one person born under one of those signs and ask where the name fits your dealings with them and where it plainly misses.

Traits people associate with it

  • quick-witted
  • thrifty
  • sociable
  • watchful
  • resourceful

The personality traits on this page are modern popular tradition. They are not found in the classical sources, which name the animal alongside its earthly branch and say nothing of the kind about people born in its years.

The five element years

Pairings

Where this text comes from

Wang Chong's Lunheng, chapters 14 and 66, on Wikisource, is the source for the pairing of animals and branches. It is one work, so these are two chapters and not independent witnesses. The relations in the last paragraph follow 五行大義 volume 2 and 三命通會 volumes 2 and 3.

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