子
The Rat
The first to notice what is coming
This page is about a birth-day animal, not a birth-year animal. Everyone has a day animal, from the day they were born, and it is often not the year animal they know.
You and I have the same habit. We find the exits first, and we never mention that we did.
The Rat in Korean Saju
You notice what is going on around you before anyone says it, and you plan a way out before you need one. You get a lot done with very little, and you adapt fast. The cost is that you rarely let anyone see how you did it, so people hesitate to rely on your results.
Basic facts about this animal
- Its hours of the day
- 11pm – 1am
- Its month
- December 7 – January 5
- midwinter
- Element
- Yang Water
- Yang is the outward, active form; Yin is the inward, quiet form
- Place in the order
- 1st of twelve
If this is your day animal
The Rat is the first of the twelve animals. As a birth day it goes with new starts, quick wit and saving quietly.
What this animal is like in a chart
A Rat day is someone who moves before the situation has settled. The Rat rules the hours around midnight, when one day ends and the next has not yet begun. People with this day tend to act before all the facts are in, and to build up resources quietly while others wait. It suits beginnings, negotiation, and any work where acting on early information pays off.
The cost of this talent is secrecy. The instinct that finds the way out also tends to hide it from others, so a Rat day often wins in ways nobody else got to see. Trust is what suffers: it is slow to build and quick to lose. Telling people your plan before you act on it helps.
How it gets on with the other animals
Pulls together — The Ox
Easy to fall into, hard to leave. The Rat and the Ox are one of the six pairs that pull together, the closest link two animals can have.
Clashes head-on — The Horse
A pairing that does not let either person stay the same. The Horse sits directly opposite the Rat on the circle of twelve: a head-on clash. That makes it a restless match, not a bad one.
Team of three — The Monkey & The Dragon
These three get the most done together. With the Monkey and the Dragon, the Rat makes a team of three that pulls toward Water.
To find your own day animal, enter your birth date. It takes about a minute.